Entries in purposes of Christ's death (8)

Purposes of Christ's Death: Galatians 4:4-5

This is another reposting from a series of posts examining the statements of purpose that scripture gives us regarding the death of Christ. You can find the other posts from this series by clicking on the purposes of Christ’s death label at the end of this post.

Galatians 4:4-5 is the text where we find this post’s explicit statement of a purpose for Christ’s death.

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (NASB)
I had planned to include these verses together with the text from Hebrews 9:15, since the purpose statements are similar. That scripture had to do with Christ’s “redemption of the transgressions that were {committed} under the first covenant, [so that] those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” Since inheritance and sonship are such related things, these statements are very much alike. The post on Hebrews 9:15 was long enough as it was, however, and in order to look just a little bit at some of the unique things in this passage, I’ve given it it’s own post.

The purpose statement in this text is “so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Once again you have Christ’s death redeeming people from something that comes along with being under the Law, or the Old Covenant. The phrase “when the fullness of time came” lets us know that in this text we are looking at things in a historical context. The verses before this one tells us that under the law, people were like minor children, and being a child was a kind of bondage because a child had to remain under supervision. But at the right historical time Christ came and bought people out from under the guardianship of the law, and gave them the position of fulfledged adopted adult sons with legal rights to an inheritance. It seems that when the word adoption is used here in this context, it refers to this legal right of sonship.

And if we read the verses following, we see that because we are sons, “God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into [our] hearts, crying, “Abba, Father’!” Because of the Spirit within us, we approach God as our own father. We are no longer like minor children or slaves, but adopted sons, “and if a son, then an heir.” Since in the historical cultural setting, inheritance came through sonship, then in Christ, we are all—both men and women—sons of God in that we are both heirs.

One of the purposes of Christ’s death is so that we would be adopted sons of God.

 

Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 09:34AM by Registered Commenterrebecca in | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

Purposes of Christ's Death: Hebrews 9:15

This is another reposting from a series of posts examining the statements of purpose that scripture gives us regarding the death of Christ. You can find the other posts from this series by clicking on the purposes of Christ’s death label at the end of this post.

Next up in our list of purpose statements is the one in Hebrews 9:15:
For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were {committed} under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (NASB)
This verse is similar to the text we looked at in the post on Galatians 3:13-14, and I considered grouping the two texts together, but since I think there are a couple of new things added here, I decided this text is worthy of it’s own post.

So what is the purpose statement in this verse? When we see the phrase “For this reason,” we automatically think this must be pointing out a purpose statement. However, there is a real possibility that this phrase is looking backward rather than forward, showing the connection between this verse and the one before it. If so, then “for this reason” means “because of this” instead of “for this purpose,” and it is saying that because of the death of Christ mentioned in the previous verse, Christ is the mediator of the new covenant. The ESV translates to show the connection this way.
Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
But even if we don’t take “for this reason” to be a purpose statement, there is still a purpose statement here: so that…those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Christ is the mediator of a new covenant through His death, so that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

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Posted on Thursday, May 3, 2007 at 05:23PM by Registered Commenterrebecca in | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

Purposes of Christ's Death: Ephesians 2:14-16

This is another reposting from a series of posts examining the statements of purpose that scripture gives us regarding the death of Christ.  You can find the other posts from this series by clicking on the purposes of Christ’s death label at the end of this post.

The text examined in this post is Ephesians 2:14-16:

For He Himself is our peace, who made both {groups into} one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, {which is} the Law of commandments {contained} in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, {thus} establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. (NASB)
The purpose statement here is “so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, {thus} establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.” In Christ’s death, God  intended to bring two hostile groups together and to reconcile them to each other and to himself.

I suppose the first thing we need to do is determine who are the two groups referrenced.  The context tells us that these are the Jewish people and the Gentiles.
Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” {which is} performed in the flesh by human hands— {remember} that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (vs. 11-13)
The terms Gentiles, Uncircumcision, separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, without God in the world, and formerly…far off all refer to those who were not part of the nation Israel—or the Jews, or the Circumcision.

The covenants (or the Law of commandments) served as a line of demarcation between the two groups, and was a source of enmity or hostility, because it excluded those who did not come under the umbrella of the nation Israel. Christ’s death, however, took away the hostility between the two groups by what the NASB calls “abolishing in His flesh the enmity, {which is} the Law of commandments {contained} in ordinances”.  The dividing effects of the law —the enmity—is nullified in Christ’s death, because the new covenant established in Christ’s blood includes all those of faith, both Jew and Gentile. There is no longer a demarcation line based on national allegiance.

In the new order brought into being in by the death of Christ, there is not longer hostility between the Jews and all other people, but the two groups can be joined together to make “one new man”. This one new man is a new kind of corporate entity made up of all those–from the Jews and from the Gentiles—who are in Christ. Joining both Jews and Gentiles as one corporate group united in Christ establishes peace between the two formerly hostile groups.

Through the cross both groups are also reconciled “in one body” to God. The meaning of in one body is a bit unclear. It could mean the same thing that is meant when is says that the two groups are made into one new man, or it could mean that they are both united together with Christ’s one body in His death. The context could be used to support either one of these options. Either way, the point is that the groups are reconciled to each other and also reconciled to God through Christ’s death on the cross.

A little side note on the term barrier of the dividing wall in verse 14: Many commentators take this to be an allusion to the wall separating the Gentiles from the inner courts of the temple in Jerusalem. However, Leon Morris,  in The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance, says that “It would be too much to say that Paul is writing about this wall.” Whether this exclusionary wall is what Paul is referring to or not, that there was such a wall tells us something about the deep division between Jew and Gentile under the ordinances of the law.

One of the purposes of Christ’s death was to break down the division of hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles, to reconcile them to each other, gathering them into one unified entity, and to reconcile both Jew and Gentile together to God himself.

 

Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 at 09:08AM by Registered Commenterrebecca in | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

Purposes of Christ's Death: Galatians 3:13-14

This is yet another repost from the Purposes of Christ’s Death series. You can find the other posts from this series by clicking on the purposes of Christ’s death label at the end of this post.

In this post in the series looking at the explicit purpose statements for Christ’s death found in scripture, let’s consider Galations 3:13-14:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith. (NET)
The purpose statement found here for Christ’s death—or for Christ becoming a curse for us—is “in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.”

What exactly does it mean when it refers to the blessing of Abraham? We can find the answer in the text just prior to these verses:
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” (v. 8)
God promised Abraham that through his lineage blessing would come to the Gentiles. Verse 14 tells us that the promise to Abraham that all the nations would be blessed in him was the promise of the coming of the Spirit to those of faith.

The law, which contained promised blessing to those who kept it, also contained a curse for all those who didn’t keep it, and so it became a universal curse upon mankind, for there was no one (except Christ himself, of course) who kept the law. All human beings, both Jew and Gentile, find themselves with a curse hanging over them because of their disobedience to the demands of the law. In Christ’s death on the cross, he bore the curse of the law that we earned for ourselves by not keeping the law.

This is one of the clearest references in scripture to the substitutionary nature of Christ’s death. Christ’s death accomplished what it did because He became a curse for us. This text calls Christ’s vicarious bearing of our curse an act of redemption for us.

These two verses are set within the context of Paul’s contrast of the Spirit over against the law. While everyone has earned the curse of the law, those in Christ Jesus, both Jew and Gentile, receive the blessing promised to Abraham instead when they receive the Spirit by faith.

In these verses we see that one of the purposes of Christ’s death was the fulfilling of the promise to Abraham that the nations would be blessed in him, and this promise was fulfilled in the coming of the Spirit through faith, and this coming of the Spirit is grounded in Christ’s bearing of the law’s curse in our place.
Posted on Thursday, April 5, 2007 at 02:14PM by Registered Commenterrebecca in , | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

Purposes of Christ's Death: Hebrews 2:14-15

This is another reposting of a piece from the Purposes of Christ’s Death series that I began shortly after I started blogging. You can find the other reposts from this series by clicking on the purposes of Christ’s death label at the end of this post.

Today’s purpose statement comes from Hebrews 2:14-15:
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death. (NET)
The purpose statement in this verse is actually a purpose statement for Christ’s incarnation, but the purpose of the incarnation as given is so that Christ could accomplish something through his death. Christ became human just like we are “so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.” Christ had to be just like us and live our sort of life in order to represent us as our high priest and offer himself to God in our place (See verse 17.).

The purpose of this representative death is to defeat the devil. The text describes the devil as “the one who holds the power of death”. It was Satan’s influence that introduced death into creation, and he continues to work within the sphere of death, bringing about as much death as God allows. Christ’s death nullifies Satan’s deathly power, so that those who belong to Christ are freed from their subjection to Satan. They no longer are forced to live their lives in fear of death because, through Christ and his work, they have freedom from Satan’s power and the hope of eternal life.

Another purpose of Christ’s death is to take the power of death away from the devil and, in this way, set people free from their fear of death.
Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 08:35PM by Registered Commenterrebecca in , | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

Purposes of Christ's Death: Titus 2:14 and Ephesians 5:25-27

This is another reposting of a piece from the Purposes of Christ’s Death series that I began shortly after I started blogging. You can find the other reposts from this series by clicking on the purposes of Christ’s death label at the end of this post.

This post looks at two portions of scripture at once, because the purpose statements in each of these texts are similar.
He gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, who are eager to do good. (Titus 2:14 NET)
Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word, so that he may present the church to himself as glorious—not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25-27 NET)
The purpose statement in the first verse is “to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, who are eager to do good”; and in the second text it is “to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word, so that he may present the church to himself as glorious—not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.”

Since I’m concluding these two purpose statements are similar, you can see that I’m making the assumption that the church and a people who are truly his are roughly equivalent in meaning. Each statement, then, says that a purpose of Christ’s death is have a group of people who are pure or spotless. In the first verse, these people are called “a people who are truly his.” The idea is ownership. These are people who belong to Christ; they are his treasured possession. In the second text, the group of people are called “the church”, and you can see the idea of treasured possession here, as well, because the church is likened to Christ’s bride—something He loved in the same way that husbands are encouraged to love their wives, and something that He was willing to give himself to obtain.

In Titus 2:14 it is said that Christ’s death was “to set us free.” This literally means “to release when a ransom is paid”. Christ’s death, or his giving himself for us, is intended as a ransom payment whereby His people are released from sin, and also as the basis upon which they are purified. I would take this purification to be that of the sanctifying process, although some might argue that. These purified people who belong to him are then identified by their zealousness for good works. To obtain for himself a purified people, then, is the purpose of Christ’s death given to us in this verse.

In the second statement, Christ is also described as having given Himself. He gives Himself on behalf of the church, in order to sanctify her; and then, when she is completely sanctified, He presents her to Himself in all of the glorious purity that has been worked in her based on His own death for her. According to these verses, possessing a purified church is a purpose of Christ’s death.

One purpose for Christ’s death, then, is for Him to possess a purified people.
Posted on Monday, March 19, 2007 at 12:14PM by Registered Commenterrebecca in , | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

Purposes of Christ's Death: 1 Peter 3:18

This is a repost of another of the old posts looking at the purpose statements for Christ’s death given to us in scripture. This time, the purpose statement is found in 1 Peter 3:18:

Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh. (NET)
There are lots of not-so-clear things in the verses after this one, but this particular verse is pretty straight forward. The purpose statement given here for Christ’s being put to death—or Christ’s suffering for sins—is “to bring you to God.” This, of course, is pointing to the reconciliation that Christ’s death brings.

Reconciliation goes two ways: God is reconciled to human beings, and human beings are reconciled to God. Christ, the just one, suffers in place of the unjust ones (that would be sinners like you and me), and on the basis of what is accomplished by his vicarious suffering, the sin that stands between God and sinners is taken out of the way. Because of Christ death, God can reach out to cause sinners to be reconciled to himself. Sinners can be brought to God because Christ died.

Another purpose for Christ’s death is to bring people to God.

 

Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 at 11:24PM by Registered Commenterrebecca in , | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

Purposes of Christ's Death: Romans 3:24-25

I’ve been thinking about reposting a series of posts I did way back in 2004 when I first started blogging. It’s a series that looks at the scriptural purpose statements given for Christ’s death—you know, any statements about Christ’s atoning work that include the words “so that” or “for this reason” or “to this end” or something similar. Since I’m sick today, I thought this might be a good day to start recycling. I’ll edit each one up a bit as I repost it.
 
First up—Romans 3:24 and 25:
….whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (ESV)
You’ll find the purpose statement in this text stated twice, but a little differently:
This was to show God’s righteousness …
and
It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
One of the purposes of Christ’s death, according to these verses, was to demonstrate God’s righteousness. The word translated just in the second statement could be translated righteous, as well; so the last half of this statement is explaining in more detail the way it is that Christ’s propitiatory death shows God to be righteous: It is a way for him remain righteous and, at the same time, count sinners as righteous.
 
The problem, as the verse lays it out, is that God’s passing over previously committed sins could raise doubts about his righteousness. The former sins referred to are the sins that God left unjudged in the time before Christ’s death, and it would be unrighteous (or unjust) for God, in his role as judge, to simply shove these wrongdoings under the rug. We usually think of injustice in terms of finding someone guilty for crimes not committed, but it is also unjust to ignore crimes someone has committed. Therefore, there needs to be a right or just way for these sins to be overlooked.
 
And that’s what Christ’s death accomplishes; that’s one of its purposes. It is the historical event that makes God’s forbearance in previous times right. That Christ died means that sin was never simply ignored, but there was a righteous way for it to be passed over, and this righteous way was the means of propitiation that would come through Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. It is because of Christ’s propitiatory death that God can withhold his righteous wrath against sinners and count them righteous instead; yet still be completely just in everything he does. Christ’s death absorbs the retributive wrath of God that is made necessary by human sin, and in this way his death demonstrates to all people that God is righteous even when he mercifully forgives sin and justifies sinners.
 
Demonstrating that God passed over sin in a way that is righteous or just is one of the purposes of Christ’s death.
 
Posted on Friday, March 9, 2007 at 01:29PM by Registered Commenterrebecca in , | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint