Jesus Christ came into the world to do the will of God; He went to the cross to justify many by His blood. He was buried in a tomb for three days, God rose Him up from the dead on the third day, for it was the will of man to put Him to death, but it was God's will to raise Him from the grave. He appeared to many of His disciples, over 500 of them, showing unto them many signs and proofs that He was alive from the dead. Afterwards, He ascended to heaven to the Father's right hand where He is now exalted above every dominion and power and ruler and principality. He will return on the last day to reign and rule with His holy people until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet; His kingdom is everlasting and His rule is eternal.
So when we were deserving of punishment and wrath, God instead sent forth His Son, born of a woman, having appeared in the likeness of human flesh, He came to put to death sin in the flesh. He died for sin, but not His own as with a criminal, but He died as an innocent Man. They put him to trial, trying Him, but they found no fault in Him; Pontius Pilate determined to release Him, but the Jews wanted Him to be crucified; He was perfect, yet He died a criminal's death; He was reckoned with the transgressors; but this was all according to the foreknowledge and predetermined plan of God. When He was crucified, He had this written charge against Him: "THE KING OF THE JEWS". For this is the charge they had against Him, that He said He is the Son of God. Showing His divinity in birth, He was born of a virgin; as a newborn He put the king to fright that the king slew all children from two years old and under (Matthew 2:1-22); so if He instilled fear in the king at the time, even as a newborn, how much more fearful is He as a full grown? For He was instilling fear into all where ever He went; while He walked demons shrieked at the sight of Him, He worked fearful miracles, He walked on the water, and silenced the tumultuous waves with a word; His followers walked behind Him trembling in fear (Mark 10:32); with His death came darkness and a great earthquake (Matthew 27:52); with His resurrection came the appearing of angels, and godly men awoke from the dead. He was a man, but He was no man: God in the flesh. The Son of God was sent into the world to die, and the death He died was for us; for we must die, but He who never dies died to redeem us from death. He was sent by the Father God bearing the message of His death, for He prophesied about His death many times, foretelling even how He would die. For just as Uriah, the Hittite, was sent by David, bearing in-hand the letter of his death, even so, he was innocent of wrong, so Christ was sent into the world with the message of His own death; Uriah bore in his hand bad news, but it is impossible for Christ to bear bad news, only good, for the Father is in Him; so this message has become good news to us who believe, that we may be joined to Another, namely God, our Father, who sent Him unto us to be Redeemer and Savior. For our sins have separated us from God, our iniquities caused Him to hide His face from us, but God has reconciled us to Himself through the body of Jesus Christ. For David could only marry Bathsheba if she were to be released by the law of her husband by death, so David sent her husband Uriah to die; and so we are made to die to the law through the body of Jesus Christ that we may be joined to Him who was raised from the dead (Romans 7:1-4). And He has become to us the Mediator of a new covenant; as promised through the prophet Jeremiah, as he says, ""Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. " (Jeremiah 31:31-32)
As it says, "Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers," for the new covenant is not like the old; but "Through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.” (Galatians 2:19)
God's strength is not inhibited even when worked through things which bring weakness and death; and His goodness is not stifled by that which is evil, but through it, He makes His glory shine the ever-so brighter. As the apostle Paul even uses Abraham sin to speak allegorically of the two covenants: one of slavery and the other of freedom in Christ (Galatians 4:21-31). And without question Abraham errored by trying to fulfill the promise of God by human effort. So even Paul is seen using a man's fault as a testimony to Christ; and without question, David sinned by sending Uriah to die. And the cross of Christ is a device of death, but through it, salvation is preached. So God uses human error and sin, even things which bring weakness and death, to make His righteousness and glory shine ever-so brighter. For now we see Jesus who appeared in the flesh and never sinned, yet He bore the transgression of us all upon Himself on a cross. He is righteous; and He is so righteous that He was not stifled from doing right even in His death, for He died for our sins - doing good in that He loved us to die for us. And by the power of God, He was raised from the dead. And so, He is so righteous that He makes many right even by faith in His name. For He does not need to be present to do righteously; for He is absent, but yet His saving Word is declared. He does not even need to be present in body to convert us; for even by the testimony of Him, He converts the damned soul into a blessed one! And He is exceedingly righteous to do so. For even the testimony of Him converts, even from the testimony from another; and how insufficient are we for such a task? If the testimony of Him changes lives while He is absent, how much more when He appears from heaven? For we who believe will be changed at His coming. But it's not as though He isn't present with us now, for His Spirit is made to dwell in us who believe. Furthermore He works miracles and powers in those who believe through the power and working of His name; for He is exceedingly righteous to make men whole even by faith in His name, even through such a one who believes in Him. [As the apostle of the Lord Jesus healed a man and said, "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” (Acts 3:12) And this was after the Lord Jesus was exalted to heaven.] For Jesus is the Righteous God who came down from heaven to work salvation to everyone who believes; and the same One who came down from heaven has been exalted above the heavens; and His great and righteous name is given for all men to believe upon. So everyone who wills to receive Him must do so by faith. And who could have foreknown this? Yet God has not left us without witness; as the prophet Isaiah says, " And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? " (Isaiah 53:8)
For those that He died for wagged their head at Him and reviled Him while on the cross; they did not consider His innocence, they did not consider their guilt; and yet, "He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:12) For He cried out to God for them, saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34) For they were fulfilling Scripture, which they knew and read every Sabbath; but they did not know they were accomplishing God's purpose; and they did not know it was for their sins He was perishing. But was it for them only and not us today? It is for anyone who will come, both now and forever, for He died for the sins of the whole world. And He is exceedingly righteous to do so. For the sin we do secretly, He died for openly; for He had no chance to hide, as one does with shame, but He was brought out to the open; He was lifted up for all to see, even for the whole earth to behold; as He says, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. " (John 12:32)
For He died openly for us so that we would renounce shameful and hidden ways. He endured such opposition from sinners, enduring through it, looking forward to us being made right with God.
For God sent His Son into the world beforehand, before that great and terrible day of God's wrath, to make peace before the time; not because His hosts are insufficient for war, but He desires that none should perish, but all come to repentance; He has made a covenant of peace with us before the time in His own blood. For the time will come, and He will return to execute judgment upon all of His enemies, even His enemies He died for; since they refused to come to Him for reconciliation, He will come to them in wrath; for there is a time for everything; as it says, “A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:8) For they hate Him without cause and repay His goodness with evil, and they see His kindness as weakness; however, in that day He will prove that He is not weak, for to us who believe, the cross is the power of God unto salvation, but to His enemies who refuse to believe, who delight in wickedness, His power is unto them for destruction. For everyone who wars against God destroys his own soul; " Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. " (Psalm 90:11)
But yet the vastness of the mercy and lovingkindness of Him - which is beyond the heights of the heavens - for He is patient and longsuffering and forebearing, wishing for all to come to the saving knowledge of the truth; He is merciful to all; and especially merciful to us who believe. Through the enemies of the cross, He shows forth more and more of His mercy to the objects of His mercy; for through His enemies, He exemplifies the riches of His mercy even more so; for He is long suffering and forebearing even towards the unbelieving and ungrateful. For mercy triumphs over judgment; and God has shown us mercy through the judgment of our sins through Another - His own Son; and who is worthy of such a thing? We who have been chosen for mercy have received mercy, the forgiveness of our sins, and will receive mercy from God on that great and terrible day; for mercy is shown to those who are merciful. How great is the fear of Him; for God hates sin, and there is no wrong in Him, and yet He sent His Son into the world to condemn sin in His own flesh, so that sin might lose its power in us who believe. He died for all, for His love is for all, so much so that He shows forth His great love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us; great is His hatred towards sin, and much greater is His love towards us, who for the sake of our sins, endured our sins. If sin ends in death, how much more does His righteousness lead to life? How great is His wrath toward sin; how much greater is His lovingkindness toward us in that He endured the penalty for our sins, having died for us. He pacified God's wrath through the cross; and through His life He leads many to righteousness by faith in His name; for He put on our sin and shame, bearing our wrongs, suffering with us and for us; for this end: that we would put off sin and put on Him like new clothes. How much more should we hate our sins for the sake of Him who loved us; for He loved us more than the hatred of the sins of even the whole world. “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:39)
Beforetime I said, "That sin might lose its power in us who believe," and this is what I mean: so Jonathan, the son of Saul, became accursed by his father when he ate some honey which was against his father's oath (1 Samuel 14:24-45); for his father Saul made a foolish oath that no-one should eat until he had vengeance on his enemies. So Saul, in his zeal for his oath, sought to put even his own son to death for the sake of the oath of his curse (1 Samuel 14:39, 1 Samuel 14:44), for Jonathan tasted a little bit of honey unaware of his father's oath. But Jonathan did not die, rather he bore the curse and lived on account of another oath, the oath of life; and even yet, the people who ate meat with the blood, which is contrary to the law of Moses (Leviticus 17:12-14), were not cut off (1 Samuel 14:32-34). And even though Saul sinned by making these foolish oaths and the people sinned by eating with the blood, it was Jonathan who was determined by lot, which is determined by God, to have sinned, and the rest were free'd; even though Jonathan did no wrong, only he ate a little bit of honey; despite these things, and despite the fact that Jonathan worked with God to bring about a great deliverance for Israel that day, he was still chosen by lot to die; but still yet, he lived thereafter; as it says about him, " "Must Jonathan die, who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Far from it! As the LORD lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day." So the people rescued Jonathan and he did not die. " (1 Samuel 14:45)
And these things pertain to Christ, who worked with God to bring about a great deliverance, witnessed today; for it says, " Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. " (Galatians 3:13-14)
For the curse of the law stands even if it be in regard to God's own Son. Nevertheless He was found with no wrong; we are the ones who are rightfully under the curse of the law, which says, "Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them." (Deuteronomy 27:26) For we do not do what the law says. But Christ was chosen by God on our behalf to be our Substitute, and we are released from the curse; but it was impossible for death to hold Him, for He walked in the ways of life and was raised to life; He went through no decay, by the foreknowledge of God and the power of an indestructible life. And He has become unto us Savior from our sins, Savior from the curse of the law, Savior from death, for He tasted death for everyone to bring about this present blessing and deliverance; as it says of Him, " Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. " (Hebrews 2:9)
By Him who tasted death for us, we who have tasted sin might be released from our fear of death. For we have tasted sin and we have gained nothing from it - for "What benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.” (Romans 6:21) So although evil is sweet in the mouth, “Yet his food in his stomach is changed To the venom of cobras within him.” (Job 20:14) And this venom is what Christ takes away. We are the ones who have tasted sin, but Christ came to taste death which is due to us, to release us from the snare of sin and death. We should have been chosen by lot to die, and rightfully so; but God determined for Christ to die on our behalf, and unrightfully so. For He is innocent; and we are guilty. But God determined beforehand what Christ was to do. Thanks be to God who releases us from the power of sin and death in Christ Jesus, our Lord! (See more about Jonathan)
Our Lord disarmed the rulers and authorities through the cross, for they have their power in the law, for in the law sin has its strength; however Christ Jesus justifies us apart from our works of the law, through faith in His name, rendering our works ineffective for justification; as the apostle affirms, " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." (Romans 10:4)
For the law could never justify, it only condemns the law-breaker; through the law comes the knowledge of sin, but in Christ Jesus comes the knowledge of God, the knowledge of His righteousness. And by His work He grants to us overwhelming victory through His name; and in His name, we obtain the victory, for only in the refuge of Him we are safe from the wrath of God. So it's by His work on the cross and our work of faith in Him that we may please God; for faith is reckoned as righteousness, and through it we have entrance into His grace. And if it's by faith, then it's apart from works and credited as grace. But someone may ask, "How is it that we do no work and believe, but yet we are justified?" By using a human example: yes, you do no work, you believe and you win justification in Christ. In a similar way, you watch a sports game, yet you do nothing, you watch and believe your team to win. You cheer for your favorite team without doing a single thing: except you believe in your team to win. You sit and watch on the sofa, hoping your team would win, while they, by their sweat and their tears, do the work. When they score, you rejoice; when they are overcome, you lose heart. When they win, you celebrate with them, and when they lose, you suffer defeat as well. If it is this way when you believe in your team, how much more with Christ? (For a sports game is like war - it is not war in itself, but it mimics war. In a real war, two foes oppose each other and fight. The loser dies, and the winner lives.) If we knew beforehand who would win and who would lose, we would choose the winning side, so that we may never suffer defeat. Now this I say: the war that Christ fought on the cross was for the whole world. And the battle which He fought was spiritual; it was for spirit and body. In a physical war, it is for body - but Jesus fought for the soul and body of mankind. Just as David fought Goliath, and David, as one man, obtained the victory for the whole nation of Israel, so Christ fought as One man and obtained victory for the whole world. And we who put our faith in Him share in His victory; for He is our trustworthy Savior, who wins and never loses, and even in His defeat is victorious - for even in His weakness, He is strong! And even in His defeat gains the victory! For "The weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Corinthians 1:25) I say that He was defeated, but it's not so, it only appeared that way to the world. Is one defeated when He is alive from the dead and exalted? For God rose Him up. " For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. " (1 John 5:4)
So it is by faith we enter into victory with Christ, according to the righteousness of God, not according to our own works of righteousness that we have done; for our good works are sin, and our best works are an abomination: the common people chanted for Jesus to be crucified, and the most righteous Pharisees plotted to kill Him; they handed the Lord of glory to death; as the prophet says, “The best of them is like a briar, The most upright like a thorn hedge.” (Micah 7:4) “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.” (Isaiah 64:6) [Furthermore, wisdom says, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, How much more when he brings it with evil intent!” (Proverbs 21:27, Proverbs 15:8) And, “He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.” (Proverbs 28:9) For God is the God of the spirits of all flesh; and when the wicked seek to deceive Him with righteousness, it is worse for them than the wicked who do wickedly.] But thanks be to God who purifies our hearts by faith in the gospel of Christ that we may produce good fruit to God! So through the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.
So through the cross Jesus made a public spectacle of the powers and authorities that govern this world; for He disarmed them and triumphed over them through the cross. He took the written debt of sin which was stored up against us along with the written ordinances, and He nailed them to the cross, paying for our transgressions and rescuing us from the elementary spiritual principles of this world, and the rudimentary commands such as "Do not touch" and "Do not handle", to serve God in the new way of the Spirit and life; and for those who will in their mind to do good, but do not have the power in their flesh to do that good: God gives them the power to do good. For Christ Jesus was clean, but became dirty to make us clean: for the bathwater is made dirty since it takes upon itself the filth of the one it cleanses. The dirty goes into the water and he comes out clean - not without the cost of the water becoming dirty. Dirty water cannot cleanse anyone; only pure water can cleanse. And Christ has become unto us pure water to cleanse us from dead works by faith in His name. For He became dirty by taking upon our filth in order to make us clean; and as a result, we are made clean by Him. And this sanctification is of God, of the Son, and of the Spirit; for it is done through the washing of the water of the Word; for He purifies our conscience from dead works so we may serve the living God. As it is written in the law concerning the Sabbath day: " You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. " (Exodus 31:13)
For on the sabbath, the Israelites did no work according to the law of Moses and they were justified by God according to the ordinance; and they entered into the sabbath rest that they may know it's not by their own works that they are sanctified. So if sanctification is not by our work, then it's by the work of God; as it says, "That you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you." And so it is today for us who enter into God's rest through Christ Jesus, for us who do no work, but trust in God to justify the ungodly. And this is the great stumbling stone, an offensive thing to the unbelieving; as it says, "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." (Romans 9:33)
So now, through faith we can fulfill the law of God - for neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters, but faith expressing itself through love; and love does no wrong to a neighbor. And this is the fruit of faith: love. Only through faith in Jesus can we establish the law; when trying to obtain righteousness through the law by works, righteousness becomes impossible; for righteousness does not come by the law, but with the law comes the knowledge of sin. "If righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." (Galatians 2:21) If we are led by the Spirit of God, we are no longer under the law, for the fruit of the Spirit are all good things, and there is no law against anything good. But if you are carnally minded, watch out! The law still reigns over your members, for the law is for the carnally minded; but rather " Sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. " (Romans 6:14)
And in grace, sin has lost its power. But you may say, "If sin has lost its power and I sin, what does it mean?" Surely sin has been rendered powerless through the cross, but you have yielded to it; you have offered yourself as an obedient servant to serve sin: you have sold yourself to it. But Christ has bought you, and you belong to Him. Therefore, offer yourself as a slave to righteousness, a bondslave of Christ. So if you obey sin, offering yourself as a slave to it, then watch out! In it's full growth: it's death. But Christ Jesus came to set us free from the power of sin and death, so that we would not be conformed to our old way of thinking, but that we would be made new through the renewing of our mind by the Holy Spirit. Christ has nullified the power of sin, stripping it of its power, for sin has its power through the law, but He justifies us apart from the law through faith - this justification is the gift of God so that no one may boast. And the Spirit of Him comes by faith, for everything that is from faith is also from the Spirit; for faith is spiritual, and everything spiritual is unseen; as Christ says, " It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. " (John 6:63)
So faith is contrary to the law, which states, " The person who does these things will live by them. " (Romans 10:5)
But the word of faith says, " THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART. " (Romans 10:8-13)
Thus the law strengthens sin, but faith strengthens the Spirit; in the Spirit there is freedom, but anyone who sins is a slave to sin. Christ has called us to freedom! Your freedom was not free. We who are children of faith are fathered by Abraham, the man of faith. For we are the descendants of faithful Abraham, the father of faith, considering we have faith like Abraham; as it says, "So shall your descendants be." (Genesis 15:5) And as the saying says, "Like father, like son"; so the sons of Abraham are like the father Abraham, and he was a man of faith. It was not according to the flesh that his descendants were counted, for Abraham had many other sons and they did not all receive the inheritance; however it was Isaac, the son of grace and the son of the promise, who received the blessing; for if it is by faith, then it is apart from works and counted as grace. So God has granted to us the same promise which He promised to Abraham: as it says, "I will give it to you and to your descendants forever." (Genesis 13:15) And later it says, "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." (Genesis 22:18) And this Seed is Christ. So if we are His descendant, we have the promise; and if we have the promise, we know that He is trustworthy who promised, and He will grant to us what's promised in that day. He has promised to us a land flowing with milk and honey, an eternal kingdom; and if an eternal kingdom, everlasting life, considering we endure in His grace until the end.
The Father God has testified to us in many ways concerning His Son; we may believe man's testimony, but how much more ought we to believe the testimony of God concerning His Son? The Psalms and the prophets which speak of Christ's sufferings are many (Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Psalm 35, Psalm 89); and the Scriptures of His betrayal are likewise (Psalm 109, Psalm 69, Psalm 41, Psalm 55); for it was according to God's predetermined plan that Christ would suffer for us, and there-after be exalted. And time would fail if I began to tell about Joseph, who was betrayed by his brethren, and exalted to Pharaoh's right hand; or Job, who was righteous and yet smitten by God, but he was restored twofold; or Samson, who was mocked by a great assembly of his enemies, and in his death, killed many of his enemies; or Mordecai, who was predetermined to die on a stake, but he was exalted second highest in all of Persia; or the prophets, who being sent by God, being disregarded, being rejected by their own, beaten and some killed, but obtained a better hope and a better resurrection. Among these, there are many other types found in the Scriptures which bring stronger conviction of the faith; as Paul said, " It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. " (Galatians 3:1)
And he said this to men who lived long after Jesus' crucifixion. For the eyes which he speaks about are the eyes of faith.