Lesson 6
Christ Has Paid Our Penalty
We have all sinned, and the penalty had to be paid in
order for God to be just. Christ has paid that penalty. Romans 5:6-10
says,
"For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for
the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps
for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His
love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for
us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall
be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were
reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life". It is such wonderful love for
God and Christ to have paid our penalty.
Also, we read in I Peter 3:18, "For Christ also
suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God." Yes, Christ is the just, who had to die for us the
unjust, so that it would be possible for us to be brought back to God.
He was the righteous dying for us the wicked. "For
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was the innocent
taking the punishment for us the guilty. He accomplished for us what
we could never accomplish for ourselves. He paid the debt for us
that we could not pay. If
man had not been guilty of sin, there would have been no need for Christ
to have died on the cross. All accountable people are guilty of
sin. But with Christ dying on the cross, God has a way to forgive
man and still preserve His own justice and righteousness. Because of the death and suffering of Christ for us, God can now be just in saving us.
If our goodness could save us then it would not have been necessary for
Christ to come into this world and die for our sins.
The only way that man can be saved is through Christ.
There is no other
way. John 14:6 says, "Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and
the life: No one comes to the Father except through Me."
The
only way we can get to God is through Christ. We also read in Acts 4:12,
"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
We
cannot be saved by relying on Mohammed, Buddha, Judaism, Hindu gods,
denominationalism, or any
other false religion. Neither can we devise our own system of
"Christianity" as is being done today and expect it to save us.
Only Jesus Christ can specify the conditions for our salvation, because He
paid our price and is our only Saviour.
Christ went through much suffering for our sins.
It is
beyond our imagination what He endured. Christ came to this earth for the
purpose of dying for our sins. There are many Old Testament prophesies
that foretell the inevitable death of Christ. For example 700 years before
it happened we read in Isaiah 53:5-6, "But He
was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the
chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are
healed....and the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Christ’s death was
no accident, because this was in God’s eternal plan to redeem man.
Christ in his omniscience, fully knew what was soon
going to happen. In Matthew 20:17-19 we read, "Now Jesus, going up to
Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them,
Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the
chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and
deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the
third day He will rise again". Christ went there willingly to die
for us.
Christ was both divine and human.
The human part of
Christ dreaded his death on the cross as much as we would if we were on
death row. He fully knew what was going to happen. When Christ was in the
garden of Gethsemane with His apostles the night before His crucifixion,
we read in Luke 22:41-44, "And He was withdrawn from them about a
stone’s throw, and knelt down, and prayed, saying, Father, if it is your
will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be
done. Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
And
being in agony He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like
great drops of blood falling down to the ground". Yes, Christ was
dreading the horrible death that He was about to endure for you and for
me.
Also, we read in I Peter 2:24, "Who Himself bore
our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might
live for righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed."
Jesus has
personally paid the price for our sins, so that we can be made righteous
before God. When a person is made righteous, by obeying God’s plan to
save man, God will then save him.
The human side of Christ knows how we feel.
He had the
same feelings, the same sorrows, the same fears, and He experienced pain
just like we do. He fully knows what it is to live a human life.
On the
Day of Judgment, no one will be able to point a finger at Christ and say,
"You just don't know what it is to live as a human." Yes He
does. The dread, the fear, the sorrow, the mocking, the humiliation, the spitting, the pain
of scourging, and the crucifixion were all dreaded by our Lord. It hurt
Him as much as it would us. Jesus did not deserve such treatment, but He
endured it for our sakes, taking our punishment, in order that God could
be just in saving us. He was the innocent dying for us, the guilty.
Crucifixion on a cross is the
cruelest form of torture that has ever been
devised by man. There is nothing worse. Our Lord hung there in pain and
agony for six long hours in a slow death, enduring punishment, so that God
could be just in saving us. What wonderful love beyond description that
God and Christ have for us. Do we have the same love for Them which
is shown by our obedience to Their word?
Questions Lesson 6
Christ Has Paid Our Penalty
(click on the button of the answer of your
choice)
1) (Romans 5:6-10) If we are justified it will be by
Our own goodness.
Our church.
The blood of Christ.
2)
Christ
died for sinners like you and me.
3) (1 Peter 3:18) Christ suffered once for our sins, He is the
just,
We are the unjust.
We are also the just.
But we did not need Him to suffer for us.
4)
Christ's death was to bring us back to God.
5) (John 14:6) How many ways are there to come to God?
We can come to God our own way.
Christ is the only way.
Many ways such as Mohammed, Buddha, Hindu, etc.
6)
We can serve God by our own way and still go to Heaven.
7) (Isaiah 53:5-6) Isaiah prophesied 700 years before it happened
that Christ
Would not die.
Would come to this earth and rule
in Jerusalem as king.
Would be wounded for our
transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
8)
Christ's death was in God's eternal plan to redeem man.
9) (Matthew 20:17-19) The death of Christ was
An accident.
A surprise to Christ.
Known to Christ before He came to this earth to die for all mankind.
10)
Christ
went to Jerusalem knowing He was going to be crucified.
11) (Luke 22:41-44) The death of Christ
Was dreaded by Christ.
Was not dreaded by Christ.
Was punishment Christ deserved.
12)
Christ
prayed to God for another way so he would not have to die.
13) (1 Peter 2:24) Whose sins did Christ bare when he died?
His own sins.
Our sins.
Only the sins of criminals.
14)
Since Christ paid the price for everyone's sins then all people will be
saved.
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