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1. Introduction 

We begin with an important question … 

'Does God want us ordinary Christians to think about our faith and understand what we believe?’

Well, where better to look for an answer than to the words of Jesus Christ Himself? In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus says

But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.    (Matthew 13:23). (my underline)

But in a previous verse He warns us that -

So the difference between losing our faith, or having a fruitful and satisfying faith, seems to rest on our understanding of it. In other words, our minds need to be persuaded and convinced of the truth before we can wholeheartedly live by it. Our minds engage our hearts.

Actually experience proves this to be true. There are thousands of people of every Christian denomination who have not pursued a deeper understanding of their faith. They may not even be aware that there is more to know and experience. And the result is that they have become half-hearted, even disillusioned, and cannot even be bothered to go regularly to church. Even if they do, their faith seems to be very formal and they do not appear to have any experience of God personally in their daily lives. In fact two people have recently told me that this was how it was for them, until they discovered how to know God for themselves in a personal way. This is what this study is about. 

St. Paul when writing to ordinary Christians says he wants us to have understanding -

We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, with all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives. Then you will be able to live as the Lord wants and will always do what pleases him. Colossians 1: 9,10. 

But is it possible to really understand our Christian faith? St. Paul assures us that we can. When writing to Timothy he said

Think about what I am saying, because the Lord will enable you to understand it. (2 Tim 2:7).

So the purpose of this study is to help us understand what the Bible teaches about what Jesus Christ achieved for us on the Cross.

2. The Cross is Vital

The Cross and its meaning give Christianity its identity over and against all other social or religious belief systems or philosophies. Its importance cannot be over-emphasised. Some striking observations have been made about it by scholars and theologians. 

The Holy Cross has particular significance for the Church. An instrument of death, it has become the instrument of salvation. .... The Cross is a symbol of Christ Himself ... from 'The Mystery of Faith' by Hieromonk Hilarion Alfeyev of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the one and only mediator between God and man. from the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, para. 618. Also Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven. (458)

The Cross of Christ is a symbol of the great moral, spiritual and religious importance. It stands for the crucifixion of Christ, the unfathomable mystery of the Passion and death of the God-Man on Golgotha. Only by means of the Cross can the supreme mystery of the Incarnation be penetrated, or the mystery of the redemption of mankind from 'The Cross of Christ' by Father G. Dimopoulos of the Greek Orthodox Church.

More briefly, another has said

Christ is to us just what his Cross is. You do not understand Christ until you have understood his Cross. P. T. Forsyth; The Cruciality of the Cross

But how much did the Cross achieve for us? That’s what we want to find out by means of this Bible study. It will go right to the heart of the Christian Faith.

3. The Cross was God's Initiative - We did not deserve it 

The Bible is actually an account of the initiatives that God has taken. It is full of them, and they are all undeserved! So it is with this biblical theme in mind that Paul writes in Rom 5:6-10

There are several remarkable things to note about this passage. Notice how Paul describes us before we  come to Christ for salvation.

First, he says ‘we were powerless' - meaning - powerless to save ourselves or to contribute to it. Only God could do it.

Second, he says it was while were 'still sinners'  that Christ died for us. In other words, we had not earned the right to be saved by trying to live a good life - we were still sinners! 

But third, even more strikingly he says we were 'God's enemies'. That might appear a bit too strong; we surely weren't against God to that extent.  But the whole Bible teaches that our inborn refusal to allow our Creator to rule our lives is very serious indeed and makes us God’s enemies! That’s why we need to be reconciled to God.

We should also note from this passage that Paul writes with the assurance that the believer's justification (the declaration of ‘not guilty‘) and reconciliation has already been completed. Notably, he says -

'we have now been justified'

and

Paul is using the Greek tense which refers to a completed event. He does not say ‘we are being justified’ or ‘we are now receiving our reconciliation.’ Both have already happened for the Christian. We shall return to this important issue later.

4. Our sin is very serious - God Hates Sin and holds us Responsible

In the Bible 'sin' means rebellion against the rule of God in our lives. We see this portrayed in the very first sin that mankind committed in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve disobeyed God - with the result that God cast them out of the Garden. They had refused to let His word of command rule their lives. This was ‘the Fall’; and its consequences (being cast out of the Garden) should be interpreted as the institution of the spiritual death of mankind. 

St. Paul says

'Therefore, ..... sin entered into the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned…'  (Rom.5:12)

Here, the context of the complete paragraph (vs.12-21) shows that Paul is not thinking about the actual sins that people commit every day, because here he is concentrating on the comparison between Adam and Christ. So he must mean that when God saw the sin in Adam, He - at that time - saw that all mankind would be like this. We call this 'inherited guilt' or 'original sin'. So all men have a polluted nature with a propensity to sin. Every parent knows that a child does not need to be taught how to do wrong things - they come by nature, but has to be taught how to do good things. 

David says in Ps.51:5 'Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.'

Paul confirms this reasoning in Rom.5:18,19....

'Consequently, just as the result of one trespass [Adam's sin] was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness [Christ's life and death on our behalf] was justification that brings life to all men.'

The sin of disobedience to God's rule has led to the myriads of individual sins that humankind commit every day: from minor acts of self-centredness to major acts of wickedness. We only have to read our newspapers or watch the TV news to know this is true. But the inherent sinfulness of all humankind has made all individual humans (including us) subject to God's judgement and wrath. When warning those who ignore God in their lives, St. Paul says

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgement will be revealed.  (Rom.2:5)

Often in the Bible, references to God's wrath are contrasted with the deliverance that believers have now received through faith in Christ. For example, writing to the Christians at Ephesus who now had salvation in Christ, St. Paul said

Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath (2:3).

From the whole Bible we are forced to conclude that mankind's greatest problem is God's wrath on Judgement Day. From the beginning God has demanded righteousness - a demand we cannot realise because our our sinful nature.

In Leviticus 19:2 God said

Jesus Christ made it crystal clear that we are all guilty of breaking God's law, when He re-stated God’s standard in Matthew 22:37-39. He said

None of us has done this. Jesus stressed it even more clearly again when at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matt 5:48, he said

How can we possibly attain to that standard? The truth is, we can’t. That’s why Jesus had to die for us, in our place.

5. Christ’s Sacrifice Won Complete Atonement

The justice and righteousness of God demand that sin be punished.

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom.3:23)

But the love of God provided a way that satisfied His justice. He gave Himself - in the form of His Son - to pay for our sin so that we could go free.

Jesus Christ died on the Cross as a perfect sacrifice to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves (‘we were powerless’ - remember?). He died so that we can be forgiven and reconciled to God. But what is ‘atonement’?

'Atonement' is an act by which a price is paid to appease the demands of a higher authority.

Christ’s act of atonement turns away God’s anger from those who submit to His Son Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Christ’s death paid the full price for our sins.

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. Rom.3:25

The original Greek for the phrase ’sacrifice of atonement’ is actually ’propitiation’ which means ‘a sacrifice that carries away God’s wrath completely so that His wrath is changed into His favour’.

Paul says that God …

did this to demonstrate his justice so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Rom.3:26.

6. So where does this leave the believer?

Let’s summarise what we have seen

1. We deserve to die as the penalty for our sin.

1. He paid, on our behalf, the penalty of death that we deserved to die for our sin ‘He has appeared at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself’ (Heb.9:26)

2. He removed God’s wrath from us ‘In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ (1 John 4:10 NASB)

3. He overcame our separation: God ‘through Christ reconciled us to himself ‘ (2 Cor.5:18)

 We have seen that our personal salvation is not deserved and cannot be earned or contributed to. It is all God’s work through Jesus Christ. St. Paul in one of his many declarations about our salvation says [with explanation inserted]…

But now a righteousness from God, apart from [keeping the] law has been made known to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes [as a gift, not to be earned] through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came through Christ Jesus. (Rom.3:21-24)

7. But what does it mean to be Justified?

It means to be ‘declared righteous’ or ‘declared not guilty’. When we decide to believe that Jesus died for our sins and we submit to Him as Lord and Saviour, then God declares us ‘not guilty’ anymore: He accepts us and gives us His Holy Spirit to help us live the way He wants.

An objector might observe that a key verse in this context - Isaiah 53:11 - 'my righteous servant will justify many' (NIV) is sometimes translated '..my servant shall make many righteous.' (NRSV). However a close examination of the Hebrew text reveals a preposition which renders the meaning  'provide righteousness for' which confirms our contention. (Motyer A. 'The Prophecy of Isaiah' IVP, Leicester, Uk, p. 442.)

For example .. for Abraham …

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)

 ....meaning that God accepted him because he believed!

and for us ….

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. (Rom. 4:22-25)

God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor.5:21)

We, as Christians, go on struggling with sin, but the wonderful kindness of God has already accepted us through our trust in Christ. He is ready to accept us straight into heaven because in Christ we have been declared ‘not guilty’ of breaking his law. Christ has taken all the blame and the punishment, and his perfect life has been credited to us.

So here is a very important question: can we add to our salvation or our justification by the good deeds we do - even if we acknowledge that it is God enabling us to do them?

No, of course not. To suggest that we can add to our acceptance by God with anything, is to suggest that what Christ did on the cross was not enough - in some way defective - or incomplete!

Such an idea goes against everything the Bible says. It was Jesus who earned our salvation - because we cannot. We cannot reach the standard of perfection that God demands. We can only receive perfection (righteousness) as a gift when we first believe.

Justification is not a process by which we add to what Christ did, by the good things God enables us to do in our lives. Justification is a once-and-for-all act by God by which He gives the STATUS of being accepted.

That’s why the Apostles are constantly talking about the believer’s forgiveness or acceptance by God as complete.

For example (Rom.5:1)

So we can know for certain that we are at peace with God - that He has nothing against us. We can be certain of this when we realise that God has accepted us already because Christ did everything for us and God has credited us with His perfection.

That’s why St. Paul can say with great joy …

Therefore there is no condemnation for those who in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death. Rom.8:1,2

Once the believer, like you or me, has entered into this relationship, then the great burden of trying to be good enough for God is lifted from us. The burden of hoping everything is going to be all right when we die is taken away. We do not need to do good things to increase our credit with God; because Jesus has already done what is needed perfectly and completely!

Once these burdens have been lifted, we can get on with living the Christian life of peace with God and gratitude to God - helped and urged by the work of the Holy Spirit within us.

For he has rescued us [‘has’- not ‘will’ rescue us, or ‘will if we do enough good deeds to add the what Jesus did‘] from the dominion of darkness and brought us in to the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have [already - completely] redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Col.1:13,14

8. So what are ‘Faith’ and ‘Grace’? 

We are saved by Christ, through faith and by God’s Grace. Yes, of course we are! But what are faith and Grace actually?

Faith is trust. It is not unthinking acceptance. When we say we put our faith in Christ, we are saying that we are putting our trust in what Christ has done for us on the Cross and have abandoned any other hope of salvation. Faith is trusting God for our everyday living - trusting that He has us in the centre of His hand.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast. Eph. 2:8

Grace is the saving quality of God. God’s Grace is the voluntary quality of God’s character by which He is prepared to provide a way for rebellious and undeserving individual humankind (like you and me) to be forgiven and reconciled to Himself. Grace is God’s mercy. God wants to be the one and only supplier of our salvation. He does not want any human being to claim that they did it for themselves! 

St. Paul again:

9. Did Jesus Christ Believe and Preach Justification by Faith Alone without Works?

On many occasions in the four gospels we read that Jesus declared that it was people's faith that enabled him to heal them. And on none of these occasions did he demand that the person did something else to deserve what he was doing for them or to complete what he was doing. 

Mark 5:34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." 

Jesus never says have faith and do something.

Only on one occasion did Jesus ask someone to DO something. In his discourse with the rich young ruler who asked how he can inherit eternal life, recorded in Mark 10:17-22 and  Luke 10:25-29, Jesus challenges him to go and give away his wealth and then return and follow him. Here Jesus has perceived  that the young man likes being rich and that this will hinder his life as a Christian if he does not deal with it. In any case, at this stage the young man was not even putting his faith in Christ. This incident cannot be regarded as a precedent  for faith plus works - especially in the light of the next observation.

In John 6:28,29 there is an interchange between Jesus and some men who ask him the most important question they could .....

'Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 

This was Jesus' big chance to declare once and for all what God wants from each of us. His answer here is very important.

Jesus answered "The work of God is this: [here it comes!] .. to believe in the one he has sent."

In other words - to have faith! Nothing about faith plus good works! Jesus himself has made it clear!

Again let's be clear what we are saying. We are NOT saying that good works do not matter. But we ARE saying that to be accepted by God requires faith in Christ alone - and that, then, good works follow as the grateful outcome and in response to the Holy Spirit's prompting. These good works please God (He has called us to holiness) but they do not add to our acceptance with God because that is complete through faith in Christ.

In Philippians 2:12, Paul says ' ... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his purposes.'

Some people misread this verse as 'work for your salvation.... But is does not say that: it says 'work out your salvation - which is entirely different. Paul is urging us to show by a life of good works that we have been accepted by God. This is completely consistent with our contention that salvation is by faith alone in Christ.

11. What does it mean to be 'sanctified' ?

In the Holy Bible, sanctification has two meanings. It means (1) to be set apart for God, and (2) the process by which the believer is made more holy by the work of God's Holy Spirit prompting and empowering him/her  to live for God. In the first sense, the believer is both justified and sanctified when he/she repents and turns to Christ for salvation. It is with this meaning that St. Paul can speak of us being both justified and sanctified by faith. After that, sanctification in its second meaning takes place as a life-long process. But it is the believer's  already-complete justification which ensures his/her reconciled standing before God.

For further study of this please turn to the page 'Confidence in the Gospel and Scripture'.

12. Summary

We have seen that: 

1. What Christ did for us on the Cross is central and vital

3. But God is merciful. Out of His own sovereign Grace - his undeserved favour towards those who believe in His Son - He has provided Christ as a substitute who died for our sins for us, in our place, so that we can be forgiven and reconciled to God.

4. When we put our faith and trust in Christ’s death for us, God forgives us, credits us with Christ’s perfect life, and adopts us into His redeemed People. This is our complete, once for all, justification - the declaration by God that we are no longer guilty before Him. We are set free from the fear of sin and death.

5. At our justification, God gives us His Holy Spirit to dwell with us. Released from our debt to God and therefore at peace with Him, we are stimulated and empowered by the Holy Spirit in us to live increasingly holy lives as we seek to become more like Christ. This results in a daily personal experience of God in our lives.

6. This process of sanctification is a life-long process and is never completed, but our justification was already complete when we first believed and cannot be added to. We are safe and secure, and know that we are going to heaven, because our status before God is as a forgiven sinner, credited with the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.

But when the kindness and love of God our saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of any righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. (Titus 3:4,5)

Jesus said .. you will know truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32) and So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)

 

The question left for us to decide is whether we experience this assurance and freedom in our personal life, or instead believe that we must still add our good deeds to what Jesus Christ has done to secure our salvation - in which case we ought to be seriously worried that we will never do enough! OR whether by simple trust in Christ we have entered into a relationship with God by which we know for a certainty that our sins are forgiven; that we are reconciled to God now; that we have complete justification already, and that we can cannot add to it; that our account with God is settled because Jesus’ perfect life is credited to us; that God will welcome us into heaven because Christ has done everything for us; and that we can get on with living our Christian life thankfully in the power and with the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit.