“God demonstrates His own love
toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
The Scriptures are very clear
that the wrath of God is visited upon sinners or
else that the Son of God dies for them. Either
sinners are punished for their sins or else there
takes place a substitution. Either the sinner dies
or the substitute dies.
When Jesus Christ became “a
curse for us” according to Galatians 3:13-14, He
bore the full consequences of our sin. When God made
Him sin that we might become “the righteousness of
God,” then in some way He took upon Himself our sin
and we bear it no more (2 Corinthians 5:21).
God made Jesus die as our
substitute that death which is the wages of sin.
Christ died for us; He died
that death of ours which is the wages of sin. In the
death of Christ, God condemned our sins once and for
all. All of God's condemnation fell in one fatal
blow upon Christ. It was a divine sentence executed
by God upon all sin.
The Christian method of
justification is one that is substitutionary. It is
based on the substitutionary aspect of the
atonement. The sinner is acquitted through the
substituted blood shedding of Christ. He suffers
what God does to sin. Jesus’ death makes visible
what happens when man has God against him. Christ
bore our condemnation so that we bear it no more. We
are justified by a substitutionary process.
Our salvation depends
completely on what God has done in Christ.
Redemption points us to a price paid (1 Peter
1:18-19). Substitution tells us how much was paid
and by whom and for whom it was paid. It was
purchased at great cost, at the price of His own
blood. Christ paid the price that bought our
salvation. The Son of God died once for all for the
sinner and thus put away his sin. There is therefore
no room for human activity.
As our substitute Jesus Christ
made Himself one with those for whom He suffered. He
stands in the closest relationship with those for
whom He died. Moreover, since the wages of sin was
borne by our Substitute our salvation reaches its
consummation only when the sinner has become one
with his Substitute, and views his sin and Christ’s
righteousness with the same mind as his Substitute.
That is why the Scriptures
demand a personal response of faith in the finished
atoning work of Christ.
Our salvation is totally
dependent upon our divine substitute who took our
place on the cross. Jesus Christ bore what we should
have borne; He is our substitute. Christ paid the
price of our redemption. “Christ died for our sins.”
Jesus said, “I am the good
shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for
the sheep. . . I lay down My life for the sheep”
(John 10:11, 15b). “Greater love has no one than
this, that one lay down his life for his friends”
(John 15:13).
The Bible insists that we put
our faith and trust in that finished work of Christ
on the cross in order to be justified before God.
“Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the Law but through faith in Christ
Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so
that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not
by the works of the Law; since by the works of the
Law no flesh will be justified” (Galatians 2:16).
Justification means that God
declares the believing sinner righteous in His
sight, which is a declaration of peace, made
possible by Christ’s death on the cross (Rom. 5:1).
No sinner can merit that right relationship with
God. It cannot be earned by our virtue because we
are sinners. The love of God is “poured out into our
hearts” (literal translation). Before we were saved,
God proved His love by sending Christ to die for us.
Have you responded by faith to
God’s divine Substitute who died for you? Either He
dies, or you will die. “Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and you shall be saved.
Wil is a graduate of William
Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist
Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific
University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador
and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as
missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily
expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100
countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek
opportunities to be personally involved in world
missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown
daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor
and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
Bible
word studies for sermon preparation, messages,
devotions and personal Bible studies with abiding
principles and practical applications.
Reports on what God is doing through Bible
believing evangelical Christians in
Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru,
India
and Ecuador. Jesus said, "If you abide in
Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever
you wish, and it shall be done for you"
(John 15:7).