I often wondered why Jesus had to die and what all of this meant. How could one man bear the burden of sin for the whole world? Well I don’t know all the answers, but God has shown me truth that I can share with you.
Let’s start at the beginning then. Adam and Eve were made perfect people who had no sin in them. They were naked, but had no shame, they had no duties and no one expected them to work for anything. Paradise I suppose.
Genesis 1:26-28
1:26 God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.
1:27 So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.
1:28 And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.
But in the middle of the Garden of Eden, there was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The only warning God gave them, was not to eat of that tree.
Genesis 2:16-17
2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
There was another tree, the Tree of Life. They were free to eat of it, but under no obligation. Without going into a lot of detail, Eve then ate, and she gave to Adam, and he ate, and sin entered into the world and death through sin. Note that God didn’t say that He was going to kill them if they ate. God said that the day they ate of that tree, they shall surely die. The fruit of the tree was poisonous. The tree could cause only death.
Romans 5:12-14
5:12 Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned.
5:13 [To be sure] sin was in the world before ever the Law was given, but sin is not charged to men's account where there is no law [to transgress].
5:14 Yet death held sway from Adam to Moses [the Lawgiver], even over those who did not themselves transgress [a positive command] as Adam did. Adam was a type (prefigure) of the One Who was to come [in reverse, the former destructive, the Latter saving].
God made man, gave all authority over the earth to man, told man to be fruitful and multiply, and subdue it. If God gave all authority to man, it means that God could only have influence in the earth through man. Man ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and death had authority and power over man. Sin had entered into the world, and death as the result of sin. If God were to punish sin and end it, He had to first bring a law, because sin is not charged to men’s account where there is no law.
So skipping a few years, we meet Abram. God appeared to him and said to move to a land that He would show him, and that He would bless him. Abram believed, and he moved. Later in the King’s Valley, after Abram had slain Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him.
Genesis 14:18-20
14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem [later called Jerusalem] brought out bread and wine [for their nourishment]; he was the priest of God Most High,
14:19 And he blessed him and said, Blessed (favoured with blessings, made blissful, joyful) be Abram by God Most High, Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth,
14:20 And blessed, praised, and glorified be God Most High, Who has given your foes into your hand! And [Abram] gave him a tenth of all [he had taken].
Abram was served the bread and the wine, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Still later, after Abram had some doubt as to who his heir would be, the Lord brought him outside his tent into the starlight and said:
Genesis 15:5-6
15:5 ...Look now toward the heavens and count the stars-if you are able to number them. Then He said to him, So shall your descendants be.
15:6 And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God).
Then God said to Abram that his descendants would be slaves for 400 years in Egypt, but that He would bring judgement upon Egypt and lead Abram’s descendants out of Egypt with many possessions. Then God said :
Genesis 17:1-7
17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am] the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
17:2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
17:3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
17:4 As for me, behold, my covenant [is] with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
17:6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
God said “I will establish my covenant”. He did not establish it on the spot. 400 years had to pass first. So Abraham received a promise before the covenant was established. The covenant was established only when Moses came and led them out of Egypt. In the desert, at mount Sinai, the covenant was finally established
Exodus 24:1-10
24:1 GOD SAID to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu [Aaron's sons], and seventy of Israel's elders, and worship at a distance.
24:2 Moses alone shall come near the Lord; the others shall not come near, and neither shall the people come up with him.
24:3 Moses came and told the people all that the Lord had said and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, All that the Lord has spoken we will do.
24:4 Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. He rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve pillars representing Israel's twelve tribes.
24:5 And he sent young Israelite men, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord.
24:6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar.
24:7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people; and they said, All that the Lord has said we will do, and we will be obedient.
24:8 And Moses took the [remaining half of the] blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.
24:9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up [the mountainside].
24:10 And they saw the God of Israel [that is, a convincing manifestation of His presence], and under His feet it was like pavement of bright sapphire stone, like the very heavens in clearness.
God had to make a covenant with them. God gave all rule and authority over the earth to man, and man submitted to sin and death. In order for God to save man from sin and death, He had to first establish a contract or a covenant with them. Remember that death already ruled by this point. God wanted to give them a saving helping hand.
Now a covenant is nothing different from a contract. Two or more individuals enter into an agreement, to which they would be held accountable. There can however not be a contract if there is not a meeting of minds. The parties to the contract need to both agree on the terms of it. This gives both parties rights and privileges. If party “A” will do something, party “B” will do something in return. Clearly out of this passage in Exodus 24 there were a meeting of the minds between the nation of Israel and God. This was the covenant or contract that God said to Abraham he would make after the 400 years.
God would bless them, protect them, and lead them out to the Promised Land. They would heed to His law, doing all that was expected of them. If they did not obey the law, they would be put to death, which was they point they started at before the law came. Death reigned over man. After Moses brought the covenant, the law reigned over man, because they agreed to enter into the agreement with God. They were thus bound to the law, having submitted under it.
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil distinguished between what was good and what was evil. The knowledge of evil came through that tree, and death came in through that knowledge. God had to change that arrangement a bit. He gave the law, through which came the knowledge of sin. Sin was revealed by the law.
Romans 5:12-14
5:12 Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned.
5:13 [To be sure] sin was in the world before ever the Law was given, but sin is not charged to men's account where there is no law [to transgress].
5:14 Yet death held sway from Adam to Moses [the Lawgiver], even over those who did not themselves transgress [a positive command] as Adam did. Adam was a type (prefigure) of the One Who was to come [in reverse, the former destructive, the Latter saving].
Sin did come into the world before the law, but the people did not know it to be sin. They had the knowledge of good and evil, which produced death in them, but they did not realise that it was sinful and against God’s will. God gave the law of the covenant to teach them what sin was, and to turn away from it. The problem was that no human being could withstand sin. All men sinned and fell short of the glory of God. Man needed salvation from the power of sin and death. At this stage God had jurisdiction over man to punish the sin and to bless man to the extent of the contents of the covenant. If it was not written, it could not be done.
Man had a sinful nature, and this nature together with a law that revealed sin could never be fully obedient to the law. The knowledge of sin only proved to stimulate the forbidden desires.
Romans 7:7-13
7:7 What then do we conclude? Is the Law identical with sin? Certainly not! Nevertheless, if it had not been for the Law, I should not have recognized sin or have known its meaning. [For instance] I would not have known about covetousness [would have had no consciousness of sin or sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, You shall not covet and have an evil desire [for one thing and another].
7:8 But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment [to express itself], got a hold on me and aroused and stimulated all kinds of forbidden desires (lust, covetousness). For without the Law sin is dead [the sense of it is inactive and a lifeless thing].
7:9 Once I was alive, but quite apart from and unconscious of the Law. But when the commandment came, sin lived again and I died (was sentenced by the Law to death).
7:10 And the very legal ordinance which was designed and intended to bring life actually proved [to mean to me] death.
7:11 For sin, seizing the opportunity and getting a hold on me [by taking its incentive] from the commandment, beguiled and entrapped and cheated me, and using it [as a weapon], killed me.
7:12 The Law therefore is holy, and [each] commandment is holy and just and good.
7:13 Did that which is good then prove fatal [bringing death] to me? Certainly not! It was sin, working death in me by using this good thing [as a weapon], in order that through the commandment sin might be shown up clearly to be sin, that the extreme malignity and immeasurable sinfulness of sin might plainly appear.
So the law could only produce the manifestation of sin in the lives of people. It never had the power to save man from sin, because man’s very nature was sinful, and the law revealed sin. No one had the power to withstand it. Sin had to be punished and ended, because it kept ruling in the bodies of people. God also made a promise to Abraham, which came before the covenant, before the law. God said to Abraham that He would bless him, and his Seed after him.
Galatians 3:16
3:16 Now the promises (covenants, agreements) were decreed and made to Abraham and his Seed (his Offspring, his Heir). He [God] does not say, And to seeds (descendants, heirs), as if referring to many persons, but, And to your Seed (your Descendant, your Heir), obviously referring to one individual, Who is [none other than] Christ (the Messiah).
Why was the promise made only to a singular Seed? The Son of God had to come to bear the burden of sin, and to fully absorb the wrath described in the covenant, so that whoever believes in Him, might be made partakers of His righteousness. Let met explain. Only a person who was a party to the contract or covenant could attempt to fulfil it. If a contract exists between “A” and “B” to buy a car, “A” needs to do his duty in terms of the contract, and “B” needs to do his duty in terms of the contract. “A” for instance would buy produces the right amount of money, as described in the contract, and “B” would produce the right car as described in the contract. It is not open for “C” to come in and produce anything.
Jesus said in John 10:1
I ASSURE you, most solemnly I tell you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way (elsewhere, from some other quarter) is a thief and a robber.
If a person was not part of the covenant, but tried to force his way into the blessings by another way, he would be regarded as a thief. So Jesus wanted to come and fulfil the demands of the law, to save them that is under the curse of the law. Jesus therefore had to be born a Jew, under the law, to be a party to the contract, a subject of the covenant. He therefore took on Himself the human sinful nature, but was Himself totally holy.
Romans 8:3-4
8:3 For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],
8:4 So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit].
God wanted to condemn sin, and He never wanted to condemn man. The law came so that sin could be punished, but the law only ministered condemnation to people. Jesus came in that same sinful as a man to the earth, having the power to withstand sin, and having the power to lay His life down and to take it up again. This was the only way sin could be condemned apart from condemning all people. Jesus, the perfect, holy Son of God, knew no sin, but was tempted in every respect as we are. He withstood sin, and never gave in to its demands.
Hebrews 2:14-18
2:14 Since, therefore, [these His] children share in flesh and blood [in the physical nature of human beings], He [Himself] in a similar manner partook of the same [nature], that by [going through] death He might bring to nought and make of no effect him who had the power of death-that is, the devil-
2:15 And also that He might deliver and completely set free all those who through the [haunting] fear of death were held in bondage throughout the whole course of their lives.
2:16 For, as we all know, He [Christ] did not take hold of angels [the fallen angels, to give them a helping and delivering hand], but He did take hold of [the fallen] descendants of Abraham [to reach out to them a helping and delivering hand].
2:17 So it is evident that it was essential that He be made like His brethren in every respect, in order that He might become a merciful (sympathetic) and faithful High Priest in the things related to God, to make atonement and propitiation for the people's sins.
2:18 For because He Himself [in His humanity] has suffered in being tempted (tested and tried), He is able [immediately] to run to the cry of (assist, relieve) those who are being tempted and tested and tried [and who therefore are being exposed to suffering].
Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].
The law of Moses is called the ministration of condemnation and death engraved in letters on Stone in 2 Corinthians 3:7. In verse 6 it says that the code of the Law kills, but the Spirit makes alive. The law was designed to bring death to those who disobeyed them. The problem was that no one was able to obey it, as I showed above in Romans 7. If a perfect man would arise, the problem would be that He would simply be perfect, and no death would be ministered to Him, and He would simply live forever blessed. It would make no difference to the lives of other people. Therefore the law had another function. It blinded the eyes of them that would subscribe to it, trying to follow its insistent demands, but were unable to do so, that is, it blinded the eyes of every human being who would read it.
2 Corinthians 3:15
3:14 In fact, their minds were grown hard and calloused [they had become dull and had lost the power of understanding]; for until this present day, when the Old Testament (the old covenant) is being read, that same veil still lies [on their hearts], not being lifted [to reveal] that in Christ it is made void and done away.
3:15 Yes, down to this [very] day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their minds and hearts.
The identity of the Messiah had to remain a mystery to those under the law, until the goal of His coming was accomplished. So all the Jews, reading the law, and trying to fulfil it, were blinded to His splendour and His goodness, so that it might be fulfilled what was written about Him:
Isaiah 53
53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire him.
53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
53:5 But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither [was any] deceit in his mouth.
53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
53:12 Therefore will I divide him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
He was an offering for our sins. The perfect and holy was slain for the sins of the wicked. This was His helping hand that He extended to the fallen descendants of Abraham. They had to reject Him, they had to condemn Him, they had to crucify Him, otherwise He would not be able to bear our sins.
John 1:9-11
1:9 [That] was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
If they knew who He really was, they would not have crucified Him.
1 Corinthians 2:8-9
2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
His identity was kept a mystery, so that the wrath and judgement of the law could fully be expressed in the body of Jesus Christ. The only way that a man could know who He was, was if the Holy Spirit would reveal it to him.
Luke 2:25-35
2:25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name [was] Simeon; and the same man [was] just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
2:26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
2:27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
2:28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
2:29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
2:30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
2:31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
2:32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
2:33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
2:34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this [child] is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
2:35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
The true effect of the law of Moses was proven when the Jews crucified Jesus. The law blinds the eyes of men and prevents them from seeing the Christ. The law produces condemnation and false self-righteousness, which is unable to save. They took the Innocent, and unleashed the fury of the law upon Him. They didn’t realise that they were actually acting out what was foretold. This is the reason Jesus said: Father forgive them, because they know not what they are doing. This is also the reason why the Gospel of Jesus Christ was first preached to the Jews, so that they might have the opportunity to repent, to open their eyes, throw away the veil, and look for the first time at the Truth about God which was kept hidden for throughout the ages. Those who believed the message of the Gospel, received the revelation of His glory, and saw. Those who still rejected Him and insisted on the law, and being blinded by it, were lost.
Colossians 1:26-27
1:26 The mystery of which was hidden for ages and generations [from angels and men], but is now revealed to His holy people (the saints),
1:27 To whom God was pleased to make known how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ within and among you, the Hope of [realizing the] glory.
Jesus came as a man in sinful flesh, with sinful temptations just as we have. He resisted them, lived perfectly holy, and performed the will of God. The people never knew who He was. They were filled with the judgement and wrath of the law. They took Him out, and crucified Him. No one spoke a word in His defence. He had the power to lay down His life, so He stood in front of the law, said “give me all the wrath you have”, absorbed it into His body, lay down His life, and took it up again, so that the law and sin could never have anything to say against Him again.
The law could only produce death. If the law had it full working in us, we would die. The law only ministers death. Jesus came with a disguise, in sinful flesh, absorbed the judgement of the law, lay down His life, and took it up again. Now all sin and all judgement has been completely expressed in the body of Jesus, which was the offering for sin. He overcame sin, and deprived it of its power. He overcame death, and subdued it on our behalf.
Why does that save us? Why does what He did, change our nature? If we believe in Jesus, the Word, or Seed comes into our hearts, and we are born from God.
John 1:1
IN THE beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.
If we believe the Word, the Word enters us, and we enter Him.
1John1:5&7
1:5 And this is the message [the message of promise] which we have heard from Him and now are reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all [no, not in
any way].
1:7 But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].
If we believe the Word, we believe in Him. If we have fellowship with the Word, we have fellowship with Him. If we have fellowship with Him, we are dwelling in the Light, and His blood cleanses us from all sin. It works like this. He is the Seed according to the promise made to Abraham. If we believe the Word, which is the Seed, that Seed enters us and we enter Him. Because we are in Him, we are one the One who laid down His life and took it up again. We are one with the one who conquered death.
That makes us conquerors of death. If we can have fellowship with Him, it means that we have fellowship with His holiness, and He starts to live through us. Christ reigns in our bodies then, and not death. Life entered us, and we are now made alive.
2 Corinthians 5:14-17
5:14 For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died;
5:15 And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake.
5:16 Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value]. [No] even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now [we have such knowledge of Him that] we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh].
5:17 Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [the covenant and the law, the old order - my insertion] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!
Here is how we are ingrafted into Him, by the baptism.
Romans 6:1-11
6:1 WHAT SHALL we say [to all this]? Are we to remain in sin in order that God's grace (favor and mercy) may multiply and overflow?
6:2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?
6:3 Are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
6:4 We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious [power] of the Father, so we too might [habitually] live and behave in newness of life.
6:5 For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we shall also be [one with Him in sharing] His resurrection [by a new life lived for God].
6:6 We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin.
6:7 For when a man dies, he is freed (loosed, delivered) from [the power of] sin [among men].
6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
6:9 Because we know that Christ (the Anointed One), being once raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him.
6:10 For by the death He died, He died to sin [ending His relation to it] once for all; and the life that He lives, He is living to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him].
6:11 Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.
Baptism is taught in some circles to be a ritual which has come to replace the circumcision of babies. Circumcision was a practice which was a sign or a token of the Old Covenant, and the law of Moses. We live by faith, in the Seed, which was heir according to the promise. We do not live by the law and rituals of Moses. Do they really mean to say that the baptism again binds us to the Old Covenant? Wasn’t the death of Christ supposed to free and loose us from the old covenant? There is no scripture that tells us that the baptism is a seal of the covenant. Not one. There are however lots of scriptures that tells us that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells us. How can we who have the Holy Spirit again go back to a ritual that’s dealing with sin? Wasn’t the offering of the flesh body of Jesus enough?
The Circumcision was a parable. It spoke of our old sinful nature being cut away from us, and that we would live a life free from bondage to sin and death. The true circumcision of the heart takes place when we are baptised, because the old unrenewed self is nailed to the cross with Him, and we are buried, and resurrected with Him in a new life free from the dominion of sin and death, in unbroken fellowship with Christ. The baptism is a outward manifestation of the Gospel we believe in. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and by the Gospel salvation is brought to us.
Colossians 2:8-23
2:8 See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men's ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ (the Messiah).
2:9 For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature].
2:10 And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead-Father, Son and Holy Spirit-and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].
2:11 In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but in a [spiritual] circumcision [performed by] Christ by stripping off the body of the flesh (the whole corrupt, carnal nature with its passions and lusts).
2:12 [Thus you were circumcised when] you were buried with Him in [your] baptism, in which you were also raised with Him [to a new life] through [your] faith in the working of God [as displayed] when He raised Him up from the dead.
2:13 And you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all our transgressions,
2:14 Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.
2:15 [God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].
2:16 Therefore let no one sit in judgment on you in matters of food and drink, or with regard to a feast day or a New Moon or a Sabbath.
2:17 Such [things] are only the shadow of things that are to come, and they have only a symbolic value. But the reality (the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed, the body of it) belongs to Christ.
2:18 Let no one defraud you by acting as an umpire and declaring you unworthy and disqualifying you for the prize, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions [he claims] he has seen, vainly puffed up by his sensuous notions and inflated by his unspiritual thoughts and fleshly conceit,
2:19 And not holding fast to the Head, from Whom the entire body, supplied and knit together by means of its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
2:20 If then you have died with Christ to material ways of looking at things and have escaped from the world's crude and elemental notions and teachings of externalism, why do you live as if you still belong to the world? [Why do you submit to rules and regulations?-such as]
2:21 Do not handle [this], Do not taste [that], Do not even touch [them],
2:22 Referring to things all of which perish with being used. To do this is to follow human precepts and doctrines.
2:23 Such [practices] have indeed the outward appearance [that popularly passes] for wisdom, in promoting self-imposed rigor of devotion and delight in self-humiliation and severity of discipline of the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh (the lower nature). [Instead, they do not honor God but serve only to indulge the flesh.]
We were baptised into His death. If we shared His death, we shall also share His resurrection by a new life lived for God. Because we were baptised into His death, the death He died applies to us. He died as an offering for sin. He took the wrath of the law upon Himself. Now we stand as if we have taken the wrath of the law on us, received the penalty of it, which is death, and as if we took our lives up again. We stand in Christ. We stand as if we died and rose again. We share His death and His resurrection.
Ephesians 2:1-8
2:1 AND YOU [He made alive], when you were dead (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins
2:2 In which at one time you walked [habitually]. You were following the course and fashion of this world [were under the sway of the tendency of this present age], following the prince of the power of the air. [You were obedient to and under the control of] the [demon] spirit that still constantly works in the sons of disobedience [the careless, the rebellious, and the unbelieving, who go against the purposes of God].
2:3 Among these we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by our corrupt and sensual nature], obeying the impulses of the flesh and the thoughts of the mind [our cravings dictated by our senses and our dark imaginings]. We were then by nature children of [God's] wrath and heirs of [His] indignation, like the rest of mankind.
2:4 But God-so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,
2:5 Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation).
2:6 And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
We were dead, and He raised us up with the same new life with which He raised Jesus from the dead. That life can never die again. That life is free from sin and death. That life is eternal life and is our inheritance. He gave us that life by giving us the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:11
8:11 And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.
We have the same Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. He dwells inside us now, not our old unrenewed sinful nature. An exchange has taken place. We have died with Him. Our sins were punished in His body, and buried to remain in the grave forever. He was raised to a new life, and we with Him. His new life now resurrects our bodies when He enters into our hearts by faith.
The total wrath of the law is therefore totally expressed in us already. All the demands of the law have now been fully met in us. We could not justify ourselves, so we had to die. So we died, in Christ, and was made alive again in Christ. Therefore the climax of the law has been fully met in us already. This means that we can learn nothing from the Law of Moses. The life we now live, is a life that is sustained by Christ who lives in us, the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us.
Galatians 2:19-21
2:19 For I through the Law [under the operation of the curse of the Law] have [in Christ's death for me] myself died to the Law and all the Law's demands upon me, so that I may [henceforth] live to and for God.
2:20 I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
2:21 [Therefore, I do not treat God's gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous.]
I through the Law and under the operation of the curse of the Law have died. That means that the law has had its operation in me fully, and has no jurisdiction to judge me. In Christ’s death I have died to the law, and all its demands upon me. This is the essence of the Gospel.
Romans 7:1-6
7:1 DO YOU not know, brethren-for I am speaking to men who are acquainted with the Law-that legal claims have power over a person only for as long as he is alive?
7:2 For [instance] a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies, she is loosed and discharged from the law concerning her husband.
7:3 Accordingly, she will be held an adulteress if she unites herself to another man while her husband lives. But if her husband dies, the marriage law no longer is binding on her [she is free from that law]; and if she unites herself to another man, she is not an adulteress.
7:4 Likewise, my brethren, you have undergone death as to the Law through the [crucified] body of Christ, so that now you may belong to Another, to Him Who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God.
7:5 When we were living in the flesh (mere physical lives), the sinful passions that were awakened and aroused up by [what] the Law [makes sin] were constantly operating in our natural powers (in our bodily organs, in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh), so that we bore fruit for death.
7:6 But now we are discharged from the Law and have terminated all intercourse with it, having died to what once restrained and held us captive. So now we serve not under [obedience to] the old code of written regulations, but [under obedience to the promptings] of the Spirit in newness [of life].
We can now by just hearing and believing this message experience true salvation. We can feel Him save us everyday. We can feel Him live His life through us, in stead of feeling and experiencing the sin, condemnation, and regret we have become so accustomed to. We have died with Christ. We have been given His Holy Spirit, Who now indwells us.
We have been totally forgiven of everything the law makes sin. We are now constantly being made alive by the Holy Spirit. He is constantly living His life through us. If we now turn back to the law and a legalistic mindset, we frustrate the grace, and set at naught everything Christ has done for us. We need to stop thinking that we can change ourselves, and believe that we are saved by grace. Right believing produces lasting change. The harder we try to change, the more we will disappoint ourselves.
Acts 13:38
13:38 So let it be clearly known and understood by you, brethren, that through this Man forgiveness and removal of sins is now proclaimed to you;
13:39 And that through Him everyone who believes [who acknowledges Jesus as his Savior and devotes himself to Him] is absolved (cleared and freed) from every charge from which he could not be justified and freed by the Law of Moses and given right standing with God.
