Assurances for the Redeemed

By Jeff Curtis

We enjoy watching events, where sporting events where performances display coordination, balance, timing, and athletic skill. The sense of danger in a feat captivates us. A split-second error in timing can lead to a severe injury or possibly even death. Paul had a concern for the brethren at Corinth. He was concerned that they might be careless at a crucial moment, resulting in spiritual death. Just like athletes, Christians face an ever-present enemy: complacency. The neglect of honed skills, even once, is the only requirement for disaster. Understanding the power of temptation has led many Christians to an end worse the death.

The Assurance of Forgiveness. Christians do well to trust in the power of Jesus to forgive sins. The assurance that comes from remembering that we have been baptized into Christ and forgiven of our sins adds joy to Christian living. Paul’s reassuring words are scattered throughout his letters. He reminded one group of brethren, “In Him you have been made complete… having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:10-12). To other Christians, he wrote, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27).

When a penitent believer obeys the Lord by putting Him on in baptism, God spiritually transforms him or her. A sinner, cut off from God and with no hope, can go down into the water of baptism and there be cleansed by the blood of Christ. Upon emerging from the water, this new Christian becomes His. The lost becomes saved; the dead puts on life. In baptism, one is born anew. Buried with Christ, the old person dies, and the new person comes forth to a different kind of life. Christians stand under an umbrella of the blood of the Lamb. With joyful words we sing, “There is power, power…in the precious blood of the Lamb.” Baptism provides a constant reassurance that a believer is part of a redeemed and forgiven people.

All of this Paul knew, and the Corinthian Christians knew. But Paul also knew that the reassuring remembrance of our union with Christ in baptism holds a potential danger: complacency threatens. Some people who have been chosen and redeemed by God have turned their back to their old lives of sin and found themselves cut off from God’s grace. When Israel left Egypt, they were baptized, in a sense. As they passed through the Red Sea, with the cloud above them. They were enfolded in God’s care. God had redeemed them; He had purchased them just as He had purchased the Christians at Corinth by the blood of Christ. In the wilderness, Israel had sinned and incited God’s anger. Paul’s prayer was that the Corinthians would not do the same.

Continuing to history to teach, Paul reminded the Corinthians that God had given Israel spiritual food and drink in the wilderness. This was different from the Lord’s Supper, but in principle it wasn’t different. Paul wrote, “All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ” (1Cor.10:3,4). Paul knew that being “in Christ” involves much more than baptism and the Lord’s Supper. As important as these emblems are for spiritual strength, they are well-springs for godliness, not its guarantee.

Meditate on this:

Matthew 7:13-14    

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Why Did Jesus Die on the Cross?

By Jeff Curtis

A hundred volumes would do justice to cover the topic of “Why Did Jesus Die on the Cross?” A thousand volumes couldn’t answer every question that might be asked. But a few notes made from a study of the death of Jesus that may be helpful.

Paul tells us in Romans 3:23 that, “all have sinned, and “the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sinners suffer spiritual death, that is, separation from God, in this life (Ephesians 2:1, 12). Also, they face “the second death,” eternal separation from God, in the life that is to come (Revelation 20:14; 21:8).

Sin is an insult to a holy God (Romans 3:23b; Isaiah 5:16; Hebrews 10:29). Good deeds can’t erase the guilt of a single sin committed, we can’t be saved by our good works (Ephesians 2:8,9). Even when we do our best, it’s not good enough (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:12). As a God of justice (Isaiah 30:18), the Lord cannot allow sin to go unpunished (Romans 1:18). Since all were (and are) sinners without the ability to remove the guilt of sin, the dilemma for mankind looked miserable.

Thank the Lord that He is not only a God of justice, but also a God of love (1John 4:8). As a God of love, He desired (and still desires) that no one be lost (2Peter 3:9). These characteristics of God presented a problem. How could He be just and punish sin, and at the same time be the justifier of sinners (Romans 3:26)? God’s answer to the dilemma was “I will pay the price Myself, I will send My Son to suffer the penalty for the sins of mankind” (John 3:16). We read in 1John 4:10, “He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” The word ‘propitiation’ means ‘that which propriates, appeases, or satisfies the justice of God.’

What form should the propitiating suffering take? Early in God’s dealings with mankind, the principle of sacrifice, one life given on behalf of another, was instituted (Genesis 4:4; 8:20; 31:54; 12:7). This pattern was established: “…without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Through the years, hundreds of thousands of animal sacrifices were made according to God’s instructions. The problem was that it was “impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Only one sacrifice would do that: that of the perfect Son of God (1Peter 1:18,19). Only His blood could save us from “the wrath of God (Romans 5:9). The precious blood of Jesus Christ had to be “poured out” to make possible the “forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).

What form should Jesus’ shedding of blood sacrifice take? Evidently, in God’s eternal purpose (Ephesians 3:11) death by crucifixion was predetermined. The psalmist said that the hands and feet of the Suffering Servant would be “pierced” (Psalm 22:16). Christ Himself predicted that He would be crucified (Matthew 20:17-19; Luke 24:6-8), which would involve the piercing of His hands and feet. When Jesus died on the Roman cross, blood poured from His pierced hands and feet, as well as from His lacerated brow and torn back. After His death, blood came from His side (John 19:34). According to the Bible, we are justified, we are reconciled to God and saved from divine wrath by that blood (Romans 5:9,10).

Meditate on this:

Psalm 100:3

Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.