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Acts 16:30–31 (ESV) — 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Faith is the last point that is involved in salvation. Faith is the most critical part of our relationship with God because without faith it is impossible to please God.

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) — 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Faith has been denigrated to the point that it is considered as just wishful thinking. When faith is portrayed today in the media it is nothing more than hoping beyond hope that God will intervene. It is often portrayed as grasping onto a falsehood in the hope that the impossible may occur, but seldom does. That which the world views as Christian faith is very much non scriptural. The above verse demonstrates that faith is simply believing God.

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV) — 1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

According to the above verse, faith is the assurance of things hoped for. What exactly does this mean. Is it possible that faith is something more than the world view? Is it possible to actually have assurance that what you have faith in is the absolute truth? How is this possible?

We find then that the first thing we need to do is believe that God exists (Hebrews 11:6). There needs to be an object for faith or some one to believe in. That someone is God. The obvious question then is what God do we believe in? How do you know which religion has the correct God to put your faith in? Fortunately God has not left humanity guessing but has provided everything needed to make the correct choice.

Romans 1:20 (ESV) — 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Hebrews 11:3 (ESV) — 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Creation then is the first evidence we have that God exists. The evidence that God is the Creator is sufficient in and of itself to make man guilty of rejecting God. If you cannot believe that He exists then you cannot please him, and thus you cannot share in His salvation. The first thing we can do to understand who God is would be to open our eyes to what is all around us and recognize that it is because of the one who created that all this exists.

Romans 10:17 (ESV) — 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

The visible world is not the only thing that God has given us as a testimony to who He is. He has also given us a complete record of His intentions in History. That of course is the Bible. The Bible is a written record that God has provided which gives us every detail of what will happen throughout history. It shows us the beginning and the end of history, and everything in between. From “ In the beginning God created the heaven and earth,” to “ and there was a new heaven and new earth.” or from Genesis to Revelation. So faith is nothing more than believing God and His revelations not only in the physical universe, but also His written word.

Ephesians 2:8 (ESV) — 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Faith then, is the vehicle by which we can be saved. When Paul told the Philippian jailer that in order for him to be saved he needed to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, he was saying to have faith in Christ and you will be saved. The last element of salvation then, is to believe in that which is revealed about Jesus Christ. This is what is revealed concerning Christ. That He is God and that He took on human form so that He could die on the cross to pay for mans rebellion against God. Having paid the penalty for mans rebellion, death, He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven where He is currently seated at the right hand of God. It is in this position that God can then offer mankind redemption through the blood of His Son so that anyone who believes who He is and what He has done may have eternal life.

The question to you is what do you believe? Do you believe that God is the creator? Do you believe Christ is God’s gift to mankind so that we can have eternal fellowship with Him. Do you believe that Christ died and was buried. Do you believe He rose from the dead and is alive today and seated at the right hand of God? Do you accept the Bible as God’s word? Believing all these things means that you understand that God exists and will reward you for the faith that you have placed in Him.

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Titus 3:5 (ESV) — 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

The application of salvation requires four ministries. We discussed two of them in the previous posts. They are conviction and calling. Regeneration is what we will deal with in this post. Next post will deal with the fourth ministry, faith.
T

he word for regeneration is only used in two places in scripture. The above verse and Matthew 19:28. The word itself means to be born again. In Matthew it is specifically talking about the creation being reborn before the Millennial Kingdom is established, which leaves only Titus 3:5 as the only place in scripture that it is used for mans salvation. Some of the newer translations actually render Titus 3:5 as rebirth instead of Regeneration.

Titus 3:5(TNIV) 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

The concept of the rebirth which results in salvation is dominant throughout scripture. Christ first introduced the concept when He talked to Nicodemus.

John 3:3 (ESV) — 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

To become a child of God you must be removed from the family of Adam and placed into the family of God. It is Christ, the second Adam, who then becomes our ancestor. Anyone born of two human parents inherit all the traits of humanity that the first Adam passed on. Thus we can say that every human being is in Adam. They possess the self same nature as any other descendant of Adam. Because the first Adam had a sin nature, that passed to all humanity as Romans 3:23 states “ all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Christ did not have a human father and therefore did not have a sin nature when born. He lived a sinless life and thus qualified to be a substitute for receiving the wages of mans sin, which is death. He willingly suffered that death on the cross, shedding His blood so that mankind would be free from the penalty of sin. Regeneration is the process that God uses to take us out of the line of the first Adam, and place us in the lineage of Christ. This is an actual rebirth. You are place “in Christ”. You are given a new nature that is able not to sin.
The means of regeneration involve several things. First it is God who regenerates.

John 1:13 (ESV) — 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

It is done according to His will.

James 1:18 (ESV) — 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

It is done through the Holy Spirit.

John 3:5 (ESV) — 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

It is done the moment a person believes.

John 1:12 (ESV) — 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

It is done by belief in the revealed will of God.

1 Peter 1:23 (ESV) — 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

J. Dwight Pentecost states this about regeneration in his book Things Which Become Sound Doctrine, Kregil Publications, Grand Rapids, 1965.

“God is the Author; the Spirit is the agent; the Word of God is the means. The power of God was brought into operation to accomplish the new birth…. The new birth, then has as its basis the blood of Christ. Faith is the instrument by which the new birth is wrought. The new birth is the manifestation of the power of God. The means by which we are born again is the Word of God. The Holy spirit is the agent which accomplishes the miracle. And the whole birth process is because God the Father desires to bring many sons into glory.”

Faith is the overriding principle in salvation. Nothing happens without it. We will look at that in the next post.

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Titus 3:5 (ESV) — 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

The application of salvation requires four ministries. We discussed two of them in the previous posts. They are conviction and calling. Regeneration is what we will deal with in this post. Next post will deal with the fourth ministry, faith.

The word for regeneration is only used in two places in scripture. The above verse and Matthew 19:28. The word itself means to be born again. In Matthew it is specifically talking about the creation being reborn before the Millennial Kingdom is established, which leaves only Titus 3:5 as the only place in scripture that it is used for mans salvation. Some of the newer translations actually render Titus 3:5 as rebirth instead of Regeneration.

Titus 3:5(TNIV) 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

The concept of the rebirth which results in salvation is dominant throughout scripture. Christ first introduced the concept when He talked to Nicodemus.

John 3:3 (ESV) — 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

To become a child of God you must be removed from the family of Adam and placed into the family of God. It is Christ, the second Adam, who then becomes our ancestor. Anyone born of two human parents inherit all the traits of humanity that the first Adam passed on. Thus we can say that every human being is in Adam. They possess the self same nature as any other descendant of Adam. Because the first Adam had a sin nature, that passed to all humanity as Romans 3:23 states “ all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Christ did not have a human father and therefore did not have a sin nature when born. He lived a sinless life and thus qualified to be a substitute for receiving the wages of mans sin, which is death. He willingly suffered that death on the cross, shedding His blood so that mankind would be free from the penalty of sin. Regeneration is the process that God uses to take us out of the line of the first Adam, and place us in the lineage of Christ. This is an actual rebirth. You are place “in Christ”. You are given a new nature that is able not to sin.
The means of regeneration involve several things. First it is God who regenerates.

John 1:13 (ESV) — 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

It is done according to His will.

James 1:18 (ESV) — 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

It is done through the Holy Spirit.

John 3:5 (ESV) — 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

It is done the moment a person believes.

John 1:12 (ESV) — 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

It is done by belief in the revealed will of God.

1 Peter 1:23 (ESV) — 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

J. Dwight Pentecost states this about regeneration in his book Things Which Become Sound Doctrine, Kregil Publications, Grand Rapids, 1965.

“God is the Author; the Spirit is the agent; the Word of God is the means. The power of God was brought into operation to accomplish the new birth…. The new birth, then has as its basis the blood of Christ. Faith is the instrument by which the new birth is wrought. The new birth is the manifestation of the power of God. The means by which we are born again is the Word of God. The Holy spirit is the agent which accomplishes the miracle. And the whole birth process is because God the Father desires to bring many sons into glory.”

Faith is the overriding principle in salvation. Nothing happens without it. We will look at that in the next post.

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Romans 8:28–30 (ESV) — 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

The call of God is what draws us to believe the truth that has been presented to us. In the previous post we saw that conviction is nothing more than the presentation of the truth. That truth is the Word of God as contained in the bible. This is the first step in salvation. Once the truth has been presented to us than we are under an obligation to either accept or reject that truth.There is a problem that God must remedy before this is possible.
Man is so depraved, or lost in sin, that left to his own devices he will never accept the truth. The only way that man will be able to accept the truth of scripture is if God illuminates him to that truth and calls him to accept that truth. In the above scripture Paul gives us the order in which salvation happens. It is not within the scope of this writing to deal with the foreknowledge or predestination of God so I will only briefly explain them. Our salvation is known as the New Birth. That New Birth is  what occurs to all those who through faith believe the truth contained in scripture.

Salvation has its roots in eternity. God is omniscient. He knows everything, God is also omnipotent and sovereign. Nothing happens apart from His divine will. Therefore God has known His people from eternity past. There has never been a time when He has not know us. He has known us because He has determined who will be saved. Those that will be saved God has predestined to be conformed to Christ’s image. That is the destiny of the saved.

In order for that to happen He must first call us to believe the truth through faith. It is that calling which then allows God to justify us by declaring that we are no longer sinners because we have been placed “in Christ”. When you are in Christ you share in everything which belongs to Christ, including His perfect sinless nature. He has paid the price for you by shedding His blood and taking on your penalty for sin which is death. You then respond to the call of God to believe that basic truth and you are the placed in Christ and justified.
God calls all men to salvation. Matthew 22:14 clearly supports this concept, as well as Luke 14:16-24 and John 7:37.

Matthew 22:14 (ESV) — 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Luke 14:16–24 (ESV) — 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ ”

John 7:37 (ESV) — 37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

It is evident from the above verses that God calls all men to himself, but not everyone responds to the invitation. Man is ultimately responsible for his rejection of Christ. Theologians sometimes call this the “general call” to all mankind. There is another calling that is called the “effective call”. It is this call that only the elect respond to through faith, and that results in their salvation.

The Effective Call is God’s work:

1 Corinthians 1:2 (ESV) — 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

The Effective Call is brought about by the Word of God:

Romans 10:17 (ESV) — 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

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John 16:8–11 (ESV) — 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

In John 16 Christ is preparing his disciples for his departure. In the above verses Christ states that it is imperative that he goes away so that He could send the Holy Spirit. It will be the responsibility of the Holy Spirit to convict. He will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. What then is conviction?

Conviction is not “conversion”, yet it does help accomplish conversion. Conviction is truth laid out to us in a clear manner so that the evidence can either be accepted or rejected. The idea is that the evidence for the truth is set out in a very logical way so that the hearer understands what is required. It is then up to the hearer to accept or reject the claims.
Who then are the ones convicted? The world is convicted, but not necessarily the entire population. This means all those who are presented with the truth. Not everyone presented with the truth accepts the truth however. A large portion of humanity is presented with the truth, but not all will believe it.

What are they convicted of? Concerning sin first of all. Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned. That sin is what placed Christ on the Cross. We must see our need for Christ in order to understand salvation. The truth about our sin nature should point us to the truth about the atoning work of Christ on the Cross. This conviction then should lead us to the belief in who Christ is, and what He has done. Second the Holy Spirit convicts us of righteousness. That righteousness is the truth concerning the Gospel. The death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Christ is alive and sitting at the right hand of God the Father. His sacrifice was accepted by God and his righteousness is now available to all humanity. That righteousness is only available when you believe the truth of the Gospel. The third thing that the Spirit convicts us of is the judgment of sin. Satan is the ruler of this world and because of God’s acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice for sin, the world ruler ship was taken from Him and given to Christ. Not only is humanity reconciled to God, but the entire creation is set free from the rule of sin.

The order of the conviction is logical in that it demonstrates that man is sinful and needs the righteousness which is provided in the Gospel. If he rejects that righteousness then he will face certain condemnation.

How then do we become convicted?

John 6:44 (ESV) — 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

1 Peter 1:23 (ESV) — 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV) — 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

This brings to mind the phrase used in the TV show X-files. “The truth is out there”. This is a fitting saying for how we become convicted. It is the word of God that convicts us, whether that word comes from our own reading or a sermon on Sunday. It doesn’t matter if a friend tells us or we hear it on the radio. When you hear the word of God it demands an answer. That answer is either belief or rejection. Remember that Philippian jailer who asked what must he do to be saved?. The answer was given in the very next verse. 

Acts 16:30–31 (ESV) — 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

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Acts 16:30 (ESV) — 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

After discussing all the things that were accomplished with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ we need to bring things to the personal level. We can ask ourselves what does all this have to do with me personally? The ultimate end for mankind is salvation. What then is salvation and what must I do to be saved?

The first thing we need to realize is that there is a need for salvation, and what we are going to be saved from. If we cannot accept the fact that there is a need for salvation then it is impossible to be saved.

John 12:38–40 (ESV) — 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

The people whom Christ talked directly with failed to believe who He was. Even when they physically could see and hear Christ they still refused to believe who He was. If that is the case then it is just as difficult to believe the message today. This does not make it difficult to believe, but it does mean that there is a way in which salvation is applied to an individual. The application of salvation has two aspects. The first aspect is God’s responsibility in salvation and the second is man’s responsibility.

God’s does two things in salvation and they are calling, and regeneration. Man likewise is involved with his salvation. Two things which involve men make salvation complete, and they are conviction and conversion. There is no greater need for mankind than their salvation. It is available to everyone, yet so few ever attain it. The simple fact is that salvation saves us from the condemnation that we deserve. If we do not appropriate this salvation then that condemnation will be our eternal destiny. When Adam decided to make Satan his God and follow him, he also condemned mankind to Satan’s destiny, the lake of fire. Hell is not something the world wants to hear about today, but it is a very real place and will be populated with all those who rebelled against God both men and angels.
God has provided a means by which we can escape that destiny, and that is called salvation. Contrary to what is believed today, that there are many ways to reach God, God has determined that there is only one way to Himself, and that is through His Son.

Acts 4:12 (ESV) — 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

That being the case, it becomes the most important thing in life. Lord willing I will try to explain the answer to the question the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas when he said “sir, what must I do to be saved”. The jailer knew the importance of finding the answer to that question and hopefully so do you.

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When we look at God’s plan for History we are looking at His plan to redeem creation. It is the ultimate purpose of History next to glorifying God.

Redemption is not just limited to mankind but extends to the entire creation. When man fell the entire creation fell. The earth was cursed because of man, and as a result was placed in the same corrupted state that mankind was placed under.

Romans 8:20–22 (ESV) — 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

The ultimate end of redemption then becomes the eternal state when a new heaven and new earth are created which will reflect the intent of God for the first creation which fell into sin. God will be victorious in history when He restores the creation and destroys evil.
The thought of redemption, when looked at in scripture, gives us a totality of that redemption. It can be seen in four verses:

    1 Peter 1:18–19 (ESV) — 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

The above verse which is translated “ransomed” tells us that there is first a cost to redemption and that cost cannot be paid by anything which is produced by a corrupted creation such as gold or silver. These metals are part of the cursed ground in Genesis 3 and are not of any value to redemption. This verse as well as Revelation 5:9 tell us what the price must be for redemption to occur.

    Revelation 5:9 (ESV) — 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

The redemption price was the shed blood of Jesus Christ. In order for this price to be effective and eternal it had to come from someone who was eternal. The deity of Christ is also intimated in His sacrificial death.

We see also from Galatians 3:13 that this sacrifice was forever. We can look at redemption as going to the market. In Roman times there was a huge market where the people would go daily to purchase what they needed. Part of that market place contained a slave market. If you needed to purchase a slave you would go to the market and pay the price for the slave you wanted and then remove him from the market place to serve you.
Redemption is like this but much more. We are slaves to sin and sold to Satan as his slaves. Christ has paid the price for us and taken us out of the market place so that we may serve Him. Unlike a slave in Rome who could be taken back to the slave market Christ has permanently removed us from our bondage to sin never to return. This is the idea behind Galatians 3:13 where Christ purchased us “out of” or “from” the market place never to return.

    Galatians 3:13 (ESV) — 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

Romans 3:24 provides us with the final insight into the redemption provided through Christ. It shows us the thoroughness of that redemption. The world translated gives us the sense of the completeness that is provided by Christ. We are freely justified so that we are justified through and through.

    Romans 3:24 (ESV) — 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

The Bible gives us some great illustrations of redemption in history. The book of Ruth reveals what role Christ has played in redemption by assuming His role as the “Kinsman Redeemer”. The law of the kinsman redeemer was established so that a Jewish family would never have to loose their inheritance.

In the Hebrew society only a male could inherit the fathers land. If no male was born then God provided for a way for that land to be redeemed by a relative. In this way the inheritance would remain in the family. In order for one to be a kinsman redeemer he must meet certain requirement. they are as follows.

    1. Must be a kinsman. Christ fulfills this role as seen in Hebrews 2:14-15.
    2. Must be able to pay the redemption price. Acts 20:28 shows Christ paid the price.
    3. Must be willing to redeem the property or person. Luke 22:42 demonstrates that Christ willingly submitted to the will of the Father.
    4. He must be qualified to redeem. In Christ’s case He must not be under the same curse as the kinsman. Hebrews 4:15 demonstrates His sinlessness.

In the book of Ruth, Boaz is the kinsman redeemer who redeemed Naomi’s inheritance by paying the price and marrying Ruth to raise a male who would then inherit the redeemed land. The result of this union was a man named Obed who was the father of Jesse who was the father of David of whom Christ ultimately came from.

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Propitiation means the turning away of wrath by an offering. In relation to soteriology, propitiation means placating or satisfying the wrath of God by the atoning sacrifice of Christ.1

Romans 3:25–26 (ESV) — 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

God is righteous. Everything He does is right. God is “just” and His Justice must be satisfied. God’s wrath is that which enforces God’s justice. The very fact that all men have sinned indicates that God would be righteous if He poured out His wrath on mankind. God has shown forbearance in that He has not done this yet. He has chosen to pass over mankind’s sin until a way was made to satisfy His just anger, and His wrath could be satisfied.

I often have people ask me why God allows evil in the world? We hear about some horrific event which makes us wonder if there is a benevolent God in the universe, and if there is, then where is He. I can assure you that there is a God of love in the universe, and that His wrath will not be held back forever. If God were to judge the world then there would be no world left. It is because of His love that He withholds His wrath or else we would be destroyed. There will be a time when God will judge evil, and we should be very thankful that we will not be present when that occurs.

1 John 4:10 (ESV) — 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

God provided satisfaction for His wrath by the blood of His Son. Christ became the propitiation for the wrath that we deserved. Think about Christ hanging on the cross hour after hour while wave after wave of God’s wrath was poured out on Him. It is unimaginable what Christ must have been going through. Here was someone who has never been out of fellowship with God and yet willingly chose to give that up so that you may not suffer God’s wrath. How can we ever really grasp the love of God that He chose to go through this for us? Can you imagine what anguish He must have endured before He cried out “ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It could very well be that He was reciting the whole of Psalm 22 which gives us a picture of what He was going through.
It was the fact that this act has taken place which allowed God to pass over all the sins that had occurred prior to the event. God was proved righteous for doing this and for justifying those who come to Christ by faith. God’s justice has been satisfied when His wrath was poured out on Christ. God can now looks upon all those who come to Him by faith as justified.

Where do you stand today? Will you experience the wrath of God or will you appropriate the propitiation provided by the blood of Christ? God is just in dealing with those who come to Him by faith and He will grant you eternal life if you appropriate it.

Hebrews 2:17 (ESV) — 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

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

1Ryrie, C. C. (1999). Basic Theology : A popular systemic guide to understanding biblical truth (339). Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press.

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Romans 5:6–11 (ESV) — 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 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. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Every month I get a statement from my bank which informs me of all the transactions which have occurred in my bank account for the month. I then have to compare what the bank statement has with what my records indicate. When my records match the banks statement it means that I have reconciled my records with the bank. Reconciliation can then be defined as causing to conform to a standard. In the case of the bank account, the standard is the banks records and you have to conform your records to theirs.

In creation there can be only one standard. That standard is set by the Creator. The standard by which each individual is measured is God himself. We have looked at the perfections of God in previous posts, and those perfections are what we are measured against. Romans 5:6-11 indicate how we measure up to God’s standards. In verse 6 it say’s we are weak and ungodly. The very fact that we are ungodly indicates we cannot measure up to God’s standards.

Since we are ungodly and deserving of the wrath of God, Christ’s substitutionary death demonstrates God’s love. God did not have to do this and we could have all been condemned because of our sinful nature. God is not just a God of wrath, but is also a God of love, mercy and longsuffering. When the time was right for God to demonstrate this love He sent His Son to take on the penalty for our rebellion and suffer the fate that we deserve.

The very fact that this was accomplished, reconciled us to God. God looked at the standard which was Himself, then He looked at the price that needed to be paid for man’s rebellion. He then determined that He would pay that price himself so that man could then be reconciled and no longer in debt for sin. Christ met God’s standards in every way. He was totally man and yet did not sin. He lived according to the standard God had set and thus was accepted by God. Because He was acceptable to God and was eternal God himself, He became the perfect substitute to pay the penalty for all mans sins. Once that was accomplished God could look favorably on all those who are in Christ because His wrath had been satisfied and man had been reconciled to His standards.

2 Corinthians 5:17–19 (ESV) — 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Note that one of God’s purposes in history is to reconcile the world “fallen man” to himself. This does not mean universal salvation. It means that God so loved the world that He provided a means by which humanity can meet the standards God has set. That only occurs for those who are “in Christ”. Though God has reconciled the world to himself the individual must come in faith to receive that reconciliation. To those who do believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ receive that reconciliation and become messengers to the rest of the world. We then become His Ambassadors’ to spread the Gospel to the rest of the world and provide reconciliation to all those who accept that message.

It is Christ’s death which provided us reconciliation. Appropriate that by believing what God has done for you.

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Philemon 17–20 (ESV) — 17 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

A slave by the name of Onesimus had escaped his master Philemon and was converted by Paul the apostle. The penalty for this could be death if the master was so inclined. Philemon was a Christian and known by Paul. Paul thought it best for Onesimus to return and sever his owner instead of running. The fact that Onesimus ran made it a violation of being a slave and thus he had a debt to pay his owner. A penalty for his running was impending upon his return.

Paul wrote this letter to Philemon to encourage him to not treat Onesimus harshly because he was now a fellow believer. Paul also told Philemon that whatever penalty Onesimus was to receive he (Paul) would pay that penalty for Onesimus. This simple message from Paul to Philemon demonstrates the doctrine of imputation.

There are three imputations in scripture. The first we have already seen when we covered sin.

Romans 5:12 (ESV) — 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Paul shows us in Chapter 5 of Romans that death is the result of Adams sin. Even thought we may not sin in the same way as Adam, we still die. This is the result of us being in Adam and thus having his sin imputed to us. God has placed us under sin because we are sinners by nature. This is something we deserve. So the first great imputation is Adams sin imputed to every man.

The second great imputation is seen in:

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) — 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God made Christ to be sin for us. He did not make Christ a sinner, but rather sin. A sinner could not be made sin because he would already be sin. It is this act which allowed God to erase our sin that had been imputed to us because of Adam and impute that sin to Christ. In this great act of imputation Christ, who did not deserve the penalty for sin, suffered that penalty and thus allowed God to erase the ledger entry that we inherited from Adam. The second imputation then is God imputing our sin to Christ.

The third great imputation is also seen in 2 Corinthians 5:21, and that is Christ’s righteousness is imputed to our account. It is not enough for our ledger to be clean because this would still not provide us with a means to fellowship with God. We must also be declared righteous in order for this to occur. The fact that Christ was righteous and that His righteousness is imputed to us, allows us to share in everything which belongs to Christ. This imputation elevates man to share in Christ’s inheritance.

Hebrews 10:14 (ESV) — 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Philippians 3:8–11 (ESV) — 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

This righteousness cannot be attained in any other way than by faith. Not only that but it should produce a life that is acceptable to Him. There is no more important thing in this life than to know Christ through faith. You must appropriate this righteousness by believing that Christ did indeed die on the cross for you. That there is no way you can attain this righteousness on your own merit. That Christ was buried and rose again the third day. That He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. He has conquered death by tasting death for you so that you can live with Him. Remember, it is to late after you are dead. Make sure of your salvation today.

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