Category Archives: Plan of Salvation

God’s Wisdom in the Cross

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The cross is such a fundamental part of what Christianity professes that it can become all too easy for us to pass it over without much thought. The cross? Of course it is vital. Of course we must preach it. Yet how often do we let the power and wisdom of the cross sink in and affect us in a practical way? Take another look at the first two chapters of 1 Corinthians.

Writing within 25 years of the actual events, Paul writes, “The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1:18). “God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1:21). To the Jews, the cross is a stumbling block; to Greeks it is foolishness. But to those who are called, whether Jew or Greek, “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1:24-25). He continues into chapter two with the same theme. It is a theme that runs consistently through Scripture: God chooses that which appears to be weak and makes it strong so that all may see that God is ultimately to be glorified.

But the cross? How does this manifest His wisdom and power? While there may be a number of ways to answer this question, please think about the following:

1. The cross shows God’s wisdom through a demonstration of the horror of sin on the one hand, and the power of His love on the other. The crucifixion of Jesus is the “show and tell” of what God thinks about sin. It is also the strongest demonstration of His love for a lost world (Rom 5:6-11). God abhors sins, and Jesus despised the shame associated with the cross, but it is due to sin that Jesus went to the cross. Hatred and love are equally demonstrated. What greater way to show both to a world that needs to understand both? Such a display shows the foolishness of mankind in taking part in sin, but also shows the extent to which God goes to show His love and bring us back to Him.

2. The cross shows God’s wisdom in that it demonstrates that the message really did come from Him. This point actually serves an apologetic purpose. Think about it. Who in the world would have dreamed up the idea of a Savior of the world dying on a cross? This is a not a message that the Jews would have concocted or accepted, for “cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Deut 21:23; Gal 3:13). The idea that a few Jews just made the story up and were then able to sell it so successfully is beyond credulity. Further, this is not a message that Gentiles would have made up. To think that pagan Gentiles would dream up a story of a crucified Jewish Savior is ludicrous. Neither the Jewish culture nor the Greek culture of the time can explain the story of Jesus as the crucified King who can save the whole world from sin. This is a message that can find plausible explanation only in the wisdom of God.

3. The cross displays the wisdom and power of God because it is only the first part to the story. Implied in the idea of God’s power is the resurrection. Paul did not only preach a dead Jesus. He preached a Jesus who overcame death. He preached a Jesus who “became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption” (1:30). “Christ and Him crucified” does not end at the cross itself, as if the cross, and the cross alone, did the job. God wanted to demonstrate His power in a way that could not be feasibly denied. Jesus didn’t just faint. He didn’t die in His sleep. He was violently executed in the worst and bloodiest manner. To be raised up after that would indeed be a great display of power. By the end of Paul’s epistle, the resurrection is exactly what he argues (ch. 15). God’s wisdom and power are vindicated through the death and resurrection of Jesus!

The cross is not made up by mere men. If men concocted the story of salvation we would undoubtedly see something very different from a Roman cross. We might see something akin to the pagan myths. Yet contrary to what we sometimes hear, the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is not the stuff that make up the myths. It is much simpler and based in actual time and space history. The wisdom of God displayed through the cross is a demonstration of God Himself breaking into history to deal directly with sin and evil, and to show His creation how much He desires for us to be in His fellowship.

By Doy Moyer

Children of God

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When one begins to contemplate the many blessings bestowed upon himself throughout one day, he should be both mesmerized by the enormity of these gifts and humbled by their presence in his life. When one further contemplates the Creator of all the universe caring for him, it truly brings a sense of awe. As the Psalmist wrote, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4). No truer question could have ever been asked than, Who am I to receive such wonderful blessings?

It is this sense of awe that prompts within us our humility. We are humbled because we understand our weaknesses and failure to maintain faithfulness to God. We freely confess that we have fallen short and deserve nothing, but even then God continues to love, forgive, and reunite our lives with His will. We are humbled by the empirical evidence that manifest God’s love, one that is greater than any we should ever deserve. Our very being both spiritually and physically is sustained by our Father who reigns in heaven – Who am I to ever be called one of His children?

It is with this foundation of awe and humility, we want to examine these words of the apostle John – “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him” (1 John 3:1). It is this love of God manifested in our lives that has forever changed not only our course on earth but our eternal destinies. We are no longer just average men but are children of God. Do we honor God by humbly thanking Him for this awesome gift? Do we contemplate what it means to be called a child of God and the rich blessings we obtain through this new relationship? Our task is to evaluate the text of John’s first epistle and to think about the rich blessings we are given through God’s wondrous love.

The first blessing of being a child of God is sharing in fellowship with the Father and Son (1 John 1:7). When we put on Christ in baptism, our motivation in life has changed from selfish interest to selfless concern. Our love and the pursuit of worldly things is redesigned to now love the Father and carry out His will (1 John 2:15-17). We have been called to walk in a manner as He walked (1 John 2:6). Our lives become a manifestation of this change, when others no longer see vain pursuits but a life given to righteousness (1 John 2:29). This change originates and continues daily because of the fellowship we share with the Father and Son.

The second blessing of being a child of God is the forgiveness of sins. Our God’s love is incomprehensible! As Paul said, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). While man struggles to forgive his debtors and to love his enemies, our God loved us while we were yet sinners and completely unlovable. This is only possible because our God is love and because in His love lies the gift of forgiveness (1 John 4:8). While God does expect us to live differently after salvation, He also continues to forgive those who confess and repent of their sins. John said, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). There is no excuse for a Christian to live with sin for John said, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Therefore, we must live in such a way to confess our faults and ask for God’s forgiveness.

A third blessing of being a child of God is the hope and assurance of a better life coming. John spoke of eternal life in both the immediate sense and future sense in his short epistle. John wrote in the immediate sense to encourage those Christians who were having to endure both physical persecutions and the false teaching of their day to remain faithful (1 John 2:26; 4:1-6). This purpose was further explained by John when he wrote, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Building upon this foundation, John moved from their immediate situation by exhorting them to live with full assurance of eternal life in the future sense. As he wrote, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). John encouraged the faithful to carry on by reminding them of their future glory and home in heaven with the Father and Son.

While this list was never meant to be exhaustive, it does gives us three key blessings that transcend the centuries by continuing to encourage us in our faithfulness to God. What a tremendous thought that we will all share in the same result as our brethren of the 1st century if we remain faithful to God? Will you be found walking in the light or will you forfeit God’s richest blessings for a momentary pleasure of sin? We have been called to not walk like mere men but rather to walk on a higher plane with a new purpose. We are encouraged by John to walk in love, truth, knowledge, forgiveness, light, etc., because these are the traits manifested in our Father. May our lives continually be in awe of God’s surpassing love and humbled by His wondrous forgiveness so that we remain to be called – Children of God!

By Colby Junkin

We Preach Christ Crucified

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“We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness” (I Corinthians 1:23). Let there be no mistake: Preaching “Christ crucified” is gospel preaching. The “word of the cross” is the power of God to save the lost (I Corinthians 1:18, 21; Romans 1:16). It reveals how God forgives sinners and what sinners must do to receive God’s forgiveness (Romans 1:17; 3:21-26; Acts 2:37). It must be preached.

The apostle Paul observed that when he preached at Corinth he“ determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (I Corinthians 2:2). Some hastily conclude that to preach Jesus is to preach only the life and death of Jesus and not the doctrine recorded in the inspired epistles by Christ’s apostles and prophets. We are told, in effect, that Jesus is more important than His doctrine. Yet, He is “the Truth,” which indisputably involves His doctrine (John 14:6; 7:16-17). Such minimizing of doctrine allows for the subjective interpretation of Scripture (“choose the doctrine of your choice”). Such a view affirms that Jesus approves of each person deciding what doctrine is important and what is unimportant. We are scolded when we teach there is one body of doctrine (teaching) that is truth for all (John 17:17). “Just preach Christ and leave others alone,” we are told.

In order to preach the “message of the cross” we must know what that preaching includes (I Corinthians 1:18, 21). Does it include the plan of salvation? Does it include principles of divine authority? Does it include the work and organization of the church? Does it include teaching about sin? Does it include instruction on human obedience? Does it include preaching the fulfillment of prophecy? The Scriptures answer“yes” to each of these questions. Let us see what it means to “preach Christ crucified.”

In Acts 8:5, Philip “preached Christ” to the city of Samaria. What did that entail? In Acts 8:12 we learn that he preached the “things concerning the kingdom of God.” Without question, preaching Christ is preaching about His kingdom, the church of Christ (Matthew 16:18-19). After all, the church is His body and fullness (Ephesians 1:22-23). How can one preach Christ and not preach about His body, the church? How can one preach Christ and not preach that He is the savior of His body, the church (Ephesians 5:23)?

When Philip “preached Christ” he preached concerning “the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12). He proclaimed Christ’s authority; His right to rule our lives (Matthew 28:18-19; Ephesians 1:20-23). To fully preach Christ we must preach His authority. Preaching how the authority of Christ is established and applied in Scripture should not be denounced as not preaching Jesus. Just the opposite is true; we will preach about Bible authority when we preach Christ. Whatever we say and do must be supported by His authority (Colossians 3:17). And, by the way, His authority is revealed to us in “the word of His power,” His New Testament – “the word of the truth of the gospel” (Colossians 1:5; Hebrews 1:1-3; John 16:13; II Timothy 3:16-17).

When Philip “preached Christ” he preached baptism, since “both men and women were baptized” (Acts 8:12). This means he preached about sin and how sinners are saved (Acts 2:37-38, 40). This means he taught the plan of salvation when he preached Christ to the Samaritans (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 1:8; 8:1, 4). Those who believed the gospel obeyed it and were saved (Acts 8:12-13). We conclude that Philip preached the continuing responsibilities of faithful, obedient discipleship (Acts 8:13). None should object to preaching the responsibilities of discipleship (such as moral purity, Romans 12:1-2) as not preaching Christ. “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7).

When Philip “preached Christ” he preached fulfilled prophecy. In Acts 8:35, Philip “preached Jesus” from Isaiah 53:7-8, instructing the Ethiopian that Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy. The Jesus whom we preach is the suffering Christ of Old Testament prophecy (Acts 17:2-3).

The New Testament of Christ is the apostles’ doctrine that was preached in the first century (Romans 16:25). It is what lost souls heard, believed and obeyed in order to be saved from their sins (Acts 2:40-41). The gospel they preached was not their own; it was revealed to them by the Spirit of God (John 16:12-15; Galatians 1:11-12; I Thessalonians 2:13). It was the “word of the cross” then, and it continues to be the “word of the cross” today (I Corinthians 1:18; I Peter 1:22-25).

We will not make distinctions in God’s word where there are none. To “preach Christ crucified” includes preaching that Jesus fulfilled God’s prophetic plan to save sinners. It includes His life, death, resurrection and exaltation; it includes man’s faith and obedience; it includes the church of Christ and the authority of Christ over our lives. We must preach the “whole counsel of God,” the inspired Scriptures (II Timothy 3:16-4:2; Acts 20:27). To do less is not preaching Christ crucified to the world.

 

By Joe Price