Pinhoe Road Baptist Church, Exeter

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Our Christian Faith

The New Testament contains

the language of friendship:	RECONCILIATION
the language of wholeness:	SALVATION
the language of family:	ADOPTION
the language of the law court:	JUSTIFICATION
the language of the slave market:	REDEMPTION
the language of the temple altar:	PROPITIATION

Reconciliation (the language of friendship restored)

Reconciliation takes place when friends who have fallen out with each other are able to put aside their differences, say sorry and forgive, and renew their friendship.

So how does this word help us understand what Jesus achieved through his death and resurrection?

It tells us that God and human beings were made for each other, able to enjoy each other’s company. It was a friendship ‘made in heaven’ (sorry if that’s a bit cheesy!). But then things went wrong. The friendship was broken, one side deeply offending the other. When the human race plunged into sin and told God where he could go, instead of friendship there was hostility.

But God has taken the initiative to put things right. Through the death of Jesus the cause of that hostility (our sin) is neutralised. As we turn from our sin and say sorry, God is able to forgive us and renew his friendship with us.

You can see this train of thought in these three extracts from the apostle Paul’s letters:

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them (2 Corinthians 5:19).

While we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son ... (Romans 5:10)

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:21,22).

Salvation (the language of health and wholeness)

Have you ever been asked “Are you saved?” (If not, then consider yourself asked as you read it!). The words ‘salvation’, ‘save’ and ‘saved’ often crop up in the Bible and in Christian-speak.

Before Jesus was born an angel told Joseph that Mary’s son was to be named ‘Jesus’. What’s in a name? In this case an awful lot. Although a common Jewish name, it packed a powerful message. It means ‘God saves’.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

This word has overtones of health and wholeness. In fact, in many instances it is translated in the New Testament as ‘heals’ or ‘healed’.

See for example, Matthew 9:22

Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.

It’s as if sin has infected us with an terminal sickness. In fact, Paul actually says that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Placing our faith in Jesus (who lived, died and rose again for us) is then seen as the cure. Our spiritual health and vitality is restored.

Here are three examples of the apostle Peter using ‘salvation’ words.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Acts 2:21 Peter is actually quoting from the Old Testament here.)

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." (Acts 2:40)

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

Adoption (the language of family)

To be adopted was often a much sought after privilege in Roman society, bringing with it new status and wealth as well as responsibilities.

We tend to think in terms of young children being adopted into a new family. But in ancient Greek and Roman society adoption more often than not involved adults – usually men adopted as sons. They could even inherit everything from their new father in preference to any natural sons that the father may already have. I hope I’m not guilty of exaggeration here, but I find myself wondering if it was a bit like winning the Lottery! Being adopted meant that life could never be same again.

In Christian terms, when we are adopted by God, we become brothers and sisters of Jesus, the Son of God. We get to share in his inheritance. And God loves us as much as God loves him! Being adopted in Christ brings us a new privileged status, an unimaginable inheritance, as well as serious family responsibilities. Just imagine what this might have thrilled a Roman slave girl – she could count herself adopted, not by a Roman patriarch, but by God! She could call herself a ‘son of God’. Can you imagine the WOW factor flooding her heart!?

Here are four extracts from letters written by the apostle Paul and one from the apostle John:

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus ... (Galatians 3:26)

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:4-7)

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:15-17)

[God] predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will ... (Ephesians 1:5)

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

Justification (the language of the law court)

Have you ever found yourself on the wrong side of the law? As far as the Bible is concerned we are all guilty of breaking God’s Law. And there are serious consequences. And someone has got to pay.

Some years ago I was challenged to quantity just how guilty before God I was. Assuming that I was guilty of sinning on average just three times per day, then how many offences would I have notched up in a year?

Answer: 1,095 (1,098 if it’s a leap year!)

To make things easier I was allowed to round it down to one thousand. Then I had to multiply that by my age. What would that mean for you?

Unfortunately, my total is just the tip of the iceberg. I am in seriously deep trouble with God. I am more guilty than I could ever have realized.

The Good News is that Jesus paid the penalty my sins deserved. He died so that I could be forgiven. The slate is wiped clean. It’s just-as-if-I’d never sinned in the first place.

But there’s more to justification than that, wonderful as that is. It’s also about putting me right with God, or, to use the technical term found in the Bible, I get credited with righteousness, i.e. the righteousness of Christ.

How so?

This is where we have to go mystical. What do I mean by that? I’m referring to the realm of spiritual realities in which the human and the divine interface. The apostle Paul refers to this realm as the ‘heavenly realms’

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3 - see also Ephesians 1:20; 3:10; 6:12)

With respect to our understanding of justification, the key is our ‘faith-union’ with Christ. When someone places their faith in Christ as their Saviour and Lord, then they enter the ‘heavenly realms’. And in this world of spiritual realities there is a sense in which (a mystical sense in which) Christ’s life becomes their life and Christ’s death becomes their death. Christ’s resurrection and ascension becomes their resurrection and ascension. In other words we become one with Christ and his experiences become ours and our sins become his. And on the basis of this we can be ‘justified’ before God, with no trace of sin and positively, gloriously righteous!

But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:22).

The believer’s mystical faith-union with Christ is seen in, or lies behind, the following extracts.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. (Romans 6:4-8)

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

... and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. (Philippians 3:9)

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).

So there is more to the word ‘justification’ than immediately hits the eye. It is more than a simple case of Christ paying my penalty. It is me living the perfectly righteous life in Christ. His righteousness is my righteousness. It is me paying my penalty for sin in Christ. His death is my death. In the language of the law court, I am justified!

Redemption (the language of the slave market)

My life has been redeemed. This implies that I was previously held captive, that a ransom price has been paid and that I have now been set free.

Held Captive

“Anyone who sins,” said Jesus “is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34) Sin holds us tight in its grip. We can’t shake it off. We can’t escape its tyrannical rule. The price of freedom is too high – we can’t pay it. But someone else did …

Ransom Price

Referring to himself, Jesus said “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) Here we have an insight into Jesus’ own understanding of the significance of his death. He was paying a ransom so that captives could be freed.

Paul picks up on this when writing to the churches in Galatia. He sees the power of sin as being linked with the Law of God which places every offender under a curse.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Galatians 3:13,14)

Writing to his young friend Timothy, Paul reminds him that

... there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for everyone - the testimony given in its proper time. (1 Timothy 2:5,6)

The apostle Peter reminds his readers that they were live distinctively Christian lives. Why?

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18,19)

Free

While in the middle of a debate with those who opposed him, Jesus declared that if people knew the truth, then that truth would set them free (John 8:32). But not any old truth. Jesus was later to declare himself as “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). To know Jesus, is to know the truth. And “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36).

‘Freedom’ as a theme of the Good News of Jesus crops up in many places in the New Testament. Here are a couple of them:

You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:18)

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance-now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)

In giving his as a ransom us, Jesus showed us just how much he values us. John saw heaven erupt in praise and thanksgiving:

And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God members of every tribe and language and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)

Propitiation (the language of the temple altar)

I wouldn’t be surprised if this word raises an eyebrow or two! It’s a technical word that most modern translations of the Bible avoid. And it only crops up three times in the whole of the New Testament. The New International Version (NIV), the translation we mostly use at Pinhoe Road Baptist Church, uses the term ‘atoning sacrifice’. Here are the references:

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood-to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished … (Romans 3:25)

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

We’re not familiar with temple altars and animal sacrifice. But people in the first century were. And they knew that sacrifices were designed to do two things:

to cover over sin and extinguish sin and its guilt
to turn away the anger (pacify) or appease an offended god

The Bible makes no bones of the fact that our sins have incurred the ‘wrath of God’.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them. (John 3:36)

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! (Romans 5:9)

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

... and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead-Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

It is against this of background that referring to Jesus’ death on the cross as a ‘propitiation’ made so much sense. The anger stirred up in God by our sin is a spent force because of Jesus!