FR: Heaven
TO: You, a much-beloved, precious one
SU: Your prospective home in eternity future
SALUTATION: This letter is written out of love for you…
I. God Cannot Overlook Sin
Would Jehovah God, the One who swears by His own Name (Gen 22:15-18, Isa 45:23, Jer 49:13, 51:14, Amo 6:8, Hbr 6:13-20), overlook without recompense even one breach of His standards, which breach we understand to be sin? One may as well ask—would He thus compromise and destabilize His own standards, standards which give expression to His Name? No, of course not. Suppose He did overlook—it immediately follows that His standards have no hard and fast boundaries, thus rendering them fluid, and as such imperfect, for fluidity is not absolute. And of course any hint of imperfection that can be convincingly associated with Him destroys His claim of deity. Jehovah God cannot overlook sin—the notion is an oxymoron.
II. Original Sin and Attendant Separation
Mercifully (Psa 103:1-5,6-8,9-14), Our God, knowing beforehand the impending fall of His Creation [1], ordained a work of redemption which would bestow upon fallen humankind a means of return to God—a means realized without compromise of His standards. God did this because of His great love for us—His Word makes clear that He loves humankind, His special creation, deeply (created in His image no less; this already communicates great love [Gen 1:26-27; cf. Jhn 3:16]), and is desirous to engage His people intimately, like unto a spiritual, marital-type covenant between He and His people. This is tremendous, for from the beginning He knew He would be hurt, as the trusting one (the victim) is similarly hurt by an adulterous marital partner. Though the depth of God’s hurt is unsearchable, one somewhat measurable hurt may be perceived by way of His own utterances concerning His honor and glory (Isa 42:8, Isa 48:11), which attributes are clearly intrinsic to Him. This honor and glory was imparted to humankind (imagine that) by way of man’s special creation; that is, by way of the image of God within. Thus it is that man’s sin on the one hand, and God’s honor and glory, hurt within man because of sin, on the other, bookend a chasm that only divine healing can bridge. We will return to this main idea of the letter and develop it as the letter unfolds. Briefly retracing our steps, we have attempted to understand why God cannot overlook sin, and so far have here attempted to very generally introduce said sin as the source of separation between God and man; let us from here proceed to understand sin’s origins.
The original sin account takes place in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:8-9), where man (our first parents Adam and Eve) chose to disobey God (Gen 2:16-17,3:1-6,7-13,14-19), though in an environment of perfect bliss (Gen 1:27-31), which included ready access (Gen 3:8) to our gracious God for any need. This foreknown “kernel of disobedience” is by definition sin in that it (the disobedience) is directed toward God. Obedience comes down to an issue of subordination, and as such, human sin then signalizes subordination of God to man and/or man’s fancies—this is the crux of sin [2]; it is the distinctive attribute of the first rebellion (Isa 14:12-14, Eze 28:13-16), which is an ongoing rebellion. The affront attending human sin is an extension of Satan’s insubordinate affront, and that is why it is so very serious—here is another reason why Jehovah God simply cannot overlook sin. As will be pointed out later in the letter, God has addressed this matter of disobedience most unextectedly by way of His entrance onto the human stage in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
A simple experiment reveals an insidious aspect of sin. One does not necessarily need to be tech-savvy to realize that crossing a single wire in a circuit or flipping a single bit in an information bit stream can have devastating effects on the overall intended performance of some given system. In most systems a definite set of rules must be adhered to in order for that system to perform at optimal levels. Always a designer or a team of designers labor to establish those rules, and then publish with their system the rules under which the system can optimally and safely operate. Let us consider a cellular automaton (ca) system. A ca is a software engine that follows a rule or set of rules faithfully. The designer has in view an overall output that the ca is supposed to manifest, and they devise the rule that is input to the ca to do just that. Suppose a designer devised such a rule—let’s call it an “obedience rule,” because the ca is going to faithfully follow the rule. The designer is assured that when the ca is finished working, their exact intended output will manifest—figure1 shows such an output—the figure shows the exact intended output that faithful adherence to the designer’s rule manifests. Now let’s suppose the ca “changed its mind” and decided that it did not like being a zero at its least significant bit (LSB) position—it rather decided it is going to be a one there. Figure 2 shows what happens when the ca breaks the rule. The new pattern is markedly different than the intended pattern—figure 3 shows this distinction more clearly. In figure 3 the “sin rule” is concatenated to the “obedience rule” which is just above it. A single bit is responsible for the dramatic contrast we see—but theologically now, our God sees the end of a general pattern that has continuously been changed at every “bit position” by multiplied millions, indeed, every human being that has ever lived has robustly contributed to the change (Rom. 3:23-a glory graciously imparted at creation but profaned by sin). One can only wonder what the overall deviant “sin pattern” looks like from God’s perspective—both at the individual level and for humanity proper. If we may dare to extrapolate this out and consider some theological possibilities, one point would seem to be clear—had the Designer not intervened, the jewel of His Design would have completely lost its intended spiritual identity (imparted honor and glory; something to this effect must have happened before the Cross, that is, Jehovah God must not have been able to find even a whit of His glorious reflection in any of His Creation outside of Noah—Gen 6:11-18—apparently it will get to that point again—Mat 24:37-39). Here is a spiritually self-destructing humanity helplessly entangled by its sin-pattern-behavior. This little experiment suggests that sin can easily fold back on the sinner through the loss of their God-given spiritual identity (God’s honor and glory within profaned, and lost). Sin, at the very least, would seem to have a wicked duality guiding its destructive nature—debasement of God’s honor and glory within, which is an affront toward God, and certainly debasement of the sinner devoid now of honor and glory, even God’s, where debasement presupposes that God’s rules would otherwise lead to Christ-like perfection [3].
But maybe man is ignorant of the rules here; can man claim ignorance before God? No. Let us go back to the beginning, to Eden. In Eden, man was conscious of the legal requirements of his loving God, and was thus without excuse, for the Designer had indeed published His rules, and made them ever so personally accessible: they were imprinted on man’s consciousness (Rom 2:12-16), and thus man’s conscience, seared or not, has borne witness for the Rule Giver since the beginning, and is an accurate record for Him for the day of judgment. When man disobeys God, chooses his own way instead of God’s way, not only is God’s honor and glory within profaned through this less than perfect alternative (sin), man is, at the same time, in the mold of Satan, being disrespectful and irreverent besides (Lev 19:12, Prov 30:9, Isa 14:12-14, Eze 28:13-16, 36:23), and it goes without saying that this insults the God of grace (Psa 69:9, Pro 17:5, Isa 63:10, Mat 16:23—“stumbling block” here =SKANDALON). It is intuitively obvious that to obstinately insult Almighty God is a high crime—indeed, the highest, and as such the sinner must reckon for it somehow, because God cannot overlook this, as said. But how? How could Adam and Eve have recompensed God? How can a sinner in general recompense God? Since God cannot overlook the offense and our ancient parents had no viable recompense at hand, for by default God stipulates viability here, which Viability He in fact communicated instantly (Gen 3:15), man became, in spirit and person, separated from his God through the willful (presupposes freedom of choice is in force) act of original sin—separated as in a collapse of the Edenic fellowship. Please notice that man chose (still chooses) this state (separation) quite consciously, deliberately, and wittingly. Right here it follows that we bear the aching consequences of this separation in pain, for multifarious debasement with its attendant suffering and physical death (Gen 3:16-19) followed; the same, then, was quite naturally passed on to all of humanity through procreation. Hence we are all born as separated sinners (as made clear by Scripture Rom 5:12, 1Cr 15:21-22) through our ancient parents in this way. What a tragic spot to be in. Humankind was in desperate need of an acceptable atoning dynamic; an acceptable recompensing dynamic that would restore the intimate fellowship between ourselves and God that was lost as a consequence of our willful sin. Please notice that fellowship with Jehovah God is life, and so, by definition, practical salvation. Sin stands in the way of this fellowship, and hence salvation, thus the necessity of redemption, which redemption the believer finds at Calvary, as pointed out just next.
III. Redemption Realized in Jesus Christ
In order to clarify our understanding of the term “redemption,” we offer the following—in Christianity, redemption is an aspect of salvation that is concerned with recovery, by way of the remediation of human sin; redemption presupposes debt. Salvation is concerned with the ultimate fate of humankind—it follows that life eternal in the presence of Jehovah God is the jewel of salvation. A believer in Jesus Christ can appreciate how the two terms have considerable overlap and are thus sometimes used interchangeably in Christian literature (and otherwise in fact)—but it is good to remember that redemption serves salvation, because for the believer this perspective will magnify our Savior’s labors and sacrifices on their behalf in their mind and heart.
Much could be said about the events, persons, and institutions that preceded and accompanied the appearance of our Redeemer, but such detail is not entirely necessary for this letter of invitation (these authors offer a good introduction: Borgen, Bright, Daube, Niswonger, Reicke, Roetzel). The point we wish to stress here is that the divine Messianic prophecy (Payne) concerning Him is understood to be fulfilled by the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. With the abbreviated backdrop up to and through this section, let us then proceed to the purpose of this letter: an explanation of the means for and mechanics of human redemption, and ultimately an invitation for you to join the fellowship of the Christian faith; that is, to join the body of believers united in their belief in the redeeming Savior Jesus Christ.
IV. The Means for Redemption
Rebirth of spirit (Jhn 3:6-8, Gal 5:22-24, ”John Chapter Three Commentary”) unto Christ-likeness (the glory and honor of holiness [sanctification unto God’s ways]) through repentance and faith in the Redeemer was God’s gracious means of redemption for humankind. In His love, wisdom, and certainly prudence, He provided the Redeemer Himself, the Great One, His Beloved, the God-man Jesus Christ, who would perfectly consummate this work of grace with His own redeeming blood. By decree of heaven’s incontestable jurisprudence (for it has behind it the omniscience and sovereignty of the Rule-giver), Jesus Christ was to pay the debt owed God Almighty by humankind’s rebellion. In everyday terms, God Himself would do the “heavy lifting”, (which, besides the tremendous love here, reflects a great degree of purpose, and determination for success, behind the work), while humankind, for our part, would in repentance and humility acknowledge our need to be lifted up out of the abyss of sin—and have faith in God to get the job done perfectly (more on faith in the next section).
V. The Mechanics of Redemption
We cannot redeem ourselves (Rom 3:24, Eph 2:8). Divine Justice considers Jesus to be the Second Adam (1 Cr 15:45)—and upon this consideration of Him, particularly His walk before God over against the first Adam’s walk before God, pivots the redemption of the first Adam and his seed, for this Walk, devoid of sin (Hbr 4:15), full of honor and glory, qualified the second Adam’s Redemption; and thus being found worthy, it was credited to the first Adam; yea he, in straits, so full of sin, and devoid now of honor and glory. Here follows a contrasting outline of the two Adams. Jesus came to this earth in humility, with veiled and covered glory—unimaginably condescending His divinity. He took the likeness of a very simple man; that is, in the flesh He was poor, lowly, unimportant, not uniquely attractive, and so on (2 Cr 8:9, Phl 2:5-8). Note particularly Phl 2:8—the key Greek adjective utilized there is hUPHKOOS—obedient—itself from hUPAKOUW=hUPO+AKOUW=”by way of listening/hearing”—in short we get the sense “give ear to,” “obey.” The word “becoming” utilized in this verse—GENOMENOS—is heaven’s way of relating Christian humility mechanics—quintessential humility comes by way of giving ear to/obeying Jehovah God to the point of death, for on the human plane death is the ultimate loss of self-appraisal, and of course quintessential humility knows no self-appraisal, quite the opposite, it stands at ease judged (as was Jesus vicariously). Obedience unto death is however the ultimate appraisal of the one to whom obedience is thus shown (as did Jesus preeminently thus appraise Father God). Much more could and probably should be said here, but we must not stray too far from the main points. Further, He did not utilize His divinity to gain advantage over His contemporaries (Mat 16:1-4). He was despised and abused by the religious intelligentsia of His day. Clearly Jesus lived not in an environment of bliss as was the case for the first Adam, rather, His life was one of hardship, sorrow, and suffering—a most difficult life. We have somewhat a sense that it was difficult, but we really cannot understand how terribly difficult it was for Him. From the moment of His birth in a manger in Bethlehem as a fugitive-baby, until He finally released His Spirit from a tortured and torn body, the heaviest spiritual, emotional, and physical trials imaginable were pressed upon Him (Isa 52:14, 53:2-5). In spite of these trying circumstances, He proved Himself faithful to our Father and did not affront His honor—He was sinless His entire life, zealous for our Father’s Name. Christ prevailed over evil, in the flesh, and maintained His righteousness and perfect purity, and this of course is in stark contrast to the first Adam, who fell while in paradise. Fully anticipating nothing less, our Father commissioned a willing (Psa 40:7-8) Jesus to present Himself as a blameless sacrificial atonement on our behalf, which by decree of divine justice was acceptable compensation for all sin; that is to say, sin committed both before and after the Cross (Rom 3:25-26—“forbearance” here comes from the Greek noun ANOXH, itself from ANEXW [ANA+EXW—literally “hold up,” as in bear/endure]—with the benefit of hindsight, we understand the sense as a delay, insofar as God delayed rightful adjudication until the time was fulfilled and Jesus Christ could appear—this forbearance is not an oversight of sin on God’s part). But attending this compensation were conditions; humankind would realize the tremendous benefits of this decree per two important conditions:
1. Christ’s life was poured out in exchange for grateful penitents (1 John 1:8-10, 2 Tim. 2:19), precisely those who appreciate this great sacrificial work and consequently love and follow Him, confessing and mourning their responsibility for His death, sincerely faithful to His holy Word.
2. Christ’s life was poured out in exchange for those who believe in Him as their Lord and ongoing Savior; as the One who paid their sin debt in full; as the One who ever lives keeping them saved (Hbr 7:25). The latter is so important; for the believer must come to understand that when they inevitably stumble and sin again, Jesus Christ is there to pick them up—though His uplifting may not be a pleasant experience for the wayward believer. The believer must understand that once they come to Christ, they are saved eternally; they must understand that His disciplining (as also tender) hand will definitely be upon them; that it is He that saved them (achieved on the Cross—a one-time redemptive act), and it is He that keeps them saved. With all respect friend, can you see how Jesus is the consummate Savior? Salvation (its quintessence—our life eternal with Jehovah God, that is) was conceived in eternity past, it toils always contemporaneously, it moves into eternity future—and the whole of it was and is on Jesus Christ’s shoulders, or, more aptly, in His redeeming lifeblood and intercessory prayers. He is singularly the reason why it is true that “once one is saved, one is always saved” (“once saved, always saved”).
Given the above, our Father promises He will forget and forgive all grateful penitents and believers’ sins. But wait just a minute you may say—what about compromise of standards here, as discussed in section I? The Father’s standards are not compromised by this as Christ on the Cross has paid the decreed sin penalty (=death Rom 6:23) for those who believe, who have faith in, His atoning death for them, and now cherish Him as their blessed Savior (surely here anyone with a feeling heart in their chest and a thinking head on their shoulders must appreciate the beauty of that title “Savior”). Moreover, notice that the condemnation of death and separation remains on the unbeliever—according to its own sovereign, consistent counsel, divine justice lifted the penalty off of the believer but left it on the unbeliever—the message is clear—sin/affront has been lifted off of the believer, but sin/affront remains on the unbeliever—‘you are dead in your trespasses outside of Christ’ decrees the Divine Justice. It is clear our God has remained faithful to His standards here (no “lowering of the bar” if you will). Holy Writ means what it says—it is not fluid; Holy Writ is a dependable anchor and light for us—there can be no greater proof of that than the jurisprudence of the Cross.
Notice also the role of faith—forgiveness comes by sincere faith because attending sincere faith is a heart bent toward reverent obedience (rightful subordination to God, as said above; note Hab 2:4, Rom 1:5, Gal 3:11). And since obedience was the issue from the beginning, God realizes perpetuation of His honor and glory within, and thus through, the believer, with respect to His relationship with us, which relationship demands sinlessness on our part (why friend?), for He is sinless, and cannot embrace sin in any way without compromising His standards and thus His very Name. Importantly, faith does not exist in a vacuum—always it has an object in view—here the “object” is Jehovah God, and it is only natural that to have faith in Him requires belief in Him—faith and this belief are inseparable. And this belief should not be individually piecemeal from one believer’s perspective over against another’s because of the consistent wholeness of the Object; nevertheless, the depth of belief will certainly vary. Salvation begins with believing in Jehovah God. Without this belief there cannot be faith, and without faith there is no salvation—believing is that all-important first step; saving faith grows up out of this fertile ground (this is the work of the Holy Spirit, our timeless Worker). And one either believes, or one does not—for even a smidgen of belief is still belief, and so faith has a chance here. Unbelief is altogether different; unbelief is the fertile ground of sin (Jhn 16:7-11). It follows that the unbeliever has no (saving) faith, not even weak faith; they face their days and their future with their secular (or otherwise) faith of course, which faith is undergirded by their belief in their secular (or otherwise) god/s—ironically, the unbeliever also begins with a belief system, and similarly grows up out of that some measure of faith in the same (this is the work of the world and its prince presently).
When a person genuinely has saving faith they are quite compelled in their heart to pray a prayer somewhat along these lines:
“I believe, You, Lord Jesus, died for me, on my behalf, to recompense Father God for the disrespect I have shown Him through my sinful disobedience. O Lord, hear this sinner in need of forgiveness. Only You are the acceptable atonement for that sin because You are holy, One with the Father, perfectly acceptable to Him, and I, through You alone, am similarly accepted. Thank You for Your indescribable sacrifice on my behalf, and so caringly and lovingly offering me Your pierced, helping hand that pulls me across the chasm that separates me from Father God. I want to humbly follow You, serve You, learn from You, and do Your will, which I know is one with the Father’s. Thank You my Lord, and my God, for our eternal walk together” (cf. Jhn 5:24).
An unbeliever cannot even remotely, cannot in any agreeable way, engage a prayer like this one, for their belief foundation is altogether missing—it is not just doubt and/ or vain self-righteousness that hinders the unbeliever here, it is full-blown unbelief. A believer may indeed doubt and/or struggle with vain self-righteousness, but still they believe to some degree, and that is the difference. One’s ability/inability to pray a prayer like this one can serve as a litmus test as to one’s belief/unbelief in Jesus Christ.
A believer would dwell on words to this effect and their connotation and then say them, from the heart, with understanding and sincerity, to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our intermediary with the Father. It is He, Jesus Christ, that declares ‘…no one can come to God the Father except through God the Son, Jesus Christ…‘ (Jhn 14:6).
VI. Red Herrings
For humankind Jesus Christ’s redemptive mission is so momentous, is so weighty and profound, that its consequences empower one to attain to life eternal; our Savior wrought our salvation, our spiritual life without end with Him. Yet humankind is deliberately blinded to this truth, through spiritual warfare (2Cr. 4:4; “A Threefold Test”). For example, the secular distractions associated with wage-earning—itself, nevertheless, an important and necessary aspect of life—or the misguided (often “funny” and belittling) opinion of some about Jesus, or His expensive Church, exemplify potential spiritual road blocks; the “simplicity and foolishness” of God’s redemptive plan is an intellectual hurdle many cannot overcome, blinding yet more victims of illusionary evil to the truths found in Christ (1 Cr 1:18-24, 1 Cr 2:14). If, in these situations, a person does not have courage—courage from Christ and courage for Christ—they will buckle under these pressures and not seek, or not persist in, the truths found in Christ, to that person’s great loss. Christ Himself promises to help us be courageous for Him and His Church if we come to Him for that help while undergoing these trials (Mat 11:28-30—when we come to Him He rests us, which is tantamount to resolution; and He is gentle toward us in the approach—what a tremendous Savior we have).
VII. Christ Bears Our Sin, Punishment, and Separation
First some set up with regard to the title of this section. Rather than altering the mechanism of free choice at the outset and thereby forcing Himself upon man, thus owning “automaton-like” saints, our God chose to let us choose between life and death. To choose between Him and our willful ways; between Him and the lure of the world and evil. We understand today that in this He chose to let us fall through our choices. The incomprehensible follow-on is that He chose to lift us back up (and beyond) by fully paying the wages of our sin (death) through the sacrifice of Himself. This is absolutely incredible by human thinking. Of course there would have been no compromise of His standards had He exterminated us when we collaborated with His enemy—just the opposite—He had that right (He would have been justified however one looks at it). But Omniscience and boundless Love reveals here a beautiful and elegant grace that thinks otherwise—the follow-on to the matter is surely a testimony to His deity (Isa 55:8-9). One sees also, practically, that He did not leave Himself subject to failure through this redemptive, salvific choice of His (failure as in the derailing of His goals for us and the Creation, which derailing disqualifies His claim to deity). Redemption actually brings to fruition our God’s purposes, and this also testifies to His deity. Notice how He in fact maintained His goals and purposes, as one would expect of deity—Redemption is consistent with, and buttresses, His sovereignty, so: As the “owner” of our debt (because He paid the price), He rightfully proposes the means of absolution of the same (He maintains legal/rightful control in this is the point, but at a cost to Himself). The debt is death, the means of absolution is not what human thinking would typically manifest—it is His own death for the debtor, but through which ultimately comes the fruit of the absolution—eternal life for the debtor—and this is the key. The debt is death; the absolution ultimately leads to life eternal—and it is precisely that—life eternal for the debtor—that maintains His goals, because Redemption clears the way for (quintessential) Salvation, which is life eternal indeed, but more, it is life eternal with Jehovah God—and this is His ultimate goal for humankind, and Himself (Mat 25:21, Jhn 14:3, Jhn 17:24, et al.)—even if it is a remnant that He will be fellowshipping with (we mean to say that most of humankind of their own choosing will be lost [Rom 10:16]—He cannot be blamed for that, for if God calls one, He calls all [Jhn 6:44, 12:32], and with equity, for He is unbiased [Act 10:34, Jas 3:17]—in this way no one will be able to accuse Him of being prejudiced at the Judgment). Now the details of this Absolution He wrote down in a public contract readily available for perusal by any interested party, which contract we find spelled out in the New Testament and disseminated by His Church (Rom 10:13-15). So Redemption accomplishes our God’s own purposes magnificently, and of course, it is a magnificent blessing for us.
Now we address the title of this section—His cost in this. Our God gave greatly of Himself for the successful accomplishment of this work. The Father knew the Son would endure horrific suffering, and, additionally, that they would become separated from one another for a time. Scripture indicates that such a breach in their accompaniment had never occurred throughout eternity, prior to the Cross (Pro 8:22-30, Jhn 17:24-25). The sin Jesus bore while on the cross, yours and mine, separated Him from the Father, and the Father from Him (Psa 22:1-2, Mrk 15:34), for there on the cross Jesus bore our due separation as discussed above. Thus He wrought Salvation, which in its outworking is precisely the opposite of separation from God. There is no sorer misery for a soul than to be eternally separated from God while at the same time being keenly cognizant of that desperate fact along the way as eternity slowly unfolds. It is for this reason that we are motivated to write this letter to you dear reader—cling to Jesus dear friend with all your God-given being. And please do it today.
VIII. Christ Bears Our Sin, Washes It Away with His Own Blood, and Establishes a New Covenant
Please see how faithful and uncompromising Father God is with respect to His standards: only the divine blood of Jesus is an acceptable (Hbr 9:22-23) and lasting (Heb. 9:25-26) sacrifice to Father God in atonement for our sin. Divine blood, to satisfy divine justice, and establish a permanent covenant (Hbr 9:15-17) between God and man. Jesus was earmarked as the One to be slain—for us—from the beginning. He is the slain Lamb (Jhn 1:28-29, Rev 5:6). The divine decree concerning sin is clear: the wages of sin is death; the wages of our sin became Christ’s death. O how deep our God’s love for us to desire to restore us unto fellowship with Himself after our Fall at such a high price. But skeptics here argue—why does omnipotent, omniscient (as in knowing beforehand the imminent falling away of humankind) God not just start over; or as One with infinite foreknowledge, simply avoid the creation of man altogether; or why impose a death penalty for sin—would a loving God bring such a wrath to bear, ultimately, even, on Himself (via Redemption)? Well, by definition Jehovah God did/could not make a mistake; consider—it is intuitively obvious that disobedience (sin) lies outside the will of God, a will of necessity geared in large part toward the loving sustenance and enhancement of the Creation (for deity is certainly not irrational or inefficient; this needs no proof). Thus disobedience necessarily brings death by default, notwithstanding the immutable decree of death. The mistake is that the skeptic does not accept the God of the Christian Bible; oftentimes, they defiantly fancy their own god, replete with a more palatable secularism. We must understand that this gracious work of redemption was simply a part of the will of our God (Eph. 2:4-8). Unfaithful man erred/errs, faithful God redeemed/redeems.
IX. Through Christ We Can
This sacrificial work of redemption communicates a great degree of love and grace from God to fallen humankind. But our God did more than simply provide the means of redemption—He also made it achievable. Faith in Jesus the Savior, which is singularly the means by which redemption graciously comes to us (Act 16:31, Rom 10:9), is certainly not a difficult charge for us to carry out (He is doing the heavy lifting as said before—our side of the load is thus lighter because of His strong shouldering of the load (Mat 11:28-30). Our God knows us, His creation, through-and-through. He knows this faith is something we are quite capable of sincerely pursuing. In every-day terms then, let’s say faith is something “we can handle”—that is, once we have attained to belief, here specifically, belief in the claims and person of Jesus; as discussed above, faith in Him grows up out of belief in Him. While humankind was under the Law (that massive legal Standard of God’s called Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy [cf. section I]) came cognizance of our plight before God—for said Standard, like a millstone about our necks, had pulled us deep under the surface of the Waters owing to our inability to keep even small bits of it. This Law, this Standard, it damned us, incontestably exposing our wicked fallen nature over against said Standard, a nature that itself finds expression through our manifold sinful weaknesses (at the root of which lies insubordination toward Jehovah God). But by grace, yes, but by Grace, dearest friend, we were reconciled, found righteous through the imparted righteousness of our Redeemer and Savior Jesus Christ, and this “simply” through a grateful and living faith in Him, who had paid the price, the cost, of our Sentence. This is Redemption, and is it not terrific?! Many of us have faith in secular tangibles of one sort or another—why not in the tangible goodness of God primarily manifested in Jesus, our Christ? God has presented to us an achievable means of redemption, has then persistently across the ages cooed and wooed that we come to Him (Rom 10:13-17), and then left that big final step of the journey home with us as a faith decision. Now, if by His Spirit He calls all with equity, which of course He does (1Ti 2:3-6-catch the redundant use of “all” for example; cf. Luk 19:10, Hbr 2:9, 2Pe 3:9; also Act 10:34, Jas 3:17), can He then be condemned when He later condemns those that trivialized and/or rejected His great sacrificial work in complacency/secular security, arrogance, or intellectual “better-than-Thouness” (these are vanities that quench belief)? His redeeming Spirit does not rest (Jhn 17:25-26)—those that hear Him will indeed open their hearts, souls, and minds to Him (Jhn 10:27), thus through Him establishing, then developing, their redemptive faith in Him. But it is sad though, that not all can hear Him—this spiritual deafness is not God’s fault. Our Father willed that through this faith lives would be changed, and dedicated to His service, resulting in much good fruit—as was the original plan for man before the Fall, which brings us back all the way to the introductory sections of our letter. Thus, He closes the circle at the foot of the Cross, a ring of betrothal, for those who believe in Him.
X. Sincere Faith Matures into Christian Living
Praise and thanks is due our God for desiring to bring us back into communion (out of separation) with Him “simply” through faith. With a sincere yearning, a loving desire to fellowship with Jesus, one is compelled, in the heart, through the action of the Holy Spirit, to follow Christ and His commands and teachings, which came from the Father (Jhn 15:15). In that process, one gradually becomes Christ-like, or Christian (“Righteous Faith”). Please note that true Christian living is a perfecting process; Christianity is a perfecting theology in that sense. Our Father intends that as the image of His Son is wrought evermore in the new believer, their propensity to sin is to the same degree mitigated. When we accept Jesus, thus freed of our sin debt by His atoning blood sacrifice, and subsequently begin to live according to His teachings and His life’s examples, with His help (for we are mortals, and frail, and prone to stumble—we desperately need His help here), this holy metamorphosis of spirit process is initiated in us, for the further work of Christian discipleship (Mat 28:19-20, 2 Cr 2:14-16). The perfecting process endures until the instant our Lord calls us home, even though our God sees us perfectly completed in Jesus Christ the instant we come to heart-felt belief in Jesus—after all, it is a (perfecting) process precisely because, clothed in mortality, we are not yet perfect; that is, not yet fully Christ-like—the believer’s death is the final portal to that blessed end (1Cr 15:51-53). Dear friend, the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the written record of how Jesus lived, and the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles explicate and bear witness to the material recorded in the gospels; all these are road maps for Christian living.
XI. Christ’s Resurrection Is Our Guarantee for Eternal Life
As surely as we all will pass from this world, only those who believe in the Son and His resurrection will themselves be resurrected (Rom 10:5-11); this truth is worthy of restating. We are sure of Christ’s resurrection, and we are sure of our own ultimate resurrection through Him (“Children of the Resurrection”). Jesus overcame eternal death and is accordingly called the firstborn from the dead (Col 1:18). In His wake the believer similarly overcomes eternal death, for our God’s ultimate purpose of becoming eternally attached to Him (=Salvation), which attachment redounds to and sustains eternal life.
Resurrection, like Redemption, is an aspect of Salvation; both bespeak of new beginnings. Redemption lifts one up out of the grave of sin; Resurrection lifts one up out of the grave and onward. Redemption then Resurrection; the predicate and its subject; Redemption and Resurrection dovetail into the risen Jesus Christ, their Quintessence, our means of Salvation.
Salvation, for us, involves largely two decisions—first, whether to look deep inside and acknowledge and repent of one’s irreverent affront toward Jehovah God, and second, pending some truthful introspection, whether or not to transfer all trust to Jesus Christ; to Jesus, the Son of God, the affronter’s Redeemer, Helper, and personal Friend. If one decides to acknowledge, repent, and transfer, the attendant merging of repentance and faith, which is necessary for such a decision, stamps the heart as the temple of God, His choice dwelling place. Such a person is assured of Resurrection; is assured of eternal life with all the filial privileges particular to a child of God (Jhn 1:12). Those who follow the Lord Jesus rest (Isa 57:1-2, Rom 14:7-9, 2 Cr 5:6-9) while their mortal bodies lie in death; they rest anticipating their Savior’s return to unite their spirit with a glorified, incorruptible, new body (1 Cr 15:51-53) that is fit for eternity future; that is fit to dwell in the presence of quintessential holiness, omnipotence, and omniscience.
XII. The Affront That Leads to Eternal Damnation
To reject our Father’s redemptive work is an affront which cannot be forgiven, not least because there is no viable atonement outside of the Father’s Chosen, namely Jesus Christ (Act 4:12). Those that fall into this effectively non-believing class of people, upon their first death, die eternally, a second Death; they join that grievous fellowship of perpetually separated spirits—and sadly there is no reprieve whatsoever from this second death; this second death is surely the ultimate in misery (Rev. 20:11-15). One must remember that if God separated Himself from His own Son while the Son bore our sin, He will not be in fellowship with an informed, mentally adept unbeliever who, with focused intent, rejected their sin Bearer, and so is found bearing their own sin. Moreover, one must soberly recognize that a non-believer essentially snubs, essentially tramples underfoot, the precious redeeming blood of the Son of God—thus such carry with them not only the odium of their sin, but also the affront of belittling Omniscience’s painful and costly redemptive work, in effect adding insult to injury. What is more, they snub God this way most always in lieu of their own ideas about salvation and/or God per se, which is fully characteristic of the vanity that lies behind and undergirds the affront and odium of sin. Well, seeing that the decreed penalty of death remains on such (Rom 6:23)…they must needs perish (Hbr 10:26-31). These are somber and unpleasant words—but it does not have to end like that for you friend. May our Lord Jesus Christ abundantly bless you, and help you to hear Him, and hearing, to put your faith in Him for the Salvation this letter has prayerfully endeavored to show nearby within your reach, precious, and real.
P.S. Dear friend, in closing, may I drop the formal-speak and make use of the first-person personal pronoun somewhat so as to share with you my personal motivation for coming to our blessed Savior? I became aware over the years that my Lord is interested in details. Oftentimes people do not care much about details, but details always mattered to me more or less, and I began to realize that Jesus cares about them too (Mrk 12:41-44). This came to hit me as pretty important, because in my heart I often had a strange desire to follow Him and be near Him, even though my brain always told me, on the one hand, no way—too sinful, and on the other, again, no way, this will involve a change and a vulnerability that is too costly. But I have learned that Jesus does not think like we are prone to think—He seems to have been focused on a detail concerning me, and the detail that I think He ”grabbed hold of” was that faint desire in my heart concerning Him—it was not always strong, but always somehow it seemed to be there. The beautiful thing is that, looking back, I understand now that He patiently worked with that little detail, that feeble belief, and turned it into a relationship with Himself that I could not describe to you for lack of words. Anyway, I have found Him to be such a concerned, forgiving Redeemer, and stalwart Friend, that the personal cost was worth it—perhaps I’ll leave it at that. O that you might decide to follow Him home into eternity future too dear friend—then we could fellowship with Him there together…
Praised be Jesus Christ our Redeemer and Savior; how good it is that we have Thee great God.
XIII. Illustrations and Tables
In figures 1,2,and 3, time flows down the plots and space across them —the reader’s eye should track time down the plots.
Figure 1 The Obedience Rule.
The pattern reflects the designer’s intention. The bit stream for the rule is {0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0} where LSB is rightmost. Time flows downward.
Figure 2 The Sin Rule.
The pattern no longer reflects the designer’s intention. The bit stream for the rule is {0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1} where LSB Is rightmost. Time flows downward.
Figure 3. The sin pattern directly concatenated to the obedience pattern above it.
The grotesque change in motif is apparent. Technically, the pattern has degraded from a largely class four pattern to a wrinkled class two pattern at the instant of the obedience rule violation. The last data step of figure 1 was made the initial data step of figure 2 to produce figure 2, thus figure 3 simulates an uninterrupted rule violation. Time flows downward.
XIV. Works Cited and References
“A Threefold Test.”
Jesus, Amen.
< https://jesusamen.org/athreefoldtest.html >
Borgen, Peder and Soren Giversen ed.
The New Testament and Hellenistic Judaism.
Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997. 1-56563-261-3.
Bright, John
A History of Israel.
Westminster John Knox Press, 2000. 0-664-92068-1.
“Children of the Resurrection.”
Jesus, Amen.
< https://jesusamen.org/childrenoftheresurrection.html >
Daube, David.
The New Testament and Rabbinic Judaism.
Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998. 1-56563-141-2.
Gentry, Robert V.
Creation’s Tiny Mystery, 3rd Ed.
Knoxville: Earth Science Associates, 1992. 0-9616753-3-0.
“Jacob I Loved, But Esau I Hated.”
Jesus, Amen.
< https://jesusamen.org/jacobiloved.html >
“John Chapter Three Commentary.”
Jesus, Amen.
< https://jesusamen.org/commentaryjohn3.html >
Montgomery, John W.
Faith Founded on Fact: Essays in Evidential Apologetics.
Newburgh, IN: Trinity Press, 1978. 0-8407-5641-0.
Morris, Henry M.
The Biblical Basis for Modern Science.
Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1984. 0-8010-6178-4.
Morris, Henry M.
The Genesis Record: A scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings.
Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981. 0-8010-6004-4.
Niswonger, Richard L.
New Testament History.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992. 0-310-31201-9.
Payne, J.B.
Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy.
Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.1973. 0-8010-7051-1.
“Radiohalo.”
Wikipedia.
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohalo >
Rana, F. with Ross, H.
Who was Adam.
Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005. 1-57683-577-4.
Reicke, Bo, Trans. D.E. Green.
The New Testament Era: The World of the Bible From 500 B.C. to A.D. 100.
Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968. 0-8006-1080-6.
“Righteous Faith.”
Jesus, Amen.
< https://jesusamen.org/righteousfaith.html >
Roetzel, Calvin J.
The World That Shaped The New Testament.
Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1985. 0-8042-0455-1.
Wilder-Smith, A.E.
The Natural Sciences Know Nothing Of Evolution.
The Word for Today Publishers, Out of Print. 0-89051-062-8.
XV. Notes
- Gentry, Morris, Morris, Rana with Ross, Wilder-Smith.
- ‘…Have my own way Lord, I’ll have my own way, I am the potter, and thou art the clay…’
- If this simplistic model may serve as a bit of a guide, it is abundantly clear that part of God’s intention in Redemption was to “get man back on course,” so to speak; this was and is necessarily a divine enterprise, not least because the convoluted entanglement of sin by which man is ever handicapped deceives him thoroughly into believing his self-appointed course is the right one. But thanks be to God for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for according as we stand in Him, we stand in the right course, truth, and life eternal.