The Bad News
God Requires Us to Be Holy or Morally
Perfect but Who Can Do That?
How can you know whether or not God has chosen you to go to heaven to be with Him forever? You may think God will choose you by comparing your good deeds with your bad deeds? No. Well then, does God compare you with other people? No, God compares you with Himself. God’s standard of measurement is Himself. You must be as holy and as morally perfect as God. God said, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.” Jesus said you must be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. [1]
What kind of measurement does God use to compare you with Himself? He uses His law of godly love. It shows you what He is like and what He requires of you to be morally perfect like Him. It requires you to love Him. It says, “You shall have no other gods except Me; You shall not make, worship or serve idols; You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy. It requires you to love others. It says, “Honor your father and mother; You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor and You shall not covet (covet means to lust after or be envious of anything that belongs to your neighbor). [2] To summarize these Ten Commandments, we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and we are to love our neighbor as we do ourselves.[3] We are not to serve idols. This means we cannot put anything or anyone first in our lives before God. God must have first place in our lives. We are to treat everybody like we would want to be treated by them. This means, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying; You shall love your neighbor as yourself. This Law of Love is repeated by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans. Paul said, “owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law, . . . love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law”.[4]
You might reply, “I think I have kept God’s commandments of love. After all, I know I have not murdered anyone or committed adultery,” Are you sure? Remember, God looks beyond your outward appearance – your outward actions and speech. God knows what kind of person you are by your thoughts and the intent of your heart. For example, Jesus taught that a person who harbors angry and hateful thoughts about someone has the heart of a murderer. The Apostle John said, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life within him.[i]
And have you kept the commandment to love your enemy? Have you been merciful to him? Do you see your enemy as a person created in God’s image and respect him for that reason? Do you pray for him? Do you bless him and not curse him? Do you return good for the evil he has done to you? Do you take revenge against him or do you leave your revenge to God?[5] Many people find it very hard to act in this godly way towards their enemies because it goes against the grain. How about you?
Most people choose to ignore or to purposely set aside God’s law of love to live their lives according to “Natural Law”. Whereas. “God’s Law” originates from His divine nature, “Natural Law” originates from man’s sinful mind. “The Bible says this about man’s sinful mind:
“For those who live according to the flesh set their
minds on the things of the flesh but those who live
according to the Spirit, the things of the [God’s]
Spirit. For to be carnally minded [i.e., to have your
mind set on the flesh] is death, but to be spiritually
minded [i.e., to have your mind set on the things of
the God’s Spirit] is life and peace, because the
carnal mind [or the mind set on the flesh] is hostile
toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law
of God for it is not even able to do so.” [6]
Alexander Pope gave us a clear example of the Natural Law’s ethics or sinful man’s mind-set when he said, “All things fall out according to natural law . . . Whatever is, is right. Rape is; therefore, rape is right.” Marquis De Sade took this kind of thinking to its atheistic conclusion by saying, “for what should we, who have no religion, do with [God’s authoritative] law?” He described Nature as the one who equally dictates virtues and vices in us. He claimed Nature was a very reliable gauge of right and wrong. Thus, he would advocate abolishing the death penalty, but not because he thinks it is too harsh a penalty for the crime of murder, but because he does not think murder is a crime to be punished at all. He argued we should abolish all laws against murder. Murder, after all is a perfectly natural impulse. Society must learn to accept it. For the lawless Naturalist – “what is natural is good”; and (if God does not exist) there’s no one who has the right to say otherwise. Therefore, rape is not only natural, but Nature herself proves that rape is acceptable by equipping the rapist with greater strength than his victims. Does this sound familiar? It is natural selection by the survival of the fittest.
De Sade’s irrational ideas and psycho-babble can be classified as moral anarchy simply because they teach us that there are no moral rules. And for you to decide to abandon yourself to the control of your natural impulses is really nothing more than deciding to satisfy your own desires at every possible opportunity. This is easily recognized in De Sade’s “survival of the fittest” opinion about rape. His philosophy is reflected by our culture’s widely spread saying, “If it feels good, do it.”
The naturalist, William Provine, presented his “Natural Law” argument this way in a debate: “Let me summarize my views on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear . . . There are no gods, no purposes, . . . There is no life after death . . . There is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning in life, and no free will for humans.” Provine, I believe, is saying that humans are simply evolved animals. They act according to their animal instincts. Like animals, humans are unable to discern the difference between good and evil. So, they are unable to make any informed moral decisions from which they can freely choose their actions. Nonsense! Provine’s cleverly veiled lie embedded in his Natural Law argument would disqualify all humans from any moral responsibility for their actions. Furthermore, Provine’s nefarious attempts to destroy the idea of human responsibility were not restricted solely to this life. He also attempted to destroy the idea that humans can be held responsible for their actions after they die. Why? What would he gain from this? Well, for one thing, he would never have to face God’s judgment on Judgment Day. As Fyodor Dostoyevsky said, “Destroy a man’s belief in God and in immortality [i.e., there is life after death] and . . . everything [in this life] would be permitted, even cannibalism.”
Most people who say there are “no moral absolutes” make this saying their own moral absolute. While others suggest that every moral issue is “morally relative”. [7] When these people are faced with making a rational decision about a moral issue or situation, their decision becomes “relative to” or dependent upon their ever-changing subjective feelings at that particular moment. They drift through life without God’s moral absolutes to guide their feelings and consciences.
If you believe there is no God and therefore, no moral absolutes, you should consider God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and His divine nature which are made visible to you through His wonderful creation handiwork and through His daily providential care of you. But even more clearly God has revealed Himself and His will to you throughout His written revelation in the Bible, and therein, most clearly by His Son, Jesus, the Messiah.[8]
These revelations of God’s existence through His Creation and through the Bible make you, as His creature made in His image, morally accountable to Him. But you probably would like to continue to ignore God because you really don’t like the foreign idea of being morally obligated to obey Him perfectly. Or you may prefer that God not interfere with your present, sinful, lifestyle. Instead, you want unrestricted freedom to boldly act out your powerfully attractive, sinful desires and secret fantasies. For example, Augustine, at sixteen, stole pears from his neighbor. He says He didn’t do it for the pears themselves. He had food. He stole them to experience the lustful thrill and enjoyment, that comes from committing sin. He said that it was sin that gave the stolen pears their flavor. Augustine asked himself which part of that act of theft pleased him and his answer was that he could do wrong for no other reason than it was wrong. But Augustine eventually realized that the more he chased the shadows of unrestricted freedom to sin, the more deeply he became enslaved by sin, its guilt and the fear of its consequences. Jesus said, “If you practice sin, you are a slave to sin.” Yes, the more you yield to your sinful desires, the more you become addicted to practicing sin.
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all
things and desperately wicked. Who really knows
how bad it is? But I the LORD, search all hearts
and examine secret motives. I give all people their
due rewards, according to what their actions
deserve.”[9]
“For it is out of the heart that come evil thoughts,
pride, envy, greed, theft, malice, murder, adultery,
sexual immorality, fornication, lewdness,
sensuality, lying, slander and disrespect for
parents.” [10]
Man’s basic problem is his sinful heart. How did man’s heart become sinful? In the beginning God created Adam holy and innocent. Then, in the Garden of Eden, God made a covenant with Adam.[11] Obedience to God’s covenant would prove to be the test of Adam’s love and loyalty to God. The terms of the covenant were stated this way: “God commanded the man, saying ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die”[12]. Next, the fallen angel, Satan, tempted Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of this tree by promising them they would become as God. Adam may have thought that if he became a god, he would not have to answer to God for his conduct. So, when Adam chose to disobey God’s covenant commandment, his heart and his will changed radically. His heart lost its holiness and innocence. It became sinful. Ever since Adam’s heart was corrupted by sin, his will was strongly influenced to do what his sinful heart told it to do.
Adam’s obedience or disobedience not only determined his spiritual relationship to God; it also determined our spiritual relationship with God. Before Adam’s disobedience God had appointed Adam to stand in our place for us as our legal representative before God. So, when Adam acted, he not only acted for himself; he also acted on our behalf as well as our substitute. So, when Adam sinned, we sinned. Adam’s sin was imputed or counted as our sin as well. As the result of this, we were legally declared “condemned sinners”[13]. The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of God’s moral excellence” and “there is none righteous, not even one”.
At first, this might seem unfair to us. Why should Adam make this weighty decision that has such dire consequences for us? Actually, if you think about it, this is a common thing in our everyday world. In America, we have what is known as a Federal or a representative government. Our President, for example, as Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces may decide to send troops into war which has dire consequences for them and our nation. Then, there are also our Congressmen, our Senators, and our Supreme Court Justices who make weighty decisions that have dire consequences for us. Their wrong decisions can have dire consequences for us and whether we like their decisions or not, their decisions affect us.
As the result of Adam’s decision to sin, evil, suffering and death entered into the world. In addition to that, you inherited Adam’s sinful, corrupted, human nature. For example, from your infancy you did not need to be taught how to be deceptive, jealous, cruel and selfish. My friend, now you know what is wrong with this world. God is not dead, you are! The Bible teaches that everyone born into this world is born spiritually dead.[14] This is why Jesus said, “you must be born again from above”[15].
Therefore, it appears that you are in a helpless, hopeless, impossible situation. God still requires that you be perfect and holy regardless of your fallen, sinful condition. So now, besides owing God your perfect obedience to His commandments of love, you will also have to pay the penalty to Him for your disobedience. What is the required payment for your disobedience? The wages paid for sin is death. [16] Is there any solution to your double debt dilemma? Is there any hope for you? Yes, God’s solution to man’s sin problem is Jesus. God can set you free from the penalty and power of sin because He has sent Jesus Christ to be your substitute.
The Bible says, “When we were yet without strength [helpless], in due time Christ died for the ungodly.[17]
The Good News
God Can Declare You to Be “Holy” Based Entirely On Jesus’ Holy and Perfect Life
Adam, as mankind’s representative, failed to obey God’s covenant. God the Father, also known as Yahweh was not surprised by Adam’s sin because Yahweh had already made a covenant with His only Son, Adonai, before the world was created.[18] Yahweh planned in His love, wisdom and goodness to send Adonai who willingly consented to leave His glory in heaven to be born the man named Jesus. Jesus the Messiah would then become man’s representative. [19]
Adonai existed in heaven with Yahweh from eternity past. Adonai was not created. He possessed the same eternal divinity and divine attributes as Yahweh. He is co-equal with Yahweh. Adonai is the same God as Yahweh but, He is a different person than Yahweh. God is three persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three persons exist separately from one another at the same time.[20] Yet, their existence is also clearly described by their shared mutual relationship of divine essence with each other so that together they are the only, One, true, living, same God).[21]
Adonai continued to possess His divinity and divine attributes after He was born the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.[22] This is why Jesus is described in the Bible as “God manifested in the flesh”. [23] However, Jesus, who though he existed in the form of God, did not consider His equality with God something to selfishly cling to,[24] but emptied Himself (i.e., became temporarily subordinate as a man to God the Father[25] and laid aside His privileges to be recognized and treated by man as God) as He took on the form of a servant and became like human beings. Christ Jesus was conceived and born of a virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit. This means Christ Jesus did not have a human father.
“Now the birth of Jesus was as follows:
When His mother Mary had been betrothed
to Joseph, before they came together [before physical
union] she was found to be with child by the Holy
Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous
Man, and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send
her away secretly. But when he had considered this,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid
to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been
conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear
a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will
save His people from their sins.’ Now this [miracle]
took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord
through the prophet: ‘ BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN
SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL
HIS NAME IMMANUEL which translated means,
“GOD WITH US.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep
and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him,
and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin
until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name
Jesus”[26]
Those who doubted Jesus’ preexistence and the legitimacy of His birth were asked this question by Jesus: “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They answered, “The son of David.” He asked them. “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’ [or Christ], saying, The LORD [Yahweh] said to my Lord [Adonai, the Christ of God], “Sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies beneath your feet”?[27] By asking this question Jesus was making a statement about His own preexistence, as Adonai, and therefore, whose Son He really is. Jesus was saying that He is the same ‘Adonai’, the ‘Lord’, the ‘Christ’ or the promised ‘Messiah’ that David heard in the conversations between Yahweh and Adonai and that David witnessed these conversations as they were recorded in Psalm 2: 7-9 and 110:1. So, Jesus’ question really was, how did Adonai, who was eternally divine and who existed then as David’s ‘Lord,’ and ‘Christ’, become David’s future, human, descendent? [28] The answer is, Adonai, the divine Son of God, was without a human body and a human soul but when He was united with a human body and soul, He was born the man named Jesus. Adonai then became the God-man, Jesus. Adonai was born the Son of David, the Son of Man.[29] So, could this be why Jesus is said to be both the root and the offspring of David ? (Rev. 22:17). Jesus, while He existed then as Adonai. was the root, the author, or the spiritual origin of David’s faith. And centuries later, when Adonai became Jesus, He was born into David’s physical heritage.
Adonai existed before Abraham, Moses and David and then later Adonai was born Jesus after He became permanently united with a human body and soul at His conception in Mary’s womb. And since Adonai, was later born Jesus by His spiritual union with a body and soul, that would make Jesus in His unified essence the God-man. Looking backwards then in retrospect, since Jesus, was at one time Adonai, this would also make Jesus the God of Abraham, Moses and David. And when Jesus spoke to the religious leaders about His age, He was referring them to His eternal divinity and existence in heaven, as Adonai. Jesus told them, “Before Abraham was I AM”.[30] But, they did not believe Him because they believed He could not be more than fifty years old judging by His human appearance.
Jesus, Himself, declared that He is the Christ. When Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman she said, “I know the Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When that One comes, He will declare all things to us. Jesus said to her ‘I who speak to you am He”.[31] And finally, in order to bring a false charge of blasphemy against Jesus, the High Priest of the temple court called false witnesses and his hand-picked jury in the middle of the night to witness against Jesus. The High Priest demanded that Jesus answer the question “Are you the Christ?”.[32] And under oath before the one and only, true, living God, Jesus answered what you have said is true; I am the Christ.
Since Jesus is the God-man He is the best man qualified to represent man. Why? Because being both God and man, Jesus was able to live a sinless life for us. The Bible says that Jesus was tempted by Satan with the same kinds of temptations that we face but, Jesus never yielded to temptation. He never sinned.[33] Jesus obeyed all of God’s commandments perfectly for us. Jesus kept the Law of Love perfectly for you.
The Bible says: “So then as through one
transgression [Adam’s sin] there resulted
condemnation to all men, even so through
one act of righteousness [Jesus’ obedience
to God’s law] there resulted justification of
life to all men. For as through the one man’s
disobedience all were made [legally constituted]
sinners, even so through the obedience of the One
the many will be made [legally constituted or
legally placed into the category of the] righteous”[34].
“For Christ brought the Law to completion [He
fulfilled the Law’s requirements] so that everyone
who believes in Him may be saved” [or justified or
have a right standing with God][35].
Because Jesus honored and obeyed God’s law perfectly for you, in God’s eyes, it is AS IF you had honored and obeyed it perfectly. God looks at you and sees you in His Son’s moral perfection.
By means of His covenant with His Son, God provided for us the perfect holiness and righteousness that He required in us. But this righteousness is alien to us. It is outside of us because it belongs entirely to Jesus.
When we trust in Jesus’ righteousness, we are declared righteous. Thus, Jesus’ righteousness is imputed or credited to our account so that we are counted as righteous. We can never lose this imputed righteousness precisely because it is kept safely for us in heaven in the person of Jesus. The Apostle Paul trusted in this alien righteousness because God foretold that He would provide Jesus to be our righteousness. The Bible says: “See the days are coming,” says the Lord, that I will raise up to David a righteous Branch and this is His name by which He will be called: The Lord our righteousness”[36]. And further, “Christ Jesus became for us divine wisdom, and righteousness and holiness and redemption”[37]. God declared Paul “legally” righteous because he trusted in Jesus’ righteousness as the only legal source of his righteousness before God.
And this is how we are made the righteousness of God in Christ. “For He [God, the Father] made him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him [Jesus].“ [38]
After you trust in Jesus’ righteousness you will find that you have been adopted into God’s spiritually reborn family. “. . . when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons!”[39]. When a ewe’s newborn lamb dies, the shepherd often brings an orphan to her to mother. She may reject the orphan because he does not have the “family scent”. So, the shepherd skins the ewe’s newborn dead lamb and ties the skin to the back of the orphan. The ewe now recognizes the familiar scent and will accept the orphan as if it were her own newborn lamb.[40] Likewise, God provides Christ Jesus as your covering. When you trust Christ to cover you with His righteousness, God will accept you into His family. We become children of God by faith in Jesus’ righteousness.
Your Good Deeds Are Not the Key To Heaven’s Gates!
So, if you do not trust in Jesus’ righteous deeds, you will not be covered with the robe of Jesus’ righteousness. Instead, you will stand before God on Judgment Day clothed with deeds described as filthy and polluted rags. The Bible says, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment”[41]. You cannot improve upon, or add to, Jesus’ perfect obedience. Why not instead, by faith, offer to God the perfect deeds of Jesus’ obedience? Jesus’ obedience paid your debt of perfect obedience to God. The Apostle Paul said, “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us”[42]. The Bible says, “For by grace [God’s undeserved favor] you have been saved [or redeemed] through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as the result of [your] works [or deeds], so that no one may boast.[43]
Your right actions or good deeds come from the wrong motives when you are motivated to earn your way to heaven by them. Or you may do good deeds to get love, praise or profit from man. Or you may do good things just to relieve your guilt for doing bad things. Or you may be motivated to do good things just to get a warm, fuzzy feeling about yourself because you think these good deeds proceed from some natural goodness within you. You may do many acts that are counted good and praiseworthy among men and those acts are not in themselves sinful, but because they are mixed with your wrong motives, they become sinful.
So, the correct motivation for your right actions or good deeds can only come about when they done for God’s glory as the result of a living faith formed in your heart by God when He saved you by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ and His deeds.[44] Thus, Christians are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good deeds.[45] Saving faith in Jesus will produce deeds of faith.[46] You cannot have one without the other. Good deeds are the evidence that a person has been saved, but their good deeds never get them into heaven or save them from sin, death and hell. Christians do good deeds because they are already saved and bound for heaven. Their good deeds are done out of their love and gratitude to God’s Son for saving them.
God will place you into spiritual union with Jesus by the faith that He gives you to believe in Jesus. You are not born with faith to trust in Jesus’ righteous deeds. Instead, you naturally trust in your own deeds. If you trust in Jesus, it is only because God chose to save you by supernaturally working saving faith in your heart to cause you to look outside of yourself to Jesus (the object of your faith) and to His deeds as your only reason of hope for salvation.[47] You must place your trust in Jesus alone. You cannot place your trust in Jesus plus anyone or anything else.
God Can Forgive Your Sins Based Entirely On Jesus’ Death
Augustine said, “The seeds of sin you sow will only produce a crop of grief.” The only way you will be able to escape from suffering those haunting, painful, guilty feelings caused by the true guilt of your sins is to repent. Turn from your sins to God with a broken spirit or contrite heart. [48]Confess your sins to Him and ask Him for His forgiveness.
“If you, O LORD should mark iniquities, O Lord,
who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.” [49]
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-
kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me
thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from
my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions and
my sin is ever before me,” [50]
“If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just
to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness”. [51]
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous
man his thoughts, let him return to the Lord, that he
may have compassion on him, and to our God, for
He will abundantly pardon”. [52]
But on what basis can God forgive your sins? How can God forgive your sins and still be considered “Holy” and “Just”? How can God, the Righteous Judge, declare you “not guilty” and not punish you for your sins against Him? [53]. Do not think that God looks the other way when you sin.[54] Your sins do not go unnoticed. God not only sees your sins, but because He is “Just” He must punish them. He must hold you accountable for your sins. A holy and just God must satisfy His justice by giving you what you deserve for your sins. So, will a holy God show you His forgiveness at the expense of His justice? No, God cannot and will not compromise His holy and just character to forgive you.
So, how can God forgive your sins? God sent Jesus from heaven into this world to help you find God’s forgiveness. [55] God Himself provided, Jesus, as the precious, sacrificial Lamb, without blemish [without sin] to pay for your sins.[56] God carried out His wrath and justice against your sins by punishing His Son for your sins. This made it possible for God to grant you forgiveness for your sins without compromising His holy and just character. He can grant you forgiveness for your sins and still remain true to Himself. Only God, in His superior, infinite wisdom, and sacrificial love could have conceived of a way, like this one, to save you for Himself.
Amazingly, God’s holy, inflexible, righteous, justice and His tender, compassionate forgiveness embraced each other when Jesus was nailed to a Roman cross.[57] There on that cross Jesus acted as the sinner’s Substitute. Instead of the sinner getting the just punishment that he rightfully deserves for his sins, Jesus paid for them by willingly taking the sinner’s punishment upon Himself and dying in his place and for him. Jesus said, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”[58] So, when you by faith claim Jesus as your Substitute, God will impute or transfer your guilt and your punishment for your sins to Jesus. So, Jesus, your substitute, lived a perfect, holy life for you. He obeyed God’s commandments perfectly for you and He paid the death penalty for your failure to obey them. Jesus spilled His blood on the cross for all who put their trust in Him. Jesus died to save you from eternal death, which is eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire prepared for the Devil and all the fallen angels.[59]
God will never put Christians on trial for everlasting death in Hell on Judgment Day because their offenses against God’s Law have already been tried and condemned in their substitute, Jesus Christ.[60] God will not put a Christian in double jeopardy by requiring two deaths from the same person.
“Can justice require two deaths—one of the substitute and another of the principle? Would not that be equivalent to two deaths of the principal? Even human governments do not inflict this injustice. During the Napoleonic wars, a recruiting officer told a certain man that he would enroll [draft] him and send him to the field. The man replied that he was not liable to military duty, as he was dead. “How are you dead,” said the officer, “when you are speaking to me?” “I hired a substitute,” was the rejoinder; “he was killed in battle and I died in him.” “I will report the case to the emperor,” exclaimed the sergeant. He did so, and the emperor confirmed the position taken by the man. “Let him alone,” said Napoleon, “the man is right.” He who does a thing through another does it himself.”[61]
So, did God appoint Christ as our substitute? Did Christ willingly accept the appointment and did He not fully perform what was required of Him as our substitute? Then, it is impossible for those who died a legal death in Christ to be required to die a second death for the punishment of their sins.
The Apostle John said, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God is “Just”. He is not only “Just” when He punishes sins but, He is also “Just” when He forgives sins. Napoleon, who in our illustration above, acted justly according to his custom or law of “substitution” when he exempted the man from his obligation to serve in the war. God acting justly according to His law of “substitution” faithfully exempts us from the just punishment due for our sins by providing a Substitute for us. It is because Jesus served as our Substitute that God will never condemn us on Judgment Day. As a result of this, repentant Christians can experience the joy of their salvation before they die because they have the assurance of their salvation after they die.[62]
The Prophet Isaiah foretold of Jesus’ voluntary, sacrificial death for sins more than 700 years before Jesus was even born. Isaiah said,
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of
sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from
whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we
esteemed him not. Surely, he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him
stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But he
was pierced for our transgressions, the Lord has
caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him, he was
crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that
brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds
we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has
caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” [Jesus].[63]
Jesus died to make things right between you and God
so that He could bring you back to God.[64]
Jesus died and God raised Him alive from the tomb.[65] Jesus’ bodily resurrection is historical proof that God accepted Jesus’ death as the atonement sacrifice required for our sins. The Bible says, “Jesus was put to death on account of our misdeeds and was raised on account of our justification” [eternal right standing with God][66].
Jesus was born both God and sinless man. His divine birth qualified Him to be raised from the grave. If Jesus were born just a mere man and He had not been born the God-man, His blood sacrifice for our souls would have been worthless. Why? Because, if Jesus had been conceived and born by the natural, human, reproductive means, He would have inherited Adam’s sin and Adam’s sinful, human nature. This naturally would have caused Jesus to be counted a sinner like you and me. And, if Jesus were a sinner like us, then Jesus’ attempt to pay for our sins as our representative would have been useless. [67] But, may I please remind you at this point that Adam was not Jesus’ ancestral father? God was Jesus’ Father. Jesus was born the Holy child. His birth was a miraculous, supernatural birth. Jesus was born with a permanently unchangeable, sinless, human nature and a divine nature. This means Jesus did not inherit Adam’s guilt or his fallen, sinful, human nature. Therefore, Jesus was morally qualified to pay a ransom for us and He was raised from the grave to prove His payment was accepted by God.
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” [68] The Bible says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who, according to His great mercy, caused us to be born again unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance imperishable and undefiled and unfading, . . . kept in heaven for those of you who are guarded by the power of God through faith unto salvation”. [69]
“O’ death where is your sting? O’ grave where is your
victory? But thanks be to God, who gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” [70]
The Apostle Paul said this about the believer’s death:
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate
us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither
angels or demons, neither our fears for today nor our
worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell
can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky
above or in the earth below indeed, nothing in all
creation will ever be able to separate us from the love
of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [71]
“Because God’s children are human beings – made of flesh and blood – the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he [Jesus] set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”[72]
Having conquered death for us, Jesus has conquered our fear of death also. The only thing anyone has to fear about death is not taking Jesus at His word concerning His promise of eternal life. [73]
Jesus said, “Truly, truly I say unto you, he who hears
my word, and believes Him who sent Me, has
eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but
has passed out of death into life.” “He that believes
on the Son has everlasting life; and he that does not
believe the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of
God remains on him”. [74]
The Bible says that after Jesus resurrected, “God exalted Him [Jesus] to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father”.[75] The Bible says, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation”.[76]
God Can Accept You and Receive You into Heaven Only By Faith in Jesus Alone
Some say that all religions lead to God and heaven. But the Bible tells us that there is only one mediator (one go-between person) appointed by God to be our mediator.
The Bible says, “There is one God and one mediator
who can reconcile God and humanity – the man Christ
Jesus.” [77]
Because Christians believe that Jesus is the only mediator they do not look forward to or anticipate another mediator. They follow Jesus because there is no other man who lived a perfect life, and who died and resurrected from the dead to remove their sins from them. This is why Christianity can confidently claim to be the only true religion and that Jesus is the only pathway to God and heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father but through Me”.[78] “All the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out”[79]. “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest . . . for your souls”.[80] The Apostle Peter said this about Jesus; “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved”.[81]
The Bible says, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life”.[82] “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” . . . Whoever believes in Him [Jesus] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life; and he that does not believe the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God remains on him”.
So, what does it take to get into heaven? It takes Jesus and Jesus alone. Jesus’ blood and righteousness are all you need. When referring to Jesus, God the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”.[83] Because the Father is pleased with the person and work of Jesus, the Father can be pleased with you when you place your trust in the worthiness of the person of Jesus and His meritorious, saving work done on your behalf [84].
Receive Jesus into your heart by faith today and publicly declare that He is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved.[85]
The Apostle Paul’s inspired words exploded with joy and with overwhelming praise to God when he wrote:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He [the Father] has chosen us in Him [the Son] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him [the Father]: in love having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus unto Himself [the Father] according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praises of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the beloved [Jesus] in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of grace which He lavished on us”.[86]
[1] Leviticus 19:2; Matthew 5:43-48; Acts 17:28
[2] Deuteronomy. 5:6-21.
[3] Matthew 22: 37-40
[4] Romans 13:8-10
[5] Genesis 1:26-27; Matthew 5:44-48; Luke 6:27; Romans 12:17:21
[6] Romans 8:5-8
[7] Judges 17:6
[8] Hebrews 11:6; Romans. 1:20-32; Philippians. 2:5-11; John 1:18; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews.1:1-3; Romans. 2:14-15;
[9] Jeremiah 17: 9-10
[10] Mark 7:20-23; Genesis 18:17-19:1-29; Romans. 1:18-32; 12:1-2; 1 Timothy 1:8-10; Revelation 22:14-15; 1 Corinthians. 6:13-20; Colossians. 3:5-9; 1 Thessalonians. 4:2-8; Deuteronomy. 5:16; Ephesians. 6:1.
[11] Hosea 6:7
[12] Genesis. 2:15-17
[13] Psalm. 51:5; John 3:18; Romans 5:16, 18
[14] Psalm 51:5; Ephesians. 2: 1-5
[15] John 3:7
[16] Romans 6:23
[17] Romans 5:6
[18] John 17:5
[19] Genesis.3:15; 49: 8,10; Psalm 2; Acts 2:22-36; John 1:1, 18; 3:13; 6:38; Luke 2:1-11; John 20:28; Romans 9:5.
[20] Luke 3:21-22
[21] Deut. 6:4; John 1:1; 10:30; 17:5; 14:9-11; 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15
[22] Genesis. 1:26; Colossians. 1:15-17; John 1:1,14; Philippians. 2:6-11;
Hebrews. 1:1-3, 6
[23] 1 Timothy 3:16
[24] John 5:18; 10:33
[25] Hebrews 2: 7, 9
[26] Matthew. 1:18-25; Isaiah. 7:14.
[27] Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:42-44
[28] Mark 12:35-37; “Lord” also known Kyrios, Adon, Adonay or Adonai in LXX is applied to Jesus. Also compare Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1 with Mark 1:2-4
[29] Micah 5:2
[30] Exodus 3:14; John 8:58
[31] John 4:25-26; Acts 2:34-36; Matthew 16:15-17
[32] Matthew 26:57-64, 25
[33] John 8:46; Hebrews 4:15
[34] Romans. 5:18-19
[35] Romans. 10:4
[36] Jeremiah. 23:6
[37] 1 Corinthians. 1:30
[38] 2 Corinthians. 5:21
[39] Galatians. 4:4
[40] Ephesians 5:2; 2 Corinthians 2:15
[41] Isaiah 64:6
[42] Titus 3:5
[43] Ephesians. 2:8-9
[44] 1 Corinthians 10:31; Romans. 1:16; 1 Peter 1:23
[45] Ephesians. 2:10
[46] James 2:14-26; 2 Peter. 1:3
[47] Numbers 21:4-9
[48] Jeremiah 31:9; Jeremiah 50:4-5; Ezekiel 6:9; Ezekiel 7:16;
Ezekiel 20:43; Ezekiel 36:31; Zechariah 12:10
[49] Psalm 130:3
[50] Psalm 51: 1-3
[51] 1 John 1:9
[52] Isaiah 55:7
[53] Romans. 3:26; 8:31-34
[54] Numbers 32:23
[55] John 7:25-29; 8:23; Ephesians 4:10; Romans 5:19
[56] Genesis 22:8
[57] Psalm. 85:9-10
[58] John 15:13
[59] Matthew.5:29-30; 10:28; 23:33; 25:41; Revelation 20:10, 15
[60] Rom. 8:1.
[61] John L. Girardeau, Calvinism and Evangelical Arminianism (Harrisonburg, Va.: Sprinkle Publications, 1890, 1984), pp. 483–484.
[62] Rom. 8:1; James 1:16-17; Romans 11:29.
[63] Isaiah. 53:3-6
[64] 2 Corinthians. 5:18-20
[65] Acts 2:22-36
[66] Romans. 4:25
[67] Psalm 49:7
[68] John 11:25; Matthew 16:21; Luke 24:7; 1 Corinthians 15:1-22;
John 5:21,26; John 10:17-18; 12:1; 2 Timothy 1:10
[69] 1 Peter 1:3-4
[70] 1 Corinthians 15:55, 57
[71] Romans 8:38-39
[72] Hebrews 2:14-15
[73] Hebrews 4:1-2
[74] John 3:16, 18, 36; 5:24
[75] Philippians. 2:10-11
[76] Romans. 10:10
[77] 1 Timothy 2:5 NLT
[78] John 14:6
[79] John 6:37
[80] Matthew. 11:28
[81] Acts 4:12
[82] 1 John 5:11-13
[83] Matthew. 3:17; Matthew 12:18; Matthew 17:5
[84] Hebrews. 11:6
[85] Romans 10: 9-10; Romans 8:16
[86] Ephesians. 1:3-8
It has been my great pleasure and joy to share the good news about Jesus with you. It is like one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread for his soul.
San Diego Reformed Presbyterian
Church
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