Chapter 4 - Redemption / Justification
Because of the blood atonement
of Jesus we are justified and redeemed, we are being sanctified (separated unto God
from sin, Satan, flesh, and the world), and we will be glorified. To better
understand this process of salvation, let's turn now to a brief look at our redemption and
justification.
Christ Is Our Redeemer / Justifier
God will never pet our flesh; He puts it to death. He will never nurse our
causes--He is interested only in His cause.
His cause is the redemption of mankind. You can't receive this
redemption through any other way or door but through the blood atonement of Jesus Christ.
You cannot be redeemed and justified by the works of the Law. The Law
was not given to redeem men from sin but to convict them of it. Conviction alone cannot
save. We must add repentance to conviction. Repentance means to turn away, turn around, do
an about-face, change our thinking. But we can't just turn away from wrong. We must turn
toward the Redeemer.
The Law tells us what is right. The Law is the basis for all righteous
judgment. The Law has to be satisfied with righteousness; that is, the Law has to be
obeyed perfectly. It is impossible to accomplish this in the fallen, cursed nature of
human flesh. Jesus, on the other hand, being the perfect Son of God, accomplished the
righteous requirement of the Law.
"For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him"
(2 Cor. 5:21).
"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made
a curse for us: for it is written, 'Cursed is every one who hangs on a tree'"
(Gal. 3:13).
God may give you a work to do. But your works will never redeem you.
Your redemption is past tense: accomplished in Christ Jesus. The Law has been satisfied by
the blood of the Lamb.
The only way to get in on this satisfaction is through faith in the
Redeemer--faith that He has saved, redeemed, justified, healed, delivered; that He is
sanctifying; that He will glorify. It is faith in His finished work. He is the Savior, the
Redeemer, the Justifier.
We are justified by faith.
Humility
This is a humbling relationship we have with our Redeemer--for we
cannot save ourselves or in any sense improve upon ourselves so as to make ourselves more
acceptable. The more acceptable we try to make ourselves, the less acceptable we become.
The more unacceptable we realize we are, the better positioned we are to be forgiven and
to put our trust in Him who has redeemed us. We are neither able to save ourselves or
others.
It is through humility and brokenness that we enter into the Kingdom of
God. Jesus humbled Himself to the point that He, "being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took
upon Him the form of a servant..." (Phil. 2:6-7).
His humility did not negate His Godship. Rather, through it, He shows
us the way to Him. He is the example. His whole humanity was given that we might see God,
know God, and come unto God.
Because of Jesus who met us on our level, we are able now to approach
God. That is why Hebrews 12:18-24 says we have "not come to the mount that might
be touched..." but "unto Mount Zion..." That is to say, we
have not come to the Law, but to grace. We have not come to wrath, but to mercy.
Therefore, let us not continue to frustrate the grace of God by sinning
when we, through the blood of Jesus, have been set free from the bondage to sin.
Jesus is the door of the sheep. Any man who tries to enter in by any
other door is a thief and a robber (John 10:1, 9).
Altar of Burnt Sacrifice
The outer court with the altar of burnt sacrifice upon which the
animals were slain foreshadowed this Redeemer God who came in the likeness of man to shed
His precious blood as an atonement for the sins of the world--the Lamb of God without spot
or blemish.
Of this Lamb, John wrote in Revelation 5:9, "And they sang a
new song, saying, 'You are worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for you
were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation.'"
Jesus, the Lamb of God, was the Word made flesh (John 1:1, 14). The
word of God is the Law of God. Through His birth, His sanctified life, His death, burial,
and resurrection, He, being the Law, fulfilled or satisfied the righteous requirement of
the Law.
"For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God"
(Eph. 2:8-10).
Laver of Brass
Between the tabernacle and the altar of burnt offerings was placed a
laver of brass. Water was put into it, and the priests were to wash their hands and their
feet from it before entering the tabernacle of the congregation or before they came near
the altar to minister the burnt offerings unto the Lord (Ex. 30:17-21).
I believe this washing was foreshadowing water baptism under the new
covenant. "Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission [forgiveness] of sins..." (Acts 2:38). The apostle Paul was recounting
his conversion experience during his defense in Jerusalem when he quoted Ananias as having
said, "...Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the
name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).
Having been saved, redeemed, justified, and cleansed by the
sacrificed life of Jesus and the shedding of His blood, we have been born again (John 3:3,
7), have been made new creatures in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17), and have that divine
deposit of eternal life within us (John 6:47).
We have been birthed into the kingdom of God, we are babes in Christ,
children of God, heirs and joint heirs with Christ, living in Father God's house--sons of
God, brothers and sisters in the Lord. Water baptism is essentially associated with this
outer court ministry. There is more on baptism in chapter five.
Redemption: the Beginning of Salvation
That we are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb is the evangelical
message of the church to the world. Redemption is the beginning of salvation to which we
have all been called.
Jesus Christ is our redeemer, our justifier, and our savior who became
the propitiation (appeasement, conciliation) for our sins--our substitute on the cross.
We believe in Him. We put our trust in Him. We abide in Him as He
abides in us, and through Him we have eternal life with the Father. Nothing can be taken
from this reality. This is the beginning of our salvation.
But there is a perfecting of the saints that God wants to bring about
in His people; a going on from faith to faith, glory to glory; a growing up into Him. The
Bible views us who believe as God's building. This analogy helps us understand just how
redemption is the beginning of His salvation process.
But God has a plan for building His house. God the Father is the Great
Architect of His building. He alone holds the blueprint. "Except the Lord build
the house, they labor in vain who build it..." (Ps. 127:1).
We are God's house, His building (1 Cor. 3:9), lively stones (1 Pet.
2:5), building itself up in love (Eph. 4:16).
We are also co-builders with the Holy Spirit of God who is the
contractor and administrator of God's building project.
Jesus is the pattern so that when the house is finished we will all
look like Him (Eph. 4:13).
The ultimate goal of redemption is for Christ to be formed in us (Gal.
4:19).
The equipping gift ministries of apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors and teachers are given to perfect the saints for the work of ministry, for the
building up of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-12). The gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12) are
given as tools for service in this perfecting, building-up process.
These tools will pass away. They are not ends in themselves but are
instruments in God's hand to complete His divine purposes with all mankind. Once His house
is built, the tools will pass away. The perfect will have come (1 Cor. 13:10). The perfect
is that "perfect [many-membered] man, unto [patterned after] the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13).
"For we are [God's] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them"
(Eph.
2:10).
Just as Jesus was the pattern for us, once we take in His divine
nature, we are to take on His divine nature that we might be living epistles: "You
are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of men: forasmuch as you are
manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink,
but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of
the heart" (2 Cor. 3:2-3).
The Greater Works of God
We are His body--His feet, His hands, His mouth, His heart, His
mind--in the world today. We are to carry on as He did on the earth, the exception being
that we not only have the calling of His earthly ministry but the power of His ascendancy
as well--that is, the gift of the Spirit. As He said, "...It is expedient for you
that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I
depart, I will send Him unto you" (John 16:7).
Knowing this beforehand, He declared, "...He that believes on
Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;
because I go unto My Father" (John 14:12).
We are the greater works of God--not just in what we do--for it seems
unlikely that we can do greater than He. But the greater works we do is certainly the
greater works He's done, is doing, and shall accomplish in us in His work of redemption,
sanctification, and glorification.
We are "to the praise of His glory" (Eph.
1:6, 12, 14), not by our works, but by His works within us.
Therefore, the lives that we live as crucified ones, we "live
by the faith of the Son of God who loved [us] and gave Himself for [us]" (Gal.
2:20).
Therefore, if we expect to be in this company of crucified ones, He
beseeches us by His mercies to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and
acceptable unto Him, which is our reasonable service (Rom. 12:1).
We are Him in the world--ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20). Our very lives are
to reflect the power of His Lordship to convict others of sin and call them to repentance,
that they too might enter into the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)--Jesus Christ
as Lord.