Understanding the Bible
Home Page Back to Bible Studies page 1 Site Contents

                                          

'May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.' Gal.6:14

 

2. FOUR (LENT) STUDIES ON WHAT THE CROSS ACHIEVED FOR BELIEVERS 

[4 pages when printed]

 

STUDY ONE   Bought back for God - Our Redemption  

Introduction:  Jesus Christ achieved so much for us on the Cross that we struggle to be able adequately to describe all the benefits we have received. To help in this, several ‘images’ are commonly used.  They are not  alternative ‘theories’, but complementary ways of understanding the totality of what Christ did.

In this study we will investigate “Redemption” which uses the image of the slave market, where individual slaves could be redeemed by the payment of a price. The idea of redeeming something may not be so familiar to us today, but thinking about ‘rescuing someone’ or of ‘setting someone free’ might be helpful. Both these ideas are included within Redemption. 

 

1.The idea of redemption is not confined to the NT. In the OT the idea of redeeming something appears 22 times. It is woven into the life of the Israelites. People who were responsible for rescuing relatives in times of trouble were called the ‘Kinsman Redeemer’ (exemplified by Boaz In the life of Ruth - see Ruth 4).

But the most important example is connected with the Exodus. In Exodus 6:1-8 (particularly v.6) read what God tells Moses He is going to do for the people of Israel who are slaves in Egypt.

In vs. 6-9 identify the main points of this promised act of redemption and work out the parallels with what Christ achieved for us at Calvary.  Look at Mark 10:45. How do 1 Peter 1:18,19 speak of how were redeemed what we have been redeemed from? 

2. Please turn to Col.1:13,14. What 4 things does Paul say our redemption has resulted in?

1. v 12 ……………………………….......…................

2. v 13 ………………………………...…….................

3. v 13 ……………………………….……...................

4. v 14 ………………………………...........................

Does everyone need redeeming - 1 Timothy 2:6?

So do these verses speak of a minor change or a major transformation in our situation? In what ways? Discuss how, as individual Christians, we may be aware that this has taken place for us. 

3. Why did we need redeeming?  See John 8:34 (with Rom.6:23a), 1 John 5:19b, and Heb.2:14,15.

4. What does it mean to be redeemed in practical terms? Consider both objective and subjective results of our being redeemed from 1 Cor.6:19,20; Rom. 6:11-14; and Col.1:10-12. What do they mean in practice? 

5. How does the idea of being ‘bought by God’ connect with being ‘free’- John 8:32; Rom.8:1,2; Gal.5:1 and 1 Peter 2:16?   

BACK TO THE TOP

STUDY TWO   Declared not guilty  - Our Justification

In our first study we explored Christ’s work of Redemption and noted that it used the image of the slave market - of being bought and set free by Christ from our slavery to sin and death, at the price of His shed blood on the Cross.

In this study we move to the image of the law court where God is the judge. In responding to the Gospel, we trust in Christ for the forgiveness of our rebellion against God’s moral and spiritual law. So in applying redemption to us, God responds to our faith by positively declaring our sins to be forgiven. This is a legal declaration in which God states that we are completely forgiven and no longer subject to His condemnation. This is justification - to be declared ‘not guilty’.

1. Please read Phil.3:4b-9. What is Paul so pleased about?  What distinction is Paul making between two types of righteousness in v.9? (‘Righteousness’ is living perfectly according to God’s law). Where does the second one come from and how is it obtained? Also see Rom.1:17 – follow the reference back to Habakkuk 2:4.

2. Now please read Paul’s fuller statement in Rom.3:21-31.  

What three gifts has God given us (in vs. 21 - 24)

Where does the second gift come from (1 Cor.1:30, 2 Cor.5:21)?

At first when Martin Luther, the great reformer, was asking how he could possibly stand before a holy God, Rom.3:21 made him tremble. Can you see why? But when he discovered justification by faith alone, he wrote (c.1516)

"At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely 'In it the righteousness of God is revealed' as it is written, 'he who through faith is righteous shall live'. There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the Gospel, namely the passive(*) righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written 'he who through faith is righteous, shall live.' Here I felt that I was altogether born again and entered paradise through open gates. The whole Scripture took on a new meaning". [(*) means not lived actively by me, but by someone else and credited to me.]

3. Now we need to work out exactly how God gives us this perfect righteousness, because we are clearly not totally righteous in our daily lives, even when we are Christians. Paul goes on to explain this in Romans chapter 4, using the example of Abraham.

Please read all of Rom.4. What point is Paul making in vs.4-8, then 9-12, and then 13-15? In vs.18-25 what did Abraham do?  So what did God do?  What does Paul say God will do for us when we believe in Christ? How do you understand ‘it was credited to him…’?

4. Let’s look at some other verses:

Is.53:11 .. who is the verse talking about?

Acts 13:38,39 .. what point are these verses making?

Rom.5: 1 and 9 … what have we gained from our justification?

Rom.10:10 … what should our justification lead to?

Gal.3:1-14/23,24 …what big points are these vs. making?

Rom.11:6 … how does Paul summarize the issue?

Luke 18:9-14 … what attitude is required of those who would be justified ?

 

RECAP ON JUSTIFICATION

 

God requires from us RIGHTEOUSNESS - perfect living according to his revealed law  (- as He did of Adam and Eve.)

  Without a personal record of this RIGHTEOUSNESS He cannot admit us into His perfect heaven.

  ‘But now’ in the Gospel ‘a righteousness from God, apart from [keeping] the law, has been made known  …’

  ‘This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.’ (Romans 3: 21,22)

  ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’ (Rom.3:23,24)

  To be justified means ’to be declared not guilty’. It is an event once and for all when we repent and submit to Christ as Lord and Saviour. It establishes our status before God. It is a legal or ‘forensic‘ judgement - the verdict of God on the believer on the Last Day made known now.

  (The Roman Catholic Church teaches that justification is a process by which the believer becomes more and more justified through works of devotion and service. Thus the believer never knows when he/she is justified enough: hence the invention of purgatory)

  The righteousness that ‘has been made known’ and which is ‘freely given’ to the believer is the righteousness of Christ -  2 Cor.5: 21 ‘so God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of Christ’. Luther said  “Mine are Christ’s living, doing, and speaking, his suffering and dying, mine as much as if I had lived, done, spoken, suffered, and died as he did.” 

  This new righteousness is not given or imparted to us in this life (we continue to sin, but as redeemed sinners), but it is imputed or reckoned or credited to us in heaven.

  Rom.4: 22-24 ‘This is why “it was credited to him [Abraham] as righteousness”. The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead…’

  1 Cor.1: 30 ‘It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.’

  Gal.3:6 ‘Consider Abraham “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”’ (Gen.15:6)

  Gal.3:11 ‘The righteous shall live [have life] by faith.’  …. so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.’

BACK TO THE TOP

 

STUDY THREE: Made friends with God - Our Reconciliation  

 

Introduction  In our first two studies we explored Redemption and Justification, to which we ascribed the images of the slave market and the law court. In this study we move into the realm of personal relationships - broken and then restored. At some time we have all fallen out with someone else and felt the misery of it. Putting the problem right, perhaps by an apology, and being restored to friendship again, brings overwhelming relief - as if a burden has been lifted. Reconciliation in the New Testament is about our restored relationship with God as a result of the Cross.

1. The NT is clear that before we come to Christ, the relationship between us and God has completely broken down. What signs do we see of this in the world around us?

Please read Eph.4:17-19 (by ‘Gentile’ in v.17, Paul means ‘heathen’ or unchristian).  Also see Eph.2:1-3. Compare these passages and say how you feel they apply to people who apparently live “respectable” lives even if they are not Christians?

2. Please read Rom.5:9-11. In what sense is an unbeliever an “enemy” of God (v.10)?

In these three verses Paul’s phrases tumble over one another as he tries to describe the fullness of what has happened to the believer! According to vs.10 and 11 what has happened and how? What did Christ do that has restored the broken relationship referred to in Q.1?

3. Other passages of the NT continue to spell out the same message. Read Col.1:19-23.

What ideas does the word ‘alienated’ (v.21) bring to mind, and how are/were we affected by it? 

Why do people who are not yet Christians not feel like God’s enemies?

There then follows one of the NT’s “but now” statements (v.22): so ‘but now’ what has God done? What phrase is found in v.20 which puts it another, very important, way? (see also Rom.5:1)

What should be two of the chief results of us being “at peace” with God through faith ? See Phil.4:7 Rom.15:13 and Rom.12:18; 2 Cor.13:11.

When two parties really are implacable enemies, it often needs a mediator. Who does 1 Timothy 2:6 say our mediator is and what did he have to do to ‘bring it off’?

4. What do Hebrews 8:6 and 9:15 say that Jesus is the mediator of? What does that mean?

5. Finally we turn to possibly the best known NT passage on reconciliation - 2 Cor. 5:17-21. Why was Christ able to do that?

Assemble as much as you can about the privileges, duties, responsibilities and limitations of an ambassador? How do they relate to what we must do?

  BACK TO THE TOP

 

STUDY FOUR: THE NEW COVENANT

Please read Luke 22:19,20.

What does Jesus mean by ‘the new covenant’? The fact that it is ‘new’ suggests there was a ‘old’ covenant. So what was that?

In ordinary human affairs, a covenant is a negotiated mutual agreement between two parties that is legally binding on both. A covenant may have conditions attached to it. So what is different about a Bible covenant?

In the Bible a covenant is always initiated and defined by God; grounded in His love, law and justice; and the result of His sovereign grace and promise. He commits Himself to it irrevocably. It is never the result of a proposition from man to which God agrees. It is not a negotiated treaty.

Covenant is very important in the Bible revelation because God never relates to anyone except by a covenant; in other words on the basis of what He has initiated, completed and committed Himself to.

In the Bible the word covenant/s/covenanted appears 287 times, which in a typical printed Bible is once every 4 pages! And the verses containing the word are some of the most important in the Bible.

The Bible is a progressive revelation, which means that the truth of God’s plan for our salvation is gradually revealed over time, until it is completely fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament there are five covenants that God makes; they are not a Christian invention -they have always been recognised by Jewish scholars. We will now examine them to discover their main characteristics:

 

1. God’s covenant with Noah

OT Verses: Gen.6:7,8 then 17,18 (whose idea was this covenant?) then 9:9,11-13.

Main characteristics: a new start under God's mercy and favour

New Covenant: 1 Pet.1:3 'In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope'

 

2. God’s covenant with Abraham

OT verses: Gen.12:2,3 then 15:1-7,18. God confirms the covenant in Gen.17:2,6-8.

Main characteristics: a new people - a new homeland - new life (Isaac) out of death and hopelessness  (Abraham's great age and Sarah's barren womb)

New Covenant: Luke 1:17 'to make ready a people prepared for the Lord'. 1 Peter 2:9 ‘You are a chosen people..‘ Phil.3:20 'our citizenship is in heaven. Eph.2:5 'But God made us alive with Christ even when we were dead …'

 

3. GOD’S COVENANT WITH MOSES

OT verses: Ex.2:24,25 then 6:2-8 then to Mount Sinai 19:5: Joshua 3:14

Main characteristics: God's own people redeemed from slavery

New Covenant: 1 Pet.2:10 'but now you are God's people' Rom.6:6 'no longer slaves to sin' - Rom.8:2 - Titus 2:14

 

4. GOD’S COVENANT WITH DAVID

OT verses: 2 Sam.7:1-5 then 11b-14a,16. Now Ps.89:3,4 then vs.28,29 and vs.35-37.

Main characteristics: a new king - with an everlasting kingdom - we will live in security

New Covenant: John 18:37 'you are right in saying that I am a king' 2 Pet.1:11 'into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ' John 10:28 'no-one can snatch them out of my hand'.

 

5. GOD’S COVENANT WITH JEREMIAH

OT verses: Jer.31:31-34

Main Characteristics: a new covenant - a new relationship - a new understanding - based on the foundation of the forgiveness of sins v.34 'For I will forgive ..' see also 33:8

New Covenant: Luke 22:20 'my blood of the new covenant'

1 Thess.4:8 'God, who gives you the Holy Spirit.'

1 John 5:20 'The Son of God has given us understanding,'

Col. 2:13,14 'He forgave us all our sins …’

……………………………….................................................................

Further New Testament references to covenant: Luke 1:72 - Acts 3:24-26 The

Book of Hebrews - written for converted Jews, majors on this subject, to assure them that Jesus is greater than Moses, and that the Old Covenant Law has been completely fulfilled and satisfied by Jesus and replaced by the New Covenant. Strictly speaking God’s New Covenant is with Jesus, but we are incorporated or integrated into it by faith in Christ.

So see - 7:22 > 8:6,7 > 8:8-13 (the entire covenant with Jeremiah is repeated) > 9:1-10 describe the rituals of the old covenant, then conclude 14,15 > then 19-28 >> 10:16 (Jeremiah again) > 12:18-24, > 13:20,21

  BACK TO THE TOP

 

STUDY FIVE:   Knowing God - What the Cross tells us about the character of God

Introduction  We all reveal our character by our actions. So in what God did at the Cross, He revealed a great deal about Himself. That is not to say that the OT, and the rest of the NT, don’t tell us what God is like - they do, very comprehensively! But the salvation wrought by the Cross of Christ was God’s greatest act since the creation of the universe. So it, above all else, should vividly portray the character of God. We are going to briefly examine something of what it says about the glory, the justice, the love, and the power and wisdom of God.

1. The glory of God

Please trace Christ’s thinking by reading the following short passages from John’s gospel: 8:28, 12:20-28, 13:30-32, 17:1,5.

  What is Christ referring to throughout these verses? See what Paul says in 2 Cor.4:4-6.

2. The justice of God

Please read Deut.32:4 and then Rom.3:25,26. What has God done (mentioned twice) through the Cross?

The problem is, how can God forgive human sin without denying His own justice?  

Let’s spell it out ......

*Who paid the penalty for our sin (Rom.3:25a)? 

*Who was He? 

*So how did God satisfy His own justice? (2 Cor.5:19a)? 

*Has God been just?

3. The love of God

This time let’s go to John’s First Epistle and read 3:16a, then 4:9,10.

Now turn to another “demonstration” in Rom. 5:8. Why won’t people recognise this love?

4. The wisdom and power of God

In what ways does the Cross demolish the world’s ideas of wisdom and power - 1 Cor.1:20-25?

Does that mean that we are not to apply our minds to thinking out our faith? To what extent, do you think, should we strive to understand our faith and how could we achieve that? Note Paul's repeated assertion that we may "know" - see Phil.1:9.

END

BACK TO THE TOP