Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Christ's Blood Pays Death Penalty
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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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)
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Hebrews 5:9
Even when people realize that they should obey God and His commands, they may still scratch their heads over why obedience is necessary to the salvation process. If we are saved by grace through faith—as Ephesians 2:8 makes obvious—and not justified by works of lawkeeping (Galatians 2:16), what good do they do? Is not obedience to God's law useless or at the best, merely dutiful or ceremonial? Those who ask these kinds of questions have a limited understanding of what God is doing with humanity. In essence, they believe that God's sole purpose is to "save" people from their sins, for that is what Christ's sacrifice accomplishes—the shedding of His precious blood pays the penalty for sin, redeeming us from eternal death, and with His righteousness covering our corruption, provides us access to a relationship with the Father (see Romans 5:6-11). This is a wonderful, divine act of grace because we do not deserve such merciful treatment. The truth is, however, that salvation does not end there. One of the apostle Paul's comments in Romans 5 hints broadly at this: "Much more, having been reconciled [to the Father], we shall be saved by His life" (verse 10). Christ's death does not save us, but His resurrection to eternal life does! Not only does it make possible our future resurrection to eternal life (see I Corinthians 15:20-23), but it also allows Him to work with those whom God calls to bring them to spiritual maturity. Notice how Paul describes Christ's ongoing work with the church: And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13) As Head of the church (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18), Christ now works to bring us "to a perfect man," that is, He is completing a spiritual process to fashion us in His own image. Paul calls this "the new man" in Ephesians 4:22-24: "Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." Theologically, this process is called "sanctification." This is where our obedience comes into play. Paul writes in Hebrews 5:9, "Having been perfected, [Christ] became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him." Keeping God's commandments—His instructions—will guide us in learning what God requires of us and in impressing His character image upon us. God's laws do not save us, but they provide a pattern of behavior that pleases Him because such behavior reflects His own. Obedience, then, becomes a tool that we use in conjunction with Christ to grow in righteousness and prepare for the Kingdom of God.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Christian Obedience
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