Things I Am Certain Of...Part 1

Pastor Bill Farrow

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The Gospel is a curious thing. The more you think about it, the more there is to think about! I have thought fairly extensively about it recently and am at a place where I willing to make some conclusions about what has been on my mind.

First, I am convinced that I am in an extreme minority in my view of the Gospel. There are few who agree completely with me, or rather, I should say, with whom I completely agree. This leads me to a place of real humility. On the one hand, it is an extremely perilous and intimidating thing to be ''out there" in an area that few have been willing to venture into. On the other hand; I see perfect indication in the Word of God to lead me to believe that this is exactly the kind of situation a thoughtful believer would find himself in at this time in history.

All of this being said, my position is firming up and the need for meekness and humility grows with each passing day as I grow more and more certain of what the Bible teaches about the true Gospel. I must take extreme care to bathe myself in the Word of God and in the Word of God alone. It must be my sole source for my conclusions. This is not to say that logic and human thought and commentary are the enemy. Rather to say that they must be carefully subjected to what the Word actually says.

All of this being the case, there are some things of which I am now certain. These are in no certain order, just as I wrote them down.

1.  Christ Died To Pay For Sins and He Actually Accomplished His Goal.

Christ came into the world to save sinners. That is certain and very few who call themselves Biblical Christians would argue the point. What is less clear for most people is that Jesus did, indeed, actually do what He set out to do. When Christ gave up the Ghost at the end of His suffering the work of bearing sins was done and fully accomplished. Christ paid a penalty, a ransom to God that fully satisfied the Father regarding the owing of that penalty. The penalty is thus owing or outstanding no longer. It cannot be if the sacrifice of Christ was effective.

The truth of the matter is that either it was effective or it was not effective. If it was effective, then it was perfectly and fully effective. The only thing that could have made it less than fully effective is if if was not intended to be so. There is absolutely no indication in the Scripture that I am aware of that would lead me to think that Christ's death was any less than perfectly effective, completely achieving what He set out to accomplish. If He set out to save sinners, then that is what He did; completely and absolutely.

Further, if Christ satisfied the Father, then He did that perfectly and completely as well. If the Father is satisfied, He must be satisfied with regard to something. The object of that satisfaction must be something with which He was un-satisfied prior to the sacrifice of Christ. If it was the death of Christ that satisfied the Father, then He was satisfied and the cross and that satisfaction ought and should be spoken and thought of as fully accomplished in time and space from that point onward.

If God was satisfied at the cross, then what could render Him ''unsatisfied" once again? Orly one thing, so far as I can see could possibly effect such a thing. That would be if the requirement after the cross was different than it was before. It is clear that before the cross the requirement of God for entry into heaven was absolute and complete righteousness with no lack of that righteousness or any unsatisfied sin past, present or future. If the standard remains the same then the satisfaction remains intact. The only condition that could alter this is if, somehow, the standard changes, and becomes something that is dependent on human behavior.

Some would say, though perhaps not in so many words, that is precisely what happens. The issue after the cross is not the absence of absolute righteousness but, rather, what have you done with Jesus? Of course, the problem with this is that the Bible nowhere even hints at a shift in the standard by which God measures man. It is the same after the cross as it was before. God requires perfect righteouness to enter heaven, no less. In order to effect this, Christ had to die to pay for sin, thus satisfying God's righteous justice on the part of the elect. (Note: this is not all that is required for salvation - there is still the matter of the necessary righteousness, as being cleansed of sin is not sufficient to commend men to God - but that remains to be discussed later).

I am certain that Christ, in His death, fully satisfied the Father on the part of the sins of the elect. Of this I am certain!