Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Christ's Sacrifice as Payment for Sin
(From Forerunner Commentary)
|
Romans 3:31
Some translations, such as the English Standard Version and the New International Version, render this as, “Do we then overthrow [or nullify] the law by this faith?” (Emphasis ours throughout). Paul is writing about a particular application of faith, not simply belief or trust in God. He discusses the specific application in verses 21-26, which are about faith in Christ's sacrifice as the means of atonement. Putting this together, the apostle asks if trusting in Christ's sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins nullifies God's law. Then he answers his question quite firmly: Not only does this faith not overthrow the law, it actually upholds or confirms it! Before explaining this line of thought, we must step back to consider Paul's whole song. The overriding theme of Romans 1—8 is the doctrine of justification by faith and how it applies to the Jew-Gentile divide that the early church struggled with. Chapters 9—11 then discuss the grafting of Gentiles into the Body of Christ and the current standing of physical Israelites. The final chapters discuss Christian conduct in light of the preceding doctrinal explanation. Justification by faith simply means that we are aligned with God—justified—based on our belief in Christ's sacrifice rather than any personal worthiness. At the time, many questioned this teaching because Gentiles were entering the church with little exposure to God's instructions. The church needed to understand that justification comes from believing in Christ's sacrifice, not from obeying God's commands, which Jewish believers had traditionally emphasized. So, the question was, “How is someone accepted by God?” which leads to, “How does that relationship start?” As a simple example, say a man tells a lie one day. The next day, though, the man does not lie or sin in any other way. In addition, he sells all he owns and gives the proceeds to charity. Yet the good he did the second day cannot pay for the whopper he told on the first. The wages for yesterday's work of the flesh must still be paid, and those wages are death (Romans 6:23). Neither perfect obedience nor charitable deeds after the fact can pay those wages. The account can only be settled with a life. So, either the sinner pays with his life, or he has faith in Christ's sacrifice as payment. Whether Jew or Gentile, we cannot approach the Father on the basis of our works because everyone falls critically and fatally short of His standard. Yet this truth does not abolish God's standards—it only means that our diligent efforts to live up to them will not justify us. In the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, the man who acknowledged his sinfulness and sought mercy was justified, not the one who held up his fasting and tithing to God as a self-serving offering (Luke 18:9-14). As necessary elements of God's instruction, fasting and tithing are good things, and Christ commands them in other places (for example, Matthew 6:16-18; 9:14-15; 23:23). But they cannot pay the debt that a person owes because of his sins. Whether in terms of obedience to the law or in charity, our works are simply our duty (see Luke 17:10), not the means of our justification. Being faithful to our spouse and honest with our neighbor will not justify or save us, yet we understand we are still obligated to keep those divine commands. They tell us the right way to live, and we see the significant benefit of keeping them and the tremendous harm from breaking them. Likewise, God never intended the fourth commandment to justify us, yet keeping the seventh-day Sabbath is still part of God's commandments. God has blessed, sanctified, and hallowed the seventh day since Creation, not merely from the giving of the law on Mount Sinai (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:11). The Sabbath is a necessary weekly reminder of God as Creator and Redeemer (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:15), both physically and spiritually and past and present/future. Exodus 31:13 shows it to be the sign of sanctification that is foundational to knowing God, as well as a day for being refreshed. The Sabbath is so vital to a relationship with God that He scattered ancient Israel primarily for breaking it (Ezekiel 20:12-13, 16, 20-21, 24; 22:8, 26). Jesus Christ's teaching and example clearly upheld the Sabbath. Aside from the first commandment, the fourth arose as a subject more often during His ministry than any other. He and the Jews never disagreed over whether the seventh-day Sabbath was holy; they only sparred over what was appropriate activity on it. The book of Acts shows the apostles and early church continued to keep the seventh day. Yet today's nominal Christianity largely disparages the Sabbath because the Roman Catholic Church presumed to sanctify Sunday to placate sun-worshipers within the Empire. Though Protestantism rejected many Catholic practices during the Reformation, it weakly nodded to papal authority to continue this pagan tradition of men. Its later theologians twisted the Scripture to justify retaining Sunday as its day of worship.
David C. Grabbe
How Does Faith Establish the Law? (Part Two)
|
|
Romans 3:31
Considered in totality, Paul is in no way against God's law. However, he is very much against misapplying it, such as thinking we can approach the Father because we have never killed anyone or did not lie this week, etc. Instead, as he reasons, we must begin with the fact that we are sinners, and our best efforts can never justify us once we have transgressed. We can approach the Father only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Even so, that critical point does not mean the law is unnecessary. Indeed, the law is extremely valuable because it reveals where we are out of alignment with God so we can change course. Thus, God gives us His law as a lamp to our feet (see Psalm 119:105)—to teach us how to walk and live as He lives. Even if a man feels at peace with God in how he is living, it does not mean God has no controversy with him. Psalm 7:11 says, “God is angry with the wicked every day,” despite also sending rain and sun on the good/just and evil/unjust alike (Matthew 5:45). Psalm 50:21 describes how His silence can lead sinners to the assumption that He is on their side. Still, neither God's silence nor how a man feels are good indicators of what He thinks. Instead, His Word reveals what He thinks. Understanding the principle of justification by faith, we can work backward, step by step, and understand how faith confirms or upholds the law. The first step is that the faith Paul has in mind in Romans 3:31 is belief in Christ's sacrifice to pay for our sins. The second step is that, since there are sins that need to be atoned, a law—a definition of right and wrong—is still necessary. I John 3:4 teaches that sin is the transgression of the law, so a standard of conduct must exist to be transgressed. Such transgression triggers the death penalty and the sinner's need for a Redeemer. The conclusion, then, is that inherent within our belief that Christ's blood pays the death penalty is an acknowledgment that God's law has been broken. Rather than nullifying God's law through our belief, we implicitly confirm that God's law is still very much in effect and admit we still need to be saved from the death penalty when we break that law. If we have this faith, forgiveness is available when we repent, but repentance means turning from transgressing God's standards. In Romans 6:15, Paul is aghast at the thought of continuing in sin—of persisting in behaviors that activate the death penalty, which includes breaking the fourth commandment by not treating the seventh day as holy. Likewise, Jude 4 warns of those who turn God's grace into license, and Hebrews 10:26-27 contains a thunderous yet ignored declaration: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”
David C. Grabbe
How Does Faith Establish the Law? (Part Two)
|
|
1 Corinthians 11:27-29
The apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that when it came time to take the Passover, they were in danger of eating and drinking judgment to themselves. Why? It was not that they were somehow failing to appreciate Jesus Christ's physical body, but because they were not being partial to His spiritual Body as a whole. To make this practical, consider a principle of valuation. In the world, an object's value is primarily determined by what someone is willing to pay. An artist may claim his painting is worth a million dollars, but the actual monetary value comes when someone buys it. Thus, for fine art, furniture, and other expensive collectibles, records show how much it sold for as a means to gauge the value. Consider the value that we have as individuals, based on what the Father and the Son together were willing to pay for us. Reflect on the incomparable worth of the blood of the perfect and sinless Son of God. Ponder the Creator's supreme act of condescension in donning the form of a flesh-and-blood human and then giving that life as payment. Rather than allowing us to receive the wages of our sin, He paid that debt with a currency impossible for a human to assess, which gives us some idea of our value to God. Next, we should apply this incomparable value to someone else in the Body with whom we feel a close connection—perhaps a spouse or a good friend. God paid the same price for him or her because that individual incurred the same debt. Consider the value the Father and the Son now place on him or her based on what They were willing to pay. Finally, we must take this exercise one step further. Perhaps there is some part of the Body—maybe someone in our own congregation—whom we know we should love but do not like very much. Consider the value we place on him or her, then consider the price the Father and Son have already paid for that person. How does our valuation compare with God's? Or is it more comfortable to regard some as outside the Body than to be partial to them (as 'discern'—diakrino—indicates)? By not discerning the Body of Christ correctly, that is, by esteeming some members and despising others, the Corinthians were, in effect, signifying that Christ's blood—the life of the very Creator!—was worth more when it came to some parts of the Body than to others. Thus, Paul warns in I Corinthians 11:27-29, if they were not properly discerning the whole Body in their conduct throughout the year, they stood in grave danger because they would be unable to value and appreciate Christ's sacrifice in their fellowship with Him through the Passover. In not recognizing the God-given and inestimable worth of all the others in Christ, they were diminishing Christ! Just a few chapters before, Paul had written, "But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ" (I Corinthians 8:12; emphasis ours). The result of taking the Passover unworthily is that we come under judgment. As Paul points out, the sickness and premature death that God judged "many" with (I Corinthians 11:30) resulted from their making an improper distinction about—and being partial to—the Body of believers. (Note that in Greek, "judgment" here does not indicate condemnation.) That judgment includes the removal of protection, even as God did not protect the Israelites in Egypt from the death angel if they were not under the blood of the Passover lamb. Paul does not imply that every illness or death has its source in an improper discernment of the Body. In John 9:3, Jesus reveals that the man's blindness resulted not from his or his parents' sin but to display the works of God in him. Sometimes, the "sins of society" lead more directly to disease rather than our own sins. Even so, numerous examples exist of God striking His servants (or their family members) with sickness or even death for certain sins. Even Paul (as Saul) was "judged" with blindness for a time for His persecution of the Body! Thus, if we are not adequately judging ourselves (I Corinthians 11:31) about the value we place on all parts of His spiritual Body, and God deems it is time for Him to judge us instead (verses 29, 31), then partaking of Christ's sacrifice will not provide healing but the reverse. If we are in opposition to Christ through despising parts of His Body, His sacrifice will not be a blessing for us but more like a curse. His stripes will not heal us but rather indict us. Still, if God has to judge us for not discerning the Body, it is for our benefit, keeping us from actual condemnation: "But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world" (I Corinthians 11:32). It is impossible to appreciate and value the shed blood of the Savior at Passover while devaluing parts of His spiritual Body throughout the rest of the year. When observing the Passover, we must remember that just as we are in fellowship with Jesus Christ through symbolically eating and drinking of His sacrifice, we are also in fellowship with His spiritual Body. We need to keep in mind the value that He has placed on each of us through His redemption and the obligation we now have to value all the members of His Body.
David C. Grabbe
What Does 'Discerning the Lord's Body' Mean? (Part Three)
|
Start Your Day with Scripture
Begin each morning with God's Word — the Berean delivers a daily verse and insightful commentary to spark reflection and growth.
Join 135,000+ fellow believers on this journey.
|
|
