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Message of the Cross

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Part 6

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5–11, NKJV)

The mind of Christ was such that even though He was God himself, He purposely and consciously took the form of a bondservant and stooped down to serve us, even to the point of death of the cross. As a result, God highly exulted Him and gave Him an exulted position such that every knee will someday bow to Him.

The challenge to us is to have this kind of mind. We are to have a mind to humble ourselves and to stoop to serve others. Since Christ died for all, then all should no longer live for themselves but for the one who died for them. “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14–15, NKJV)

Having just come through the Easter season we should consider all that Christ has done for us to rescue us from condemnation, and we should realize that we don’t belong to ourselves to live for our own agenda and own interests, but for God and others.

Ephesians 5:3

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But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

In the previous chapter Paul taught us the principle of putting off and putting on. Here in chapter 5, we are learning that we should be imitators of God. Here again we are given instruction as to what should be part of our Christian life and what should be avoided.

In verse 3 we are given some additional things that should not be part of our Christian life. The first is sexual immorality. The Greek word here is porneia. We can immediately see that we get our word pornography from this Greek root word. Pornography is basically sexual immorality displayed in word or picture form.

God tells us here that sexual immorality should not even be named among us. Two other things will be included in this list. But think of it! Immorality should not be even named among us. However, in our day, because of our ability to see virtually any immoral behavior portrayed on our computers or phones, porneia is not only named among us, but indulged in enthusiastically. This should not be!

The second thing he says shouldn’t even be named among us is impurity, uncleanness. This fits in with the idea of sexual immorality because we all, especially as young people, knew the difference between a “clean” or a “dirty” joke. We know the kinds of things that pollute our minds and hearts. None of this uncleanness should be representative of our character.

The last thing he mentions in this short list is covetousness. In Colossians 3:5, Paul calls covetousness idolatry. When we covet something, we are revealing the existence of an idol in our lives. Idolatry is not part of the character of a Christian.

These three things, sexual immorality, uncleanness, and covetousness should be put off so that the true character of the new man can be put on.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 9:16 AM April 14, 2021.

Message of the Cross

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Part 5

“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Romans 6:6, NKJV)

As I mentioned in one of the previous articles, the Bible teaches us that if we have trusted in Christ, we have been placed into Christ. Since that is the case, God considers us to have died with Christ when He died on the cross.

In this passage, Paul writes that when that happened, our old man was crucified with Him. By old man he is referring to the old self. Some people call it the old nature. The Bible says that “if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. Old things are passed away and all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Our passage for today, Romans 6:6, tells us the purpose for this crucifixion of the old man – that the body of sin might be done away with. Some translations say that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, or made of no effect. The ultimate goal is so that we should no longer be slaves for sin.

What we as Christians need to do is to practice believing what God says is true. No matter how we feel about our sinfulness and the power of sin over us, the Bible says that our old man was in fact crucified so that the body of sin would be made ineffective so that we would not be a slave of sin. If we find ourselves in slavery to sin, it’s because we have voluntarily yielded to it, not because it has power or authority of us.

At this time of year when we’ve just gone through Good Friday and Easter, let’s remind ourselves of what God says is true – our old self has been put to death.

Message of the Cross

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Part 4

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NKJV)

In this passage Paul gives us a very important truth about our relationship and oneness with Christ. Here, just as in Romans 6 and Colossians 2, Paul teaches us that we died with Christ. There are all sorts of practical implications in this truth. In this passage we see that since we have died with Christ, it is no longer we who live, but it is Christ who lives in us. As Jesus himself taught us that he is the vine, and we are the branches. The life is in him.

As we live our life, then, we need to recognize that moment by moment our goal is to live out the life of Christ who lives in us. Our life is a life of faith in the Son of God, trusting him to live his life effectively out through us. Paul says it this way in his letter to the Corinthians: “and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:15, NKJV)

I heard Kevin DeYoung quote John Calvin the other night. I think this is a fitting summary of this truth. Calvin said, “We are not our own: let not our reason nor our will, therefore, sway our plans and deeds. We are not our own: let us therefore not set it as our goal to seek what is expedient for us according to our flesh. We are not our own: in so far as we can, let us therefore forget ourselves and all that is ours. Conversely, we are God’s: let us live for him and die for him. We are God’s: let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions. We are God’s: let all the parts of our life accordingly strive toward him as our only lawful goal.”

Message of the Cross

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Part 3

“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14, NKJV)

Paul’s focus on the cross was exceptional. In this verse he emphasizes that there is nothing to boast about except the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That should be our focus as well. What is there to boast about in life? Anything we have has been given to us as a gift from God to be used for His glory (1 Cor 4:7).  We cannot boast that strengths and abilities come from inside of us because they were planted there by God.

Note also that the cross is a demarcation between us and the world. The cross is a turning point. Every true Christian was crucified with Christ on the cross, and we have been raised with Him. At the cross the world was crucified to me and I to the world. The world should not have the kind of influence over us that it often does. John writes that if we love the world, the love of the Father is not in us (1 John 2:15).

The cross was a place of death and we need to recognize more and more that our death with Christ there means there is a decisive separation between us and the world system. That separation from the world and to God should be lived out every day in our walk of faith.

Ephesians 5:1-2

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Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

We have now arrived at Ephesians 5. Verse 1 begins with “Therefore.” Because of all that has been said, there are some resulting behaviors and admonitions that are the natural consequences of what has already been said.

The first is, be imitators of God. There are a lot of things and people that we tend to imitate. Someone said that imitation is the best form of flattery. Much of what we imitate is for the purpose of gaining prestige or favor with a certain group or to be seen as sophisticated and “with it.” But here, we are told to imitate God. Copy God. Have attitudes like God has. Obviously, this is quite the challenge because God is so much higher, more powerful, and perfect than we are. But that is to be our goal. That what is meant when the Bible calls us to be godly.

And then in verse 2, we are to walk in love. To walk in love means to live a life where love is the central attitude and motivation. God says that we are to love God first of all, and then love our neighbors as ourselves.

Since we are to be imitating God, this verse says that we should walk in love as Christ loved us. He is our example. How did He love us? He gave Himself up for us as a sacrifice to God — a fragrant sacrifice that was acceptable to God as the payment for the sins of the world.

This kind of love should make us thankful, certainly, but it should also be an encouragement to love others, forgive others, and in as many ways as possible, model Christ for them.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 9:43 AM April 3, 2021.

The Message of the Cross

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Part 2

“And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2:13–15, NKJV)

We’re looking at the importance of the teaching about the cross from the instructions given in the New Testament epistles. So let’s examine this passage.

  1. We as gentiles (the uncircumcised) have been, as Paul says in another place, “without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12, NKJV). Paul tells us in our passage that even though we were dead and outside the covenants and without hope, God has made us alive with Christ. Christians have gone through the resurrection with Christ (Eph 2:6). Great Easter news!
  2. God has forgiven all our trespasses! If you are a Christian, let your heart rest in this truth.
  3. And finally, here is where the cross is specifically referenced in this passage. “The handwriting of requirements that was against us” has been taken out of the way. What is that handwriting? I believe he is referring to the law which is constantly accusing us of our sin. That handwriting has been wiped out and taken out of the way.  It has been nailed to the cross. Crucified! And in doing this, God has disarmed principalities and powers and made a spectacle of them in triumph. You know the passage that says that we wrestle against principalities and powers. These powers have been disarmed!

All of this through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Message of the Cross

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Part 1

I thought it would be helpful to my own spiritual growth to think through the truth of the cross and resurrection as expressed in the epistles of the New Testament during  this Easter season. Our passage for today is 1 Corinthians 1:17-25.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” “but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,”  (1 Corinthians 1:18,21,23, NKJV)

If you read through this passage in its entirety, here’s what you find the Apostle Paul saying.

  1. If the gospel is preached using the wisdom of words, the cross of Christ is made of no effect. In other words, we should rely on the truth of the cross and not the cleverness or creativity of our words to get the message across (vs. 17).
  2. Those who are perishing will find the message of the cross to be foolish and nonsensical. Only when God is saving someone will it make sense at all, and that will be because God’s Spirit is at work opening up the truth to them (vs 18).
  3. The world cannot come to know God through its wisdom and way of thinking. God “stooped” (my word) to using a “foolish” (God’s word) to save people (vs. 21).
  4. To those who don’t believe, the message of the cross is either a stumbling block or foolishness (vs.23).

We are called upon to believe the truth and preach it fearlessly in spite of the inevitable and unavoidable reaction of those who are perishing.  We can’t spice it up or decorate it in any way that will make it palatable to those who are perishing. Only God’s Spirit can break through and give understanding.

Ephesians 4:31-32

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Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

In verses 31 and 32 we come to the next set of put off and put on. Verse 30 lists the things to put off, and verse 32 lists what is to replace them.

First, bitterness. This has to do with a resentful, embittered spirit. This is a spirit that doesn’t want reconciliation or resolution of a problem between believers.

Next, wrath. This is outbursts of rage, vindictive anger that prompts rage that flares out at someone.

Anger – a less dramatic form of wrath that may be more contained, but nevertheless does damage not only to the person the anger targets, but to the person who has the anger.

Clamor is a more vocal outcry of one person against another. It is usually fairly public and accusatory.

Slander is abusive, scurrilous speech aimed at demeaning and undermining another, sometimes with false accusations. The Greek word is blaspheme.

Malice is vicious, wicked, and spiteful attitudes and speech. The word behind it is evil or wicked.

All of these are to be removed. The ESV says let all of these be put away. The verb is passive and so the idea is to let this stuff go. There is no need to hold on to it. I think we know this is not easy. Our sin nature runs deep. But we are to allow the Scripture and the Spirit of God, and the counsel of godly friends to work in such a way that these things can be put away.

Verse 31 gives us the content for the replacement of these wicked attitudes.

First kindness. I think we all know what that means. Kindness should be a trait that is in the forefront as we interact with others.

Tenderhearted, which means we should have compassion and sensitivity toward others.

And finally, forgiving one another. We do not have to wait for an apology or repentance on the part of the other person. Our whole demeanor should be one of forgiveness. Why? Because God has forgiven us infinitely more than any perceived slight we might have felt from another person.

The principal in this chapter has been: Put off. But then put on.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:14 AM April 1, 2021.

Ephesians 4:30

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And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

In verse 30, Paul adds to the characteristics of the new man, that we should not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

The fact that the Holy Spirit can be grieved is one of the evidences of the fact that the Holy Spirit is a person, not a force or influence.

Grieve means to pain, grieve or vex. Sometimes it is translated made sorry, or sad. The Christian should not behave in ways or have thought patterns that grieve or sadden or trouble the Holy Spirit. We learn and know how the Holy Spirit thinks by reading and meditating on the Scriptures. The more we are in the Word, the more we will be able to recognize those attitudes in us which are likely to cause grief to the Holy Spirit. Once identified, we should apply all of the biblical principles we know to avoid those behaviors and thought-patterns. It is a process of renewing the mind.

Paul goes on to tell us that it is the Holy Spirit who has sealed us for the day of redemption. There is coming a day when we will be fully redeemed. There is the fact of our current redemption as well, but in the day of redemption, we will be fully redeemed not only from the power and guilt of sin, but of the very presence of sin as well.

The Holy Spirit seals us to protect us until that day so that it is impossible for us to fall away or be snatched out of the Father’s hand (John 10:28-29). Paul had already written the Ephesians about this in 1:13 telling us that we “were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

In 1 Corinthians 1: 21-22 we read: “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

Guarantee means down payment. When you put a down payment on a car, the idea is that if you change your mind and decide not to go through with the deal, the  seller gets to keep the down payment. There is no way that, having given us the Holy Spirit as a down payment, God is going to renege (back out) of his promise.