THE GROUND OF JUSTIFICATION

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR GOD TO FORGIVE SINS? DOES HE JUST BRUSHED ASIDE OUR SINS AND PRETEND THAT THEY NEVER HAPPENED?

1. GOD IS HOLY 2. GOD IS LOVE His righteousness required that He both condemn and justify sinners. How can this be resolved.

 THROUGH THE CROSS OF CHRIST: Gods eternal wisdom devised a plan of redemption wherein one person of the Trinity, the Logos becomes incarnate as a human being and suffer the required penalty for sins in the place of the human race. It allows Him to be both just & justifier of the one who believes in Jesus. Rom.3:21-26

 THE CROSS AS A WORK OF REDEMPTION & PROPITIATION A. CHRISTS DEATH AS A PROPITIATION

1. An offering that turns away wrath. Hilaskomai- to propitiate Hilasmos a propitiatory offering Hilasterion that which propitiates God.

 2. In pagan world- the terms had the connotation of appeasing or placating angry deities. This cruel pagan connotation must not be carried over to the God of the Bible, not because the term mean something different from the Bible, but because the God of the Bible is different from the heathen gods. A. He is not merely a God of wrath, but also a God of love and grace who takes the initiative in providing the offering that turns away His own wrath.

 3. The key element in the concept of propitiation-is the wrath of God, it is an offering that turns away wrath. If God is not a God of wrath-then the concept of propitiation would not apply at all. Many denied the wrath of God-Rom.3:25-expiation. The reality of Gods wrath was mentioned in the Bible. Rom.1:18;2:5-9;3:9-20 Everyone has broken the law-we are under the condemnation of the law and the wrath of God. This mans basic problem. Rom. 1:18-3:20 Rom.3:21 solution to the problem how we may excape Gods wrath. I Jn. 4:10

 What is there about the mission of Christ that accomplishes propitiation? A. It is not His life, ministry, sinlessness or His example. It is not His prophetic work of teaching and of revealing the Father. B. It is His death on the Cross

C. Not by doing but by dying.

On Calvary, He offered Himself as an offering to turn Gods wrath away from us. I Jn.2:2- propitiation for our sins

I Jn.1:7-the blood of Jesus cleanses us from sins.

It is His blood poured out in death-that is the propitiation. Christ on the Cross is the propitiation for our sins. Rom. 3:25 (explicitly)God displayed Jesus publicly as a propitiation HOWon the cross. Propitiation is only accomplished through His blood.

 HOW IS THE DEATH OF CHRIST A PROPITIATION? HOW DOES IT TURN THE WRATH OF GOD AWAY FROM US? A. By taking it on Himself. Our sin makes us guilty and places us under the penalty of wrath. B. When we say, He died for my sins, bore our sins )I Pet. 2:24) upon calvary-it means that He put Himself in our place and let our sins be counted as His own. C. He bore the guilt of our sins and the consequent penalty which they deserve. Hoe bore the wrath of God in our place.

THE THREE CONCEPT A. IMPUTATION-our sins along with their guilt & penalty are imputed into Christ. It means that they are reckoned or charged to His account, they are treated as His own. B. SATISFACTION- Jesus satisfied the requirements of Gods law for us. He satisfied the retributive justice & the wrath of God in our place. C. SUBSTITUTION-He did this not only for us or our own behalf. He actually did them in our place instead of us.

Testimony of the Scriptures: Isaiah 53 I Pet. 2:24 Gal. 3:13 His death was both substitutionary and forensic. Both substitution and imputation are mentioned in 2Cor.5:21

 1. Christ work as sin-bearer-made Him to be compared with the O.T. Lamb-Jon. 1:29; I Cor. 5:7;-as a lamb He was slain so that His blood could deflect the wrath of God from us. Rom.3:25; IJn.2:2; I Jn.4:10 2. If Christ actually took our place in bearing the wrath of God-then He suffered the equivalent of eternity in Hell for every sinner. Many did not understand the nature of Christs suffering. 1. It included not just the moment of death but all the torture and anguish- it begins in Gethsemane. 2. It included both physical and spiritual dimension. The physical agony of scourging & crucifixion was fully documented. How could this be the equivalent of eternal punishment of the whole human race? His suffering was infinite and no limit.

 What is the difference of Christs suffering-others were also crucified and suffered. 1. It is in the spiritual agony He bore. Spiritual(mental, emotional, psychological)is worst than physical pain. When applied to Jesus, this spiritual agony takes on infinitive, unimaginable proportion. 1. He was sinless, yet He was facing the penalty of sins. His soul was not toughened & scarred by numerous trespasses. 2. He was God, the living god and yet He was facing the antithesis of both life and deity and death itself. What kind of feelings must have crowded His consciousness as He come face to face with that enemy & that curse that God Himself had imposed upon mankind as the penalty for sin. How can we measure the agony for meeting His whole being as the divine nature itself experienced what it was like to die.

 EVEN THOUGH HE SUFFERED FOR ONLY A FINITE PERIOD OF TIME, THE SUFFERING ITSELF IS INFINITE. HOW CAN THE SUFFERING OF CHRIST, WHICH LASTED ONLY A FEW HOURS BE THE EQUIVALENT OF ETERNITY IN HELL FOR THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE? BECAUSE HE IS GOD-the finite suffering of an Infinite being would seem to be equivalent to the infinite sufferings of finite beings. This is the reason why atonement can only be accomplished by God Himself, and not by man alone or creature. His suffering was infinite & this satisfied the wrath of God for every human being.

 The death of Jesus as a propitiation for the wrath of God the key to justification of those who put their trust in Christ and what He has done for them. 2. Because of the Cross, God is able to forgive sins without violating His holy nature. It makes forgiveness possible. This is how God can be both just and justifier- Rom.3:26 3. His holiness demanding that sin be punished, His love desiring to forgive. Christ as a propitiatory sacrifice enables Him to do both-by His blood. Rom.5:9 Jn. 1:29-sins of the world-does not lead to universal salvation. Justification is not only by His blood, but also by faithRom3:28;Rom.5:1 The pardon purchased by Christ on calvary is offered to all, but it is actually given only to those who accept it through faith, commitment to Christ as Savior and Lord. Some of those bought by His blood will be lost. 2 Pet.2:1

 ATTACK ON PROPITIATION 1. God is pictured as an angry God who is persuaded to & forgive man only after Christ offers Himself on Calvary, but it is Gods prior love that provided the propitiation in the first place-I Jn.4:10 2. It is an immoral concept for one person to suffer the punishment for anothers sins. The problem is , they are trying to understand the atonement on human analogy.

 1. In human justice, it wrong for a human judge to punish an innocent third party for a crime someone else has committed against the law of the land. But this does not apply to God. A. Because He Himself is not only the judge but also the lawgiver. B. He is the one sinned against as well as the innocent substitute. C. God was not administering someone elses law, but His own, & the sin was not committed against someone else but against Him. D. And above all, He did not take someone else and accept him as substitute for the condemned sinner, but He came Himself, took Him the nature of the guilty ones and bore the penalty of own law. THIS IS ANOTHER REASON WHY ONLY GOD HIMSELF COULD MAKE ATONEMENT FOR OUR SINS. CHRIST IS GOD.