It is Finished. Chapter Three. Saved.
Why did Jesus have to die, and how to live in that freedom.
Saved
What does it mean to be saved?
Not too long ago, before Easter Sunday, an acquaintance posted a video on thier social media page of a well-known pastor attempting to answer the following question: "Why did Jesus have to die?" The pastor’s answer astounded me: "To save us from God."
At the same time, a different pastor acquaintance wrote on his page, "Humans wrote the Old Testament; thus, the version of God we read about is based solely on man's version, who make Him out to be a bloodthirsty monster." One of his commenters applauded him and added that all people were forgiven at the cross; thus, all are saved.
Ask most Christians, and you will get one of these answers or something in between, if that.
Why did Jesus have to die, and why did we need saving? Saving from what?
What is Salvation?
In Romans 5:12, Paul reflects on that fateful day in the Garden:
"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all people because all sinned."
What he is explaining is that Adam's transgression opened the door to sin, and death entered as a result. Because of Adam, humanity ended up condemned to die. To be dead in sin is to be without Christ. Our problem is not what we have; it's what we lack- the life of God.
"Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men…" Rom 5:18
Because of Adam, we inherited a death sentence. It’s as if we were put on death row.
"Death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned…for as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners." Rom 5: 14, 19
To be made a sinner is to be made a slave.
"You were slaves of sin." Romans 6:17
Dead To Sin
For most of my Christian life, I have worked on dying to sin. My daughter once told me, “Mom, you were the most miserable sinless sinner I knew.” What she meant was that she had observed my constant work to put sin to death in every aspect of my life, but never quite measured up. I lived in a constant awareness of my failure or the brink of failure, which made me hyper-vigilant not to make a mistake, lest I fall back into sin; I was constantly aware that I was prone to it. I believed that every difficulty that came my way was God’s commitment to reveal that there was more sin to be found in me, and God was committed to seeing that I conquered it. One day, the day I see Him face to face, I will finally be victorious and acceptable.
My Christian life was fueled by fear, guilt, and anxiety. No wonder I was so miserable! I was living in religion and didn’t know it.
Religion is the same as self-righteousness. It is man’s pursuit to make himself right before God. Fear and guilt fuel religion. Do you know how to tell if religion has crept into your life?
Here is the test:
Do you believe you must keep short accounts with God?
Do you have to die to sin daily?
Do you need to work to be a better person?
Do you need people’s approval to have value?
Religion leads to:
Burnout
Comparison
Jealousy
Hidden Sin
Shame, Guilt, and Doubt
Control and Manipulation
Having a belief that you are a “ work in progress” or that God is so kind as to be patient with our sin, but He’s rooting it out one way or another, is a form of religion as well. If you have experienced these things, you have taken on work God did not intend for you. You thought you were being obedient or doing the right thing, but it became burdensome. There have been many who have left the faith altogether or have even contemplated suicide because they simply could not measure up.
The good news is, Jesus finished all of that striving and clothed you with His righteousness. Your work is finished. He ran the race so you wouldn’t have to. Religion says, “do.” Jesus’s work says, “done.”
Let’s talk about sin.
Sin is not rule-breaking or acting immorally as much as it is walking by sight and leaning on your own abilities and understanding. Sin is trusting in yourself and living without regard for the things of God. However, acting immorally is a symptom of a deeper problem- the “nature of sin.” If you took all of your sin and raked it up into a big, stinky pile, you would have what Paul, in Romans 6:6, calls "the body of sin." It is described as an organized power that acts through the body.
In Romans, “sin” is mentioned forty-eight times. Forty of those times, it is used as a noun, “Hamartia.”
The definition for “hamartia” is: 1. Without a share in, 2. To miss the mark.
The other eight times sin is mentioned, it is a verb “hamartano,” referring to the action of sinning.
In Romans 6, there is only ONE time sin is used as a verb- found only in Romans 6:15 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?" This is the only instance sin is mentioned as the act of sinning.
Why is this important, you ask? If you think that sin is an “act” (Sinn-ing), and you read Romans 6:7, for example, “For he who has died has been freed from sin (sinn-ing).” You will likely become frustrated and even consider giving up. This is the verse that caused much anxiety and even depression in my life. “What is wrong with me?!”
There was nothing wrong with me- there was something wrong with what I believed.
Read Romans 6:7 as “ For he who has died has been freed from sin (the body/nature of sin).” Now, we’ve got some hope!
Let’s continue to see how Paul defines sin in Romans 6.
“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:8-11
Some view God as an angry Judge, ready to punish rebellious humanity. Yet Jesus told His disciples in John 4:19, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”
Jesus is the representation of the Heavenly Father. He died because the Triune God loved us with an everlasting love and refused to allow anything to stand in the way and destroy us. Jesus is the living reconciliation to what happened in the Garden, which caused Adam and all humanity to see God as cruel and angry- Jesus was the undoing of this illusion of separation.
"God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself…" 2 Corinthians 5:19a
"Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." Romans 5:18
God wanted Adam and Eve to trust him. By introducing uncertainty into their world, he was inviting them to a relationship of dependence on Him. If they had trusted Him, they would have lived. Indeed, they would have had abundant life. But they chose to distrust Him and reaped the consequences of their choice. By rejecting God's words of life, Adam cut himself off from the Source of life, and death came as a result.
This choice resulted in separation from God's presence, but it was never God's desire.
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21
Jesus, the Son of God, came as a man because He came to represent all of mankind, just as Adam represented all of mankind. We all died in sin as a result of Adam's sin because we were "in Him."
The term "in him" is covenantal. The story of David and Goliath is a perfect example to help explain this. When the young shepherd boy faced the giant, the fate of all of Israel was in his hands. Fail, and all Israel lost. When Goliath faced David, the Philistines' fate was in his success or failure. When Goliath was killed, the Philistines lost. Because David won that battle, all of Israel won. Israel was "in David."
Jesus was the only man qualified to represent all of mankind as the final sacrifice for sin because He was entirely without sin (noun).
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15
Jesus was not “without sinn-ing.” He was tempted but without sin- the noun. The word “tempted” means “to try whether a thing can be done, or to prove.” Jesus was tested and proven pure and holy. He didn’t have a nature to sin.
“For the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” John 14:30
Jesus’s bloodline came straight from the Heavenly Father, pure, holy, and sinless.
Because of this, Jesus was qualified to pay the ransom price for our freedom from the tyranny of sin and death. His precious blood was the price sin demanded. It was paid for willingly. “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.” John 10:18
The only way Jesus became sin at the cross was by receiving our sin.
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
Jesus went through the testing and was found perfect in every way. As our representative, the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29), He took our place, died our death, and raised us with Him. It was the great exchange- our sin for His righteousness. Jesus died once and for all, (Romans 6:10). His nature replaced our old, sinful nature. His sacrifice cut away the Old Adam.
Reckon
Back to Romans 6:11, “Likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
To “reckon” means “to count, to calculate.” We are to reckon ourselves dead to sin in the same way Jesus died to sin. His death to sin was the death to the charges against us, the condemnation of sin, the penalty of sin for mankind, and the power of sin. All of the blame, condemnation, and punishment were received by Jesus forever! He put away (forgave) the sin of the world by taking our place, dying our death, and raising us up in Him as partakers of God’s divine nature.
“As Jesus is, so are we in this world." 1 John 4:17
As our representative, what happened to Him happened to us. Whatever is true of Jesus is true of you. In whatever way Jesus died, we also died. Jesus is not dying daily, nor is he dying progressively. If Jesus died to sin once for all, so did we. We are to reckon ourselves dead to that body of sin.
“We have been crucified with Christ.” Galatians 2:20
Because of Christ’s death, He did not leave us defenseless or powerless. He took away the problem that kept us under the dominion of sin, and He transferred us into the kingdom of God. When we were born again, God gave us a new past - a clean one, a new one, and a righteous one (more on righteousness in the next chapter).
Don’t let sin reign
“Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6: 12-13
Genesis 4:7 is the first mention of sin: "And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it." This was said in the context of the very first murder, when Cain killed his brother Abel. Notice that God said that sin was crouching and opposed to Cain.
Sin is more than an act we do. For the unbeliever, sin is a slaveholder. Galatians 3:22 tells us this: "Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin."
For the believer, however, sin is an external, personified force with no power over you, except for two ways:
The law: 1 Corinthians 15:56 says, "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law." Romans 6:14 says, "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace."
Deceitful Desires: Hebrews 3:13 says, "But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, my flesh." Romans 7:18 "My flesh is incapable of living the spiritual life I desire." Romans 7:18
Because we are dead to sin and alive in the new, righteous nature of Christ, we have the power not to let sin reign in our bodies. Did you know that condemnation produces cycles of sin? The law is what fuels condemnation. Paul called the law the ministry of death (2 Corinthians 3:7). When we live under the law, we become more aware of sin, and a cycle begins of trying hard not to sin, failing, and with that, condemnation follows. When we believe that our actions define who we are (“ I sin, therefore I am a sinner”), we will live according to that belief. When we identify with Jesus’ death, we identify with His righteous nature.
Under Grace
“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” Romans 6:14-15
When we are joined to Jesus, we are one with Him. Therefore, it is impossible to be under the dominion of sin.
Verse fifteen is the only time sin is mentioned as a verb. “Shall we sin? “ If we read Romans six and think sin is always a verb, we will always work to control it. Grace is the freedom FROM sin. It is not the licence TO sin. We have been set free from the power of sin; therefore, we, like Cain, have the power to master it.
"I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin… who will set me free from this body of death?" Romans 7:14,24
To go back to our original question: Why did Jesus have to die, and what are we saved from? The answer is: He came to set the captives free.
Luke 4:18 says, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed.”
We were captives to sin, the law was our taskmaster, and the penalty was death. We have been saved from this tyrant and given a new life!
“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” Romans 6:16-17
To “obey” means to “listen to or to harken”- to pay careful attention to what is being said. You are slaves to whom you listen to. Paul is talking about what we believe. He is talking about a person. Do we think we are in Adam or Jesus? (Romans 6:17)
Show me one who is in a cycle of sin, and I will show you one who identifies as a sinner- one who believes Adam. Show me one who is at peace, complete and full of joy no matter the circumstance, one who lives free from cycles of sin, and I will show you one who identifies as righteous- one who believes in Jesus.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
We are saved by grace alone, not by works, not by both works and grace or even by our own faith. We are not saved by tears, prayer, fasting, or payment. To be saved by anything other than grace would have made Jesus' mission an utter failure, and there would have been no need for Him to come.
We are saved by grace and kept by grace. To be saved by grace and kept by works would have meant His work wasn't finished because it would be up to us to maintain our salvation.
Work out your salvation.
The Gospel was financed by the most precious commodity in the cosmos—the blood of Jesus.
Mixing faith with works is relying on your own efforts for salvation rather than trusting in His finished work. "I gave up everything. I turned from sin. I work for holiness." That's old-covenant thinking. That is faith in what you have done. Jesus did it all without any help from you. He is the author and finisher. Grace doesn't just get you started; it completes what He started. Fixing our eyes on Jesus—the person who is Grace—should be our focus throughout our Christian lives.
You heard the good news, believed in that Grace, and received Him through faith. Continue to live in Him through faith. God has faith in His Son that the work He completed in you is perfect, and you will look more and more like Him as you behold Him.
To "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" means learning to walk in the new way of the Spirit—this can be scary. You have to trust that the Holy Spirit will back you up.
When you learn to speak a prophetic word, that can be scary. When you lay your hands on sick people, you have to lay aside your "what-ifs" and worries and trust God.
Are all saved?
There is one requirement for salvation: "The work of God is this: to believe in the One he has sent." John 6:29
"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life." John 6:47
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:19
The Gospel is the Good News that a Savior works in the slave fields of sin and gives eternal life to those on death row. It is the good news that Jesus forgave the sins of the world, and forgiveness is a gift! Sin, the thing that separated us, was forgiven. The basis for receiving it is repentance. To repent means "metanoia, "meaning to change your mind.
Grace is worthless if you don't believe it. Jesus doesn't force salvation on the unwilling.
"For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it." Hebrews 4:2
Be assured
"Therefore, I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:3
Can you say Jesus is Lord? If you can, be assured. The Holy Spirit will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. (1 Corinthians 1:8-9)
"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
So, dear Christian, live in this newness of life. Jesus began a good work in you; He will complete it. If you have been living a life of perpetual defeat, it is not because you are not saved. It is because you are believing “Adam” and think something is wrong with you, or His blood was not enough. Believe Jesus and change how you think of yourself, “Dead to sin, alive to Christ.” Encourage your friends when they have failed as well.