Sanam Doctrinam

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

I believe that there is one word that arrests the human attention more quickly than any other. If this isn’t true of everyone, it’s certainly true of me. When I see this word, it engages my mind. The word? Free. I have been told if someone was giving out free refuse, I’d take as much as I could carry. I can’t pass up a free offer. If you have noticed, however, when you look at the word “free” there is also often an asterisk. What does that mean? It means there are strings attached. It means there are requirements. You have to sign up for something, agree to be a member for a certain period, or buy an item to get the “free” offer. The net result is that what is offered as free, really isn’t.

God has an offer marked “free,” as well. We find it in Romans 6:23. There, God talks about wages and a gift. Let’s start with the wages.

The wages, of which Paul writes in Romans 6:23, are paid by a master called “sin.” Paul describes this master called “sin” giving compensation for services rendered. It’s important to realize that no one has to go out of his or her way to render services to sin. It comes quite naturally. We do it automatically. Unfortunately, although these wages come easily, they are also exceedingly bitter. Death is described as an enemy, throughout Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:26). Death separates us from God, from people, and from hope, finally banishing us to an eternity facing the very wrath of God. And, I might add, sin is a faithful master. It compensates its servants each time, every time.

Paul contrasts this master named “sin” with a Gift-giver named “God.” His free gift, in contrast to the death sin offers, is eternal life. I would submit to you that eternal life is the greatest gift anyone has ever received. Where do we go to get it? The verse’s answer is clear: in Christ Jesus our Lord. There is only one place in the entire universe in which eternal life is to be found, and that is in Jesus Christ Himself.

Romans 6:23 marks the distinction between Christianity and the other religions of the world. Spending eternity in a good place in world religions is contingent upon how we live. Not so with the Bible. Jesus tells us that the only necessary thing to do to spend eternity with God is to believe in His Son. In John 6:29 Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” There is no asterisk, no strings attached. We don’t deserve it, and couldn’t possibly earn it.

Eternal life is a gift to be received by faith. We can’t work for it. The reality we discover from Scripture is that the work has been done. The price has been paid by another. Every legitimately free offer we will ever find in the course of our lives required someone, somewhere to pay the price that it could be offered freely. Whether it’s a free pen or a free car, someone had to pay the bill. The same is true with eternal life. Although it is a gift received simply by believing, eternal life is far from a cheap gift. It has been provided at enormous cost. The life of the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ, was the cost at which eternal life was provided.

As we consider who we are, it’s certainly worthwhile to recognize that believers in Christ are those who have eternal life. As believers in Christ, we’re far more than adherents to another religion: We’re possessors of eternal life. At the same time, we live among the dying. The offer is for them, too.

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1

Can you imagine receiving a presidential pardon? I would think that if I were to be convicted of a crime, sentenced with a stiff penalty, and then imprisoned without any expectation of a quick release, a pardon from the President would be about the most liberating news possible. It staggers the mind to consider the difference the stroke of one individual’s pen would make in this kind of situation: One day you are a convict, the next, a free person with no history. Remarkable!

Something very similar to a Presidential pardon happens when someone believes in Christ. The moment they believe, they are freed from the guilt of their sin before God.

Perhaps we struggle with connecting our condition apart from Christ with that of a convicted criminal, but the correlation is an accurate one. Our difficulty with making the connection may be due to the fact that we have an inadequate view of the significance of sin. I have heard one theologian refer to our sin as “cosmic treason.” Sin is just that serious. The fact that we are sinners by nature and by action puts us in a desperate condition before our Creator. Romans 8:1 refers to this condition by using the term “condemnation.” “Condemnation” basically refers to our guilty state from God’s perspective and our liability to His judgment, as a result.

Guilt comes in two varieties. It can refer to our status (a guilty state), or to the emotion we feel because we have done something wrong, or something we perceive as wrong. This second type of guilt can be true or false. There are many folks running around, feeling guilty for something over which they had no control, or which was not even wrong. That is false guilt. Without regard for whether we have guilty feelings or not, however, the reality of our guilty condition before God apart from Christ remains. That’s where Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins comes into play. His righteous act of giving Himself for the sins of the world relieves the condemnation of all who believe in Him. The pardon is available.

Have we availed ourselves of this great pardon? Unlike a Presidential pardon, this pardon is available for all who believe. If we have believed and enjoy God’s pardon as a result, the application of our freedom from condemnation is twofold. First, our freedom from condemnation should rightly cause our hearts to leap for joy, much like a convict who has all charges against him dropped. Second, if we’re operating under false guilt, we need to believe what God has said: There is no longer any condemnation for us. We’re free.

Here is a great sermon by John Piper on the subject of Christ’s blood, which I have been writing about in my recent posts.

Behold the Lamb of God

Please listen and enjoy!

I have noticed a disturbing trend in modern day Evangelicalism.  This will probably not be news to you, maybe you’ve noticed the same thing.  It is this idea that we can be called “Christians” and not be a part of the local church.  Some folks have taken this a bit far (just search aomin.org on Harold Camping.  Camping believes the church gathered is no longer needed, because radio ministry will replace it), but it seems to be a trend that is catching on (see this article from Barna, whose conclusions I disagree with).

The question is, “What is fueling this trend?”  I believe that there are several reasons.  Most of our Bible colleges and Seminaries have lost there focus on the local church.  I did say most and not all, but they tend to be focused so much on ministry that they have forgotten the place from which ministry should flow.  Ministry is not true ministry aside from the local assembly and its leadership (Biblically, this should be Elders).  Even para-church organizations have lost this (and lost is years ago).  Evangelicalism has become so “decision” focused, that we have forgotten about discipleship (Matt 28:18-20), local church giving (2 Corinthians 9:6-8), accountability to leadership (Hebrews 13:17) and missions (Matt 28:18-20, again).  It is not just about seeing people “saved”.  What are they saved from?  What are they saved unto?

I would like to explore these four areas (and possibly more) over the next few posts, to show Biblically why the local church matters.

I wrote previously of the blood of Christ and how there is no need for there to exist a “literal blood” in heaven as some have held.  I believe to take this position is to do damage to a Biblical understanding of Christ.  Let me explain:

If it were necessary for the blood of Christ to exist physically in heaven then it needs to be supernatural blood.  Human blood shed on the earth would need to be preserved somehow, since it’s natural characteristics would cause it to breakdown over time and before that even, be washed away.  Jesus, in His incarnation, was/is 100% God and 100% man, which makes Him 100% unique.  However, His human characteristics were just that, human.  In Matthew 4, we get a peak into this human aspect, as Jesus hungered after his forty days of fasting.  Yes, we can even go to our own topic of the crucifixion and see that the shedding of blood is an extremely human quality.  In fact it was necessary for Christ to take on humanity for tat very purpose, so that He might live as one of us and die a physical death. (Hebrews 2:14-18)  So how does his prove my point?  To mystically tie Christ physical blood to His deity is to damage the incarnation.  Is Jesus in the flesh deity? Yes.  Is Jesus in the flesh non posse peccare (not able to sin)? Yes.  But that which is human about Jesus, is that which He took on and that material aspect of his body although Holy and Sinless was still human flesh and because it is still human flesh, He was able to be tempted, but because He is God, He would never succumb to that temptation. (Hebrews 4:15)  Therefore the blood of Jesus was indeed human blood, it had all the same qualities of our blood and when it was shed, it dried up and decomposed and was washed away, just as ours is.

All of this does not detract from the necessity of Jesus’ blood being shed for the forgiveness of sin!  There was still the necessity of a blood sacrifice to satisfy God’s wrath! (Hebrews 9)  It is the substitution of Christ in our place that saves us and the shedding of His blood was a necessary part of that substitution.

Furthermore, for those who believe that God must take the repentant person’s sins and dip them into the blood of Christ, there is a misunderstanding of the atonement.  I would guess that most of those people have a view of the atonement that paints it as potential, rather than actual.  That is they would see Christ’s sacrifice as potentially saving all, but actually saving none, until the sinner (by way of choosing to be saved) applies the blood of Christ and therefore at that moment making the atonement actual.

This of course goes into the broader debate of Calvinism vs. Arminiasm, which I am willing to broach, but at a later time.  I say it to simply add to the gravitas of getting this doctrine right.  That doctrine being the doctrine of Christ, which is, at the end of the day, essential for us to get right, in order for us to rightly worship, He whom we say we worship.