The law of God, like law in general, involves penalties against lawbreaker. The apostle Paul, conducting his preaching along these lines, quoted one uncompromising declaration from the Old Testament: "A curse on him who does not maintain the words of the Law by observing them." And all the people shall say: Amen. - Deut. 27:26 - Paul goes on to say that Christ, by enduring the form of death on which a divine curse was expressly pronounced in the Law, absorbed in His own person the curse for us.
On the other hand, those who rely on the keeping of the Law are under a curse, since scripture says: Cursed be everyone who does not persevere in observing everything prescribed in the book of the Law. The Law will not justify anyone in the sight of God, because we are told: the righteous man finds life through faith. The Law is not even based on faith, since we are told: The man practices these precepts finds life through practicing them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by being cursed for our sake, since scripture says: Cursed be everyone who is hanged on a tree. This was done so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might include the pagans, and so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit. - Gal. 3:10-14 - Deut. 21:23 -
When sin is considered as defilement that requires cleansing, the most straightforward affirmation is that 'the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin' - 1John 1:5-7 - The effect of Jesus death is to purify a conscience that has been polluted by sin. The same thought is expressed by the writer of the Book of Hebrews, and he speaks of various materials that were prescribed by Israel's ceremonial law to deal with forms of ritual pollution, which was an external matter. Then he asks, 'How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?' - Heb. 9:14 - Spiritual defilement calls for spiritual cleansing, and this is what the death of Christ has accomplished.
When sin is considered as slavery from which the slave must be set free, then the death of Christ is spoken of as a ransom or a means of redemption. Jesus Himself declared that 'He came to give His life as a ransom for many.' - Mark 10:45 - The apostle Paul not only spoke of sin as slavery; he also personified sin as a slave owner who compels his slaves to obey his evil orders. When they are set free from his control by the death of Christ to enter the service of God, they find this service, by contrast, to be perfect freedom.
The understanding of sin as a debt that must be canceled is based on the teaching of Jesus. 'One of the Pharisee invited Jesus to a meal. When he arrived at the Pharisee's house and took his place at table, a woman came in, who had a bad name in the town. She had heard he was dining with the Pharisee and had brought with her an alabaster jar of ointment. She waited behind him at his feet, weeping, and her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them away with her hair; then she covered his feet with kisses and anointed them with the ointment.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know who this woman is that touching him and what a bad name she has.' Then Jesus took him up and said, 'Simon, I have something to say to you.' 'Speak, Master' was the reply. 'There was once a creditor who had two men in his debt; one owed him five hundred denarii, the other fifty. They were unable to pay, so he pardoned them both. Which of them will love him more?' The one who was pardoned more, I suppose' answered Simon, Jesus said, 'You are right.'
Then he turned to the woman. 'Simon,' he said, 'you see this woman? I came into your house, and you poured no water over my feet, but she has poured out her tears over my feet and wiped them away with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she has been covering my feet with kisses ever since I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. For this reason I tell you that her sins, her many sins, must have been forgiven her, or she would not have shown such great love. It is the man who is forgiven little who shows little love.' Then he said to her, 'You sins are forgiven.' - Luke 7:36-47 -
This is similar to Saint Paul reference to God as having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands. Paul's words in Colossians 2:14-15 speak of the 'principalities and powers' as a personification of the hostile forces in the world which have conquered men and women and hold them as prisoners of war. There were no hope of successful resistance against them until Jesus Christ confronted them. It looked as if they had conquered Him too, but on the cross He conquered death itself, along with all other hostile forces.
He had overridden the Law and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross, and so he got rid of the Sovereignties and the Powers, and paraded them in public, behind him in his triumphal procession. - Col. 2:14-15 -
Sin is also viewed as estrangement or alienation from God. In this case, the saving work of Christ includes the reconciliation of sinners to God. The initiative in this reconciling work is taken by God. - 2Cor. 5:19 - God desires the well-being of sinners; so He sends Jesus as His reconciling grace to them. 'And all things to be reconciled through him and for him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, when he made peace by his death on the cross.' - Col. 1:20 -
Those who are separated from God by sin are also estranged from one another. Accordingly, the work of Christ that reconciles sinners to God also brings them together as human beings. Hostile divisions of humanity have peace with one another through Him. Apostle Paul celebrated the way in which the work of Christ overcame the mutual estrangement of Jews and Gentiles.
But now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the riles and decrees of the Law. This was to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God. In his own person he killed the hostility. Later he came to bring the good news of peace, peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near at hand. Through him, both of us have in the one Spirit our way to come to the Father. - Eph. 2:13-18 -
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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