Christ died

While We Were Sinners.

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die — but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. – Romans 5:6-11 ESV

Peter tells us, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV). The sinless one died for sinners. The innocent died for the guilty. The righteous for the unrighteous. And not after we got our act together. Paul emphasizes the out-of-the-ordinary nature of this event. He says, “most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good” (Romans 5:7 NLT). As human beings, we would find it difficult, if not impossible to give our lives even for someone who deemed as righteous. We might do it, but we would have to give it some serious thought. But Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. He didn’t die for us because we were righteous, but so that we might become righteous. In fact, when Jesus was asked why He hung out with tax collectors and sinners, He replied, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12, 13 ESV).

The implications of this are staggering. We live in a world where we believe everyone gets what they deserve. We are taught that any good we experience in this life is ultimately earned and a direct result of our good behavior. But Paul turns that philosophy on its head by saying that our salvation was the result of God’s mercy and love as expressed through the sacrificial death of His own Son. Rather than giving us what we deserved: death, God gave us what we did not deserve: life through faith in His Son. We deserved condemnation. He provided pardon. We deserved alienation from Him. He made us sons and daughters. We had earned His wrath and judgment. He poured out His grace and forgiveness. And the amazing thing is that “God shows his love for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 ESV). Christ died for the ungodly. But man’s biggest problem is coming to grips with his own ungodliness. We struggle believing that we are sinners in need of a Savior. We hate the idea of being helpless and weak, incapable of saving ourselves. We want to desperately believe that we can somehow earn our way into God’s good graces. But Paul will have none of it, because God refuses to grade of the curve or lower His standards in order to allow men to squeeze in under the bar.

It was the death of Jesus, His shed blood, that makes our right standing with God possible. We have been right with Him and are free from ever having to face His righteous, holy wrath ever again. As Paul will say later in this same letter, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 ESV). We have been reconciled with God. At one point we were His enemies, but now we are His children. Because of Christ’s death, we have been made right with God – in this life. Because of Christ’s resurrection, we are assured a permanent right standing with God – for eternity. We are saved from the eternal wrath of God that is the eventual lot of all men who refuse to accept His gift of salvation made possible through the death and resurrection of His Son. And Paul tells us that this reality should produce in us a joy right here, right now, because “we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:11 ESV). It was the ancient writer, Origen, who said, “Paul stresses the now in order to indicate that our rejoicing is not merely a future hope but also a present experience” (Origen, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans). We are reconciled with God. We are free from His wrath. We are righteous in His eyes. We are no longer His enemies. We are justified by God.

I love this quote from Ambrosiaster, a Christian writer who lived in the middle to late fourth century. He wrote, “If Christ gave himself up to death at the right time for those who were unbelievers and enemies of God … how much more will he protect is with his help if we believe in him! He died for us in order to obtain life and glory for us. So if he died for his enemies, just think what he will do for his friends!” (Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Paul’s Epistles). God loved us in the midst of our sin. Christ died for us because we were sinners. And we can trust God’s love to carry us through to the very end. We can rest of the fact that “God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6 NLT).

Spiritual Siblings.

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God, and everyone who loves the father loves the child fathered by him. By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments. – 1 John 5:1-2 NET

1 John 5:1-7

John has made it painfully and perfectly clear that, as believers, we are to love one another. He brings it up again here in chapter five. But as we learned in 1 John 4:7-21, we don’t get to determine the definition or standard of that love. We are to love one another with a godly love – a love that cares deeply about our spiritual well-being. It is not that we are to ignore or overlook one another’s physical, financial, or emotional needs, but I love you the most when I desire for you God’s best. God sent His Son to die on the cross so that we might have new life, eternal life. He sacrificed His own Son so that we might be redeemed, not just get slightly improved. God’s love for us desired His best for us. And it always does.

So I am to love my spiritual siblings with that kind of love. Which means I am to care deeply about their spiritual well being. So I am no longer free to simply address surface issues and ignore the heart issues that lie hidden underneath. I am not free to watch my brothers and sisters wallow in spiritual mediocrity and complacency. As their brother in Christ, I have a God-given obligation to love them as I have been loved. And I should be willing to sacrifice everything to see that they grow in Christ-likeness, mature in their faith, and increase in their knowledge of God. Paul told the believers in Galatia: “Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives” (Galatians 4:19 NLT). He encouraged the believers in Ephesus, “speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:15-16 NLT). As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to help one another grow. Christianity is not a solo-sport, it is a group effort. We are to grow together. The pastors and teachers are “to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church … until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13 NLT). The pastor’s job is to equip the people to do God’s work, which is to build up the church – the body of Christ. And we are not supposed to stop that work until we are all mature in the Lord and fully like Him. And as far as I can tell from Scripture, that will not take place until God calls us home or the Lord returns for His Church. So we have work to do. We have job security. Our task of loving one another will not end until we are all like Christ. And even then, our love will not cease. But rather than being geared toward mutual transformation, it will become much more focused on mutual adoration – love for one another and for God. Paul tells us, “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT). Love is eternal, because God is eternal. God is love.

On this earth, our love for one another is put to the test because sin can make each of us unlovely and unlovable. But we are to love as we have been loved by God. Our goal is not reciprocal love, where we demand something in return. It is to be selfless and sacrificial, desiring God’s best for the other person. My love for my brothers and sisters in Christ is to be based on God’s love for them, His desire for them. I should want for them what He would want for them. God’s will is their holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:3). That should be my will for them as well. John tells us the proof of our love for God is that we keep His commandments. And Jesus said that the two greatest commandments were to love God and others as ourselves. And John says, “his commandments do not weigh us down” (1 John 5:3 NET). We don’t find them burdensome or hard to bear. In fact, we should enjoy loving one another, because we see fruit, we witness spiritual transformation, we watch as God transforms those we love into the likeness of His Son. We love one another most when we desire for one another God’s BEST.