Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at The Finality of The Cross P17 (09-14-21)
God Dealt with Sin. Jesus said, “It is Finished”, and Conquered Death, so You can Receive Him by Faith. So Walk in Freedom, Now that You are Free.
Have you ever been presented with the gospel as coming forward to get your sins forgiven? That is not the gospel. Forgiveness of sins was provided 2000 years ago at a cross, and is what the godhead had decided beforehand that must be done in order for salvation to be given. For salvation is the receiving of new life. If the cause of our death, which is sin, was not solved first, then life could not be given, and as the apostle Paul said, if Christ was not raised we are still dead in our sins (1 Corinthians 15).
1 Corinthians 15:16-17
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still dead in your sins.
So Jesus death on a cross was a necessary preparation for life to be given. So there are two problems, sin, which caused our death, and death, our separation from God due to sin, which can only be solved by resurrected life.
Romans 5:10
10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
But in that new life, received by faith in Christ, is where the forgiveness of sins, provided then, is received. In Christ, you are a forgiven person and are made holy, or complete, having Christ’ righteousness imputed to you.
Hebrews 10:14
14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
Life, not just any life, but eternal life, God’s life, is received as a gift by faith in Christ Jesus, in what He alone provided for you by means of His death, burial and resurrection.
Romans 4:21-25 (KJV)
21 And [ Abraham ] being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Forgiveness of sins is once and for all, as we read in Hebrews, where your sins and lawless acts are remembered no more and where there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
Hebrews 10:16-18
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”[Jeremiah 31:33]17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”[Jeremiah 31:34]18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
The book of Hebrews goes into details explaining the New Covenant we are under today. Hebrews contrasts that New Covenant we are under today with what it was like under an Old Covenant system. Under an Old Covenant system were animal sacrifices that were required by an Israelite in order to get sins covered, atoned for. But such sacrifices of atonement could never take away sins, for they had to be repeated every year, for the sins you commit the previous year. But in either testament, the old or the new, the shedding of blood was required for sins to be forgiven.
Hebrews 9:22
22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
But under the New Covenant, Jesus, God in the flesh, became a final sacrifice for sins, and a sacrifice of such eternal value that it took away the sins of the entire world, back to Adam and forward to eternity. Jesus sacrificed Himself once, and for all, and will not come again to shed His blood again, but He is coming back to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Hebrews 9:28
28 Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Sadly, in much of the religious world today, whether Catholic, Protestant, or something else, people are taught that there is something we must do to get our sins forgiven. Under Catholicism, sin is defined as venial and mortal, and those mortal ones, in particular, require going to a priest to get your sins forgiven, otherwise you will not be in a state of grace, and are subject to hell. As a Protestant, people have been taught that there is positional and experiential forgiveness, and the sins you do willfully (as though some sins are not willfully done) must be confessed in order to be in fellowship with God. So, you are told that you must keep short accounts with God, and confess those sins to God to have those sins erased, or forgiven. All such teaching is contrary to what is taught in the scriptures, and is made more clear as you understand the New Covenant as explained in Hebrews, and understand the complete gospel, as explained by the apostle Paul in the epistles, such as books of Romans and Colossians. It is vitally important to understand the finality of the cross and of being made complete in Christ. Because of so much false teaching in the world today, Bob George continues to repeat and explain these things over and over again to help people grab a hold of the true freedom we have in Christ Jesus, for it is for freedom that Christ set us free.
Galatians 5:1-3
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
So listen again as Bob George explains propitiation, the agreement with the godhead concerning the sins of mankind and what would be necessary to satisfy the wrath of God against sin, so that God, in His love for mankind, can provide what man really needs, eternal life. Have you ever asked yourself what the meaning of Jesus’ words while dying on a cross, “It is finished”? What is finished? Listen to this audio, and ask the Lord what that means for you personally. Are you in Christ, then how does knowing the totality of the cross affect how you are to live today? If you are not in Christ, have you understood the fact that God has already reconciled the world unto Himself? Do you see that you are free to come to Him to receive Him, who is eternal life, to live in you and lead you internally? Jesus, God in the flesh, accomplished for you what you could never do in your flesh. So choose to leave the old life of sin behind and live a new life by walking in the Spirit He has given to you, to you who put your faith in Him.
So we encourage each of you, if you have not received Christ Jesus, to come to Him for Life. He died for you on the cross and was raised again so He could give you His Life and make you a new creature in Christ Jesus by faith in Him. He died for you then, so He could come and Live in you now! Tell Jesus, “thank you for dying on the cross for all of my sins and offering me your life now.”
