ISAIAH 59:1-2 1 BEHOLD, THE LORD’S HAND IS NOT SHORTENED, THAT IT CANNOT SAVE; NEITHER HIS EAR HEAVY, THAT IT CANNOT HEAR: 2 BUT YOUR INIQUITIES HAVE SEPARATED BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR GOD, AND YOUR SINS HAVE HID HIS FACE FROM YOU, THAT HE WILL NOT HEAR. THE LORD IS NOT TOO WEAK TO SAVE YOU, HE IS NOT DEAF. HE CAN HEAR YOU WHEN YOU CALL.
THERE IS A PROBLEM–YOUR SINS HAVE CUT YOU OFF FROM GOD. BECAUSE OF YOUR SIN, HE HAS TURNED AWAY AND WILL NOT LISTEN ANYMORE.
ALL HAVE SINNED; ALL FALL SHORT OF GOD’S GLORIOUS STANDARD. GOD IN HIS GRACIOUS KINDNESS DECLARES US NOT GUILTY. HE HAS DONE THIS THROUGH CHRIST JESUS, WHO HAS FREED US BY TAKING AWAY OUR SINS. GOD SENT JESUS TO TAKE THE PUNISHMENT FOR OUR SINS AND TO SATISFY GOD’S ANGER AGAINST US.
WE ARE MADE RIGHT WITH GOD WHEN WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS SHED HIS BLOOD, SACRIFICING HIS LIFE FOR US.
GOD WAS BEING ENTIRELY FAIR AND JUST WHEN HE DID NOT PUNISH THOSE WHO SINNED IN FORMER TIMES. AND HE IS ENTIRELY FAIR AND JUST IN THIS PRESENT TIME WHEN HE DECLARES SINNERS TO BE RIGHT IN HIS SIGHT BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IN JESUS.
VERSES 23-24 DEALS WITH JESUS’ TEACHING ABOUT SALVATION AROUND THREE THEMES
- JUSTIFICATION: AN IMAGE FROM THE COURT OF LAW, JUSTIFICATION IS AN ACT WHICH JUSTIFIES AN ACTION OR ATTITUDE. JUSTIFICATION SOLVES THE PROBLEM OF MAN’S GUILT BEFORE A RIGHTEOUS JUDGE.
- REDEMPTION: AN IMAGE FROM THE SLAVE MARKET. REDEMPTION SOLVES THE PROBLEM OF MAN’S SLAVERY TO SIN, THE WORLD, AND SATAN.
- PROPITIATION: AN IMAGE FROM THE WORLD OF RELIGION, APPEASING GOD THROUGH SACRIFICE. PROPITIATION SOLVES THE PROBLEM OF OFFENDING GOD, OUR CREATOR.
AS ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD, SO IS THE OFFER OF BEING JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE. IT IS OPEN TO EVERYONE WHO WILL BELIEVE; THE HARLOT, THE LIAR, THE MURDERER ARE SINNERS, BUT SO ARE WE. THEY STAND AT THE BOTTOM OF A MINE, AND YOU ON THE CREST OF A MOUNTAIN; YOU ARE UNABLE TO TOUCH THE STARS AS THEY ARE. EVERYONE FALLS SHORT, BUT EVERYONE CAN BE JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE.
HOW DO WE FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD? IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO DESCRIBE EVERY WAY, BUT HERE ARE IMPORTANT WAYS WE FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.
- WE FAIL TO GIVE GOD THE GLORY DUE HIM, IN OUR WORDS, THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS. THUS WE FAIL TO QUALIFY FOR, THE GLORY AND REWARD THAT GOD GIVES HIS FAITHFUL SERVANTS.
- WE FAIL TO PROPERLY REFLECT GOD’S GLORY, BY REFUSING TO BE CONFORMED INTO HIS IMAGE. MANY FAIL TO OBTAIN THE FINAL GLORY GOD WILL BESTOW ON HIS PEOPLE AT THE END OF HISTORY.
JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE: BEING IN SUCH A SINFUL STATE, THE ONLY WAY WE CAN BE JUSTIFIED IS TO BE JUSTIFIED FREELY. WE CAN NOT PURCHASE IT WITH OUR GOOD WORKS. IF IT IS NOT FREE TO US, WE CAN NOT HAVE IT. SO WE ARE JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE – HIS UNMERITED FAVOR, GIVEN TO US WITHOUT REGARD TO WHAT WE DESERVE. IT IS A GIVING MOTIVATED PURELY BY THE GIVER, AND MOTIVATED BY NOTHING IN THE ONE WHO RECEIVES.
THE WAY THIS WORD FREELY IS USED IN OTHER NEW TESTAMENT PASSAGES HELPS US UNDERSTAND THE WORD. MATTHEW 10:8 (FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE) AND REVELATION 22:17 (AND WHOEVER DESIRES, LET HIM TAKE THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY) THESE WORDS SHOW THAT THE WORD MEANS TRULY FREE, NOT CHEAP OR DISCOUNTED. AS THERE WAS NOTHING IN JESUS DESERVING OF MAN’S HATRED, THERE IS NOTHING IN US DESERVING OF JUSTIFICATION, ALL THE REASONS ARE IN GOD.
CALVIN ON THE USE OF BOTH THE WORDS FREELY AND GRACE: “HE THUS REPEATS THE WORD TO SHOW THAT THE WHOLE IS FROM GOD, AND NOTHING FROM US, LEST WE SHOULD IMAGINE A HALF KIND OF GRACE, HE AFFIRMS MORE STRONGLY WHAT HE MEANS BY A REPETITION, AND CLAIMS FOR GOD’S MERCY ALONE THE WHOLE GLORY OF OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
THROUGH THE REDEMPTION THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS: AGAIN, PAUL’S GOSPEL CENTERS SQUARELY IN CHRIST JESUS. SALVATION IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE REDEMPTION FOUND IN JESUS. GOD CANNOT GIVE US HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS APART FROM JESUS CHRIST.
REDEMPTION HAS THE IDEA OF BUYING BACK SOMETHING, AND INVOLVES COST. HOWEVER, GOD PAYS THE COST AND SO WE ARE JUSTIFIED FREELY. THE WORD REDEMPTION HAD ITS ORIGIN IN THE RELEASE OF PRISONERS OF WAR ON PAYMENT OF A PRICE AND WAS KNOW AS THE “RANSOM.” AS TIME WENT ON, IT WAS EXTENDED TO INCLUDE THE FREEING OF SLAVES, AGAIN BY THE PAYMENT OF A PRICE.
THE IDEA OF REDEMPTION MEANS THAT JESUS BOUGHT US, THEREFORE WE BELONG TO HIM. PAUL EXPRESSED THIS THOUGHT IN 1 CORINTHIANS 6:20: FOR YOU WERE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE; THEREFORE GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY AND IN YOUR SPIRIT, WHICH ARE GOD’S.
25 WHOM GOD HATH SET FORTH TO BE A PROPITIATION THROUGH FAITH IN HIS BLOOD, TO DECLARE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS THAT ARE PAST, THROUGH THE FORBEARANCE OF GOD; 26 TO DECLARE, I SAY, AT THIS TIME HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS: THAT HE MIGHT BE JUST, AND THE JUSTIFIER OF HIM WHICH BELIEVETH IN JESUS.
PROPITIATION MEANS SUBSTITUTE. JESUS, BY HIS DEATH, AND SHEDDING HIS BLOOD WAS OUR PROPITIATION, THAT IS OUR SUBSTITUTE SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS. JESUS WAS JUDGED IN OUR PLACE, THE FATHER DEMONSTRATES HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IN JUDGMENT AGAINST SIN, WHILE SPARING THOSE WHO DESERVED THE JUDGMENT.
GOD PASSED OVER THE SINS OF OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS WHO TRUSTED IN THE COMING MESSIAH. AT THE CROSS, THOSE SINS WERE NO LONGER PASSED OVER, THEY WERE PAID FOR. THE IDEA IS THAT THROUGH THE ANIMAL SACRIFICE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, THOSE WHO LOOKED IN FAITH, TO THE COMING MESSIAH, HAD THEIR SINS “COVERED” BY A SORT OF AN “IOU” OR PROMISSORY NOTE. THAT TEMPORARY COVERING WAS REDEEMED FOR FULL PAYMENT AT THE CROSS.
THAT HE MIGHT BE JUST AND THE JUSTIFIER OF THE ONE WHO HAS FAITH IN JESUS: AT THE CROSS, GOD DEMONSTRATED HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS BY OFFERING MAN JUSTIFICATION, A LEGAL VERDICT OF “NOT GUILTY”, WHILE REMAINING COMPLETELY JUST BECAUSE THE RIGHTEOUS PENALTY OF SIN HAD BEEN PAID AT THE CROSS.
GOD DISPLAYED BOTH HIS JUSTICE AND MERCY.
- HIS JUSTICE, IN REQUIRING A SACRIFICE, AND ABSOLUTELY REFUSING TO GIVE SALVATION TO A LOST WORLD IN ANY OTHER WAY
- HIS MERCY, IN PROVIDING THE SACRIFICE WHICH HIS JUSTICE REQUIRED.
YOU CAN NOT SAVE YOURSELF
EPHESIANS 2:1-10 COMPARING WHAT WE WERE TO WHAT WE ARE AS CHRISTIANS
1 AND YOU HATH HE QUICKENED, WHO WERE DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS; 2 WHEREIN IN TIME PAST YE WALKED ACCORDING TO THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD, ACCORDING TO THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR, THE SPIRIT THAT NOW WORKETH IN THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE: 3 AMONG WHOM ALSO WE ALL HAD OUR CONVERSATION IN TIMES PAST IN THE LUSTS OF OUR FLESH, FULFILLING THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH AND OF THE MIND; AND WERE BY NATURE THE CHILDREN OF WRATH, EVEN AS OTHERS. 4 BUT GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, FOR HIS GREAT LOVE WHEREWITH HE LOVED US, 5 EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SINS, HATH QUICKENED US TOGETHER WITH CHRIST, (BY GRACE YE ARE SAVED;) 6 AND HATH RAISED US UP TOGETHER, AND MADE US SIT TOGETHER IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS: 7 THAT IN THE AGES TO COME HE MIGHT SHEW THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS. 8 FOR BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH; AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES: IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD: 9 NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST. 10 FOR WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD HATH BEFORE ORDAINED THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM. ONCE YOU WERE DEAD, DOOMED FOREVER BECAUSE OF YOUR MANY SINS.
TO THE CHRISTIANS HE SAYS WE USED TO LIVE JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD, FULL OF SIN, OBEYING SATAN. THE SPIRIT AT WORK IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO REFUSE TO OBEY GOD. ALL OF US USED TO LIVE THAT WAY, FOLLOWING THE PASSIONS AND DESIRES OF OUR EVIL NATURE. WE WERE BORN WITH AN EVIL NATURE, AND WE WERE UNDER GOD’S ANGER JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. BUT GOD IS SO RICH IN MERCY, AND HE LOVED US SO MUCH, WHILE WE WERE DEAD BECAUSE OF OUR SINS, HE GAVE US LIFE WHEN HE RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD.
IT IS ONLY BY GOD’S SPECIAL FAVOR THAT SAVES US. HE RAISED US FROM THE DEAD ALONG WITH CHRIST, AND WE ARE SEATED WITH HIM IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS–ALL BECAUSE WE ARE ONE WITH CHRIST JESUS. GOD CAN POINT TO US AS EXAMPLES OF THE INCREDIBLE WEALTH OF HIS FAVOR AND KINDNESS TOWARD US, AS SHOWN IN ALL HE HAS DONE FOR US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS.
GOD SAVES BY HIS SPECIAL FAVOR WHEN WE BELIEVE. WE CAN NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR THIS; IT IS A GIFT FROM GOD. SALVATION IS NOT A REWARD FOR THE GOOD THINGS WE HAVE DONE, NONE OF US CAN BOAST ABOUT IT.
WE ARE GOD’S MASTERPIECE. HE HAS CREATED US ANEW IN CHRIST JESUS, SO THAT WE CAN DO THE GOOD THINGS HE PLANNED FOR US LONG AGO.
THE NEED FOR RECONCILIATION
VERSE 1 CHRISTIANS ARE ALIVE FROM THE DEAD
AND YOU HE MADE ALIVE, WHO WERE DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS
THE WORDS HE MADE ALIVE ARE IN ITALICS, WHICH INDICATES THAT THEY ARE ADDED TO THE TEXT BUT IMPLIED FROM THE CONTEXT.
PAUL WRITES TO BELIEVERS WHO HAVE BEEN MADE ALIVE BY GOD’S WORK. PAUL ENDED THE LAST CHAPTER BY CONSIDERING THAT THE ULTIMATE EXAMPLE OF GOD’S POWER WAS THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS.
NOW PAUL CONSIDERS WHAT THE IMPLICATIONS OF JESUS’ RESURRECTION POWER ARE FOR OUR LIFE. WHO WERE DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS: THOUGH CHRISTIANS ARE NOW ALIVE, THEY MUST NEVER FORGET WHERE THEY CAME FROM. THEY WERE DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS. NOT MERELY SICK OR INJURED, BUT SPIRITUALLY DEAD. THE DEATH DESCRIBED IS NOT FIGURATIVE. BY NATURE, APART FROM THE SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION OF GOD, MAN IS TRULY SPIRITUALLY DEAD. THE MOST VITAL PART OF MAN’S PERSONALITY, HIS SPIRIT, IS DEAD, TO THE MOST IMPORTANT INDIVIDUAL IN ALL OF CREATION, GOD.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NOT A VOW TO DO BETTER. IT IS A TRANSFORMATION FROM DEATH TO LIFE.
- THE IDEA BEHIND TRESPASSES IS THAT WE HAVE CROSSED A LINE, CHALLENGING GOD’S BOUNDARIES.
- THE IDEA BEHIND SINS IS THAT WE HAVE MISSED A MARK, THE PERFECT STANDARDS OF GOD.
- TRESPASSES SPEAKS OF MAN AS A REBEL
- SINS SPEAKS OF MAN AS A FAILURE.
- BEFORE GOD WE ARE BOTH REBELS AND FAILURES
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VERSES 2-3 SPEAKS OF A LIFE OF DEATH
IN WHICH YOU ONCE WALKED ACCORDING TO THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD, ACCORDING TO THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR, THE SPIRIT WHO NOW WORKS IN THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE, AMONG WHOM ALSO WE ALL ONCE CONDUCTED OURSELVES IN THE LUSTS OF OUR FLESH, FULFILLING THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH AND OF THE MIND, AND WERE BY NATURE CHILDREN OF WRATH, JUST AS THE OTHERS.
AT ONE TIME, WE LIVED IN TRESPASSES AND SINS, ACCORDING TO THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD, WHICH IS ORCHESTRATED BY SATAN.
SATAN, THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR, IS STILL VERY MUCH ACTIVE AMONG THOSE IN REBELLION AGAINST GOD, THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE.
OUR OLD SELF IS CRUCIFIED WITH JESUS AT THE TIME OF CONVERSION. THE OLD SELF IS INFLUENCED BY ADAM’S INHERITANCE, BUT ALSO BY THE WORLD AND BY SATAN. IN SIN WE RESPOND TO SATAN’S GUIDANCE.
THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR: THIS TITLE FOR SATAN SPEAKS OF HIS AUTHORITY, PRINCE, AND HIS REALM, THE AIR, A WAY OF REFERRING TO SATAN’S ENVIRONMENT.
WE CHRISTIANS AMONG THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE, PROVEN BY OUR CONDUCT. WE EMBRACED THE LUSTS OF THE FLESH, WHICH ARE PRIMARILY PERVERSIONS OF THE LEGITIMATE DESIRES OF HUMAN NATURE. BECAUSE OF OUR SURRENDER TO THE OLD MAN, THE WORLD, AND SATAN, WE WERE BY NATURE CHILDREN OF WRATH. WE RIGHTFULLY DESERVED GOD’S WRATH, AND DESERVED IT BECAUSE OF WHO WE ARE BY OUR HERITAGE.
THE BIBLE DOES NOT CONTAIN THE IDEA THAT ALL MEN ARE “CHILDREN OF GOD,” EXCEPT IN THE SENSE THAT HE IS OUR COMMON CREATOR (ACTS 17:28). PAUL SAYS THAT THERE IS A “FAMILY” OF WRATH THAT HAS ITS CHILDREN, AND JESUS CALLED THE PHARISEES “A FAMILY OF SNAKES” (MATTHEW 3:7, 12:34, AND 23:33) AND SAID THAT THEIR FATHER WAS THE DEVIL (JOHN 8:44). WE MUST TAKE SERIOUSLY THE IDEA THAT THE CHILDREN OF WRATH RIGHTLY DESERVE GOD’S WRATH. THEY ARE NOT “VICTIMS” OF ANYTHING EXCEPT GOD’S JUSTICE.
B. THE PROCESS OF PERSONAL RECONCILIATION TO GOD
VERSE 4 GOD’S MOTIVE IN RECONCILIATION
BUT GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE WITH WHICH HE LOVED US. PAUL EXPLAINS GOD’S REASON BEHIND RECONCILING MAN TO HIMSELF, AND THE REASONS ARE FOUND TOTALLY IN GOD. THE REASONS ARE HIS RICH MERCY AND HIS GREAT LOVE, WHICH HE HAS FOCUSED ON US.
WE MIGHT IMAGINE A GOD OF RICH MERCY AND GREAT LOVE WHO DID NOT FOCUS THAT MERCY AND LOVE UPON US. BUT BEHIND THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD’S SALVATION OFFERED IN JESUS IS THE FACT THAT THIS MERCY AND LOVE IS EXTENDED TO US. SOME HAVE WARPED THE IDEA OF GOD’S GREAT MERCY AND LOVE INTO SOMETHING THAT JUSTIFIES OUR PRIDE.
SOME IMAGINE THAT WE MUST BE SO LOVABLE THAT GOD HAS DECIDED TO GIVE US THIS GREAT LOVE! INSTEAD, THE TRUTH IS THAT GOD’S LOVE IS SO GREAT THAT IT EXTENDS EVEN TO THE UNLOVELY, TO THE CHILDREN OF WRATH.
EVERY REASON FOR GOD’S MERCY AND LOVE IS FOUND IN GOD. WE GIVE GOD NO REASON TO LOVE US, YET IN THE GREATNESS OF HIS LOVE, HE LOVES US WITH THAT GREAT LOVE ANYWAY. THEREFORE, WE MUST STOP TRYING TO MAKE OURSELVES LOVABLE TO GOD, AND SIMPLY RECEIVE HIS GREAT LOVE WHILE RECOGNIZING THAT WE ARE UNWORTHY OF IT
– THIS IS THE GRACE SECRET OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE –