Contents

How The Crucifixion Works

Mark's account is the most concise of the four gospel narratives. Some expositors believe his is so brief because it was intended for busy people who just want the bare bones minimum of information so they can make a decision about Christ and then get on with their life. Sort of like race drivers who only want to know just enough about their cars to get them around the track and without having to understand how every tiny little mechanical part in their vehicle works. After all, they have a pit crew of professional mechanics for all of that. This chapter is something like that. It just gets right down to business.

Christianity is just a blackmail fraud. If you're not good, you'll suffer forever in Hell!

That complaint came from a somewhat bitter person who really didn't quite understand what Christianity is all about. They thought Christianity is just another religious code of heartless law to live by. But Christianity is far more than a code, it includes a plan of salvation, and salvation is not a code; it's a daring rescue. The following is our reply.

I feel really bad that you believe people must be good to merit a new life and escape suffering forever in Hell. Well… I'm not going to let you go away before telling you just how easy God has made it to escape retribution. Christianity isn't a religion of fear, as it is so often portrayed; it is primarily a religion based upon the love and concern God feels for the human beings He himself created with His own hands— loves them enough to put His closest kin in mortal jeopardy.

§.John 3:16-17 ...For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (NIV)

Double Jeopardy              

You're probably old enough to understand the concept of double jeopardy; but just in case there are curious young people looking in; I'll explain.

Webster's defines double jeopardy as: the putting of a person on trial for an offense for which they have previously been put on trial under a valid charge; viz: two adjudications for one offense. In simpler terms it just means you can't be hauled into court and punished for crimes more than once. Of course if you commit those kinds of crimes again, then you will go on trial for those kinds of crimes again; but not for the previous crimes; only for the new ones.

Now, with that concept in mind; just imagine if your entire life's work of sins, plus the psyche within you that incubates those sins— viz: the whole and entire *me that you are —were to be hauled into court, tried, convicted, and thoroughly and satisfactorily punished. According to the principle of double jeopardy, the whole and entire *me that you are, once tried, convicted, and thoroughly and satisfactorily punished once; can't be tried, convicted, and thoroughly and satisfactorily punished a second time. And that's why I cannot go to Hell; and it's why not even God Himself make me go there now. My redeemer became the whole and entire *me that I am on Calvary; and fully, and thoroughly, and satisfactorily satisfied justice in my place so that I could have immunity from the wrath of God.

Proxy Vote                    

Do you understand what the word proxy means? How about vicarious? Those words mean that someone stands in for you. Stockholders are often sent notices in the mail about stockholders meetings. But it isn't mandatory to show up. Stockholders can delegate someone, usually the broker, to do their voting at the meeting in their place. Proxies have all the power of attorney to cast a vote just as if stockholders were there in person doing it themselves.

That's precisely how the crucifixion works. It's a proxy thing. It's all the same as if I was nailed up on that cross myself receiving retribution for violating God's law. Christ is the whipping boy for every sin I will ever commit, even for the ones I haven't even done yet; including the psyche within me that incubates those sins: the whole and entire *me that I am.

Do people have to clean up their act before God will apply Christ's crucifixion to their credit? Absolutely not. Do they have to be a goody-goody from now on to keep from losing their proxy? No.

I really should share some scripture with you to prove I'm not making any of this up. Whether it's myth or not means nothing at this point. But at least you'll know where I got my ideas.

§.Rom 5:6-11 …You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

...Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (NIV)

A couple of fancy words were used in that passage. One of them is justified

Hardly anybody uses that word anymore except maybe when guys try to convince their wives why they need to buy a brand new Skill saw or a fancy Weatherby deer rifle. But here's what that word really means in the New Testament.

The Greek word translated *justify in Rom 4:5 and 8:33 is from dikaioo (dik-ah-yo'-o) which means: to render (i.e. show or regard as) just or innocent. In other words: to acquit.

Picture this on judgment day: Your name is called and a bailiff brings you into the court room. The judge's secretary stands and reads the state's indictment against you. It is a very long list of crimes— some are embarrassing, and some are heinous. Some are things you did in private when you thought no one was looking. And for many of those crimes; there are several counts against you because you did them more than once. Then to your utter amazement, the judge takes the indictment from the secretary, pulls out his Viet Nam era souvenir Zippo, and burns the indictment; then stands up, walks over to your table, shakes your hand, and says; "Congratulations son, you're free to go. Somebody already took care of this."

That's justification. But oh, God doesn't just sweep your sins under the rug. Oh no. He punished them all every one, vicariously, in the body of Christ. You walk away an acquitted man at Christ's expense. Now, there's no one left to accuse you of a single, solitary sin.

§.Rom 8:32-34 …He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. (NKJ)

The second word is reconciled

If you've ever been through a divorce you probably know what irreconcilable differences are. Christ's crucifixion breaks down the hostility between God and a guilty sinner. It's very similar to paying a traffic fine. That restores peace between you and the state so a judge doesn't issue a warrant and have the cops come out and haul you away. The fine you pay satisfies justice and reconciles your differences with the law.

So how does an interested party take advantage of Christ's proxy? Here's how I did it in 1968. After migrating to Portland Oregon, I found work in a steel shop. An employee there asked me if I was aware that Jesus died for me. For the first time in my life I fully understood why Christ was crucified. Up till then I always thought he was just a pitiable victim of unfortunate circumstances.

So I went with that man on a Sunday morning to his church and kneeled down front with his pastor and prayed a really simple stupid prayer that went something like this; "Lord, I know I'm a sinner. I would like to take advantage of your son's death."

That's all in the world anybody has to do to take advantage of Christ's proxy. You don't even have to go and kneel at an altar rail like I did. Just speak up on your own in private and ask God for it. It's available to anyone and to everyone. Jesus gave his word that no one will be turned down.

§.John 6:37-40 …All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. (NIV)

Now do you see why the Gospel is sometimes called good news? You damned right it's good news! The human race has two ways to face the wrath of God. They can opt to face it by proxy with my savior on Calvary, or they can opt to face it themselves in person, all alone, before the great white throne of Almighty God. The choice is yours.

Immunity                        

I'm exempt from prosecution by the Law Of God. Let me show you how.

There's a verse that says; "I, through the Law, am dead to the Law" (Gal 2:19). What's happened to me is this.

I've undergone capital punishment for breaking the Law Of God; but, nevertheless, I'm safe and sound and still alive. How? By sharing in Jesus' crucifixion. He died as my proxy; ergo: I am identified in his crucifixion as a criminal who broke God's Law and paid for it with my life.

Now, the sweet part is this: once a person is executed for breaking the Law Of God, they pass out from under the Law's jurisdiction so that from here on in they can actually break it with immunity because, on the books, they're dead, and dead people are no longer under the Law's jurisdiction; unless of course the State wants to move a graveyard to make way for a new freeway. And that is what Paul encouraged his Roman friends to believe in Rom 6:3-11; and his Colossian friends to believe in Col 3:2-4. According to Rom 7:1-6, people like me are thought of as a widow whose husband died; thus freeing her to marry another man.

In conclusion; the Law Of God has been fulfilled in me in that I have been dragged all the way through the Divine criminal justice system via Jesus' crucifixion. I myself have never complied with the Law; so that I became worthy of some serious retribution. Well… thanks be to God that his own beloved kin felt sorry enough for me to take the heat in my place. God is happy that His Law has been vindicated; and I am happy that Jesus paid my debt to Divine criminal justice— which of course makes Jesus my redeemer. Redeemers make bail for you, and pay off things like fines, mortgages, and credit card debt when you quite frankly have absolutely nothing with which to pay yourself.

Perhaps you don't believe all the above— but just think; if it were true, then I have one hell of an advantage over the average churchian pew warmer, wouldn't you agree?

You know who else has immunity from the Law Of God? People in Hell. Yes, they have immunity because they are dead, and the dead are outside the jurisdiction of the Law Of God so that the people in Hell are now free to do as they please without fear of retribution. They can blaspheme God, commit adultery, disrespect their parents, steal from each other, break the Sabbath, and whatever else suits their fancy because it is only on this side of death that people are under the jurisdiction of the Law Of God, not on the other side.

You know who else? Jesus. Yes, Jesus died as a breaker of the Law Of God. So that now, even though he's alive again, he has immunity from the Law Of God because it's only your first life that's under The Law; not a second life.

When I say a *second life, I don't mean a common resurrection like Lazarus and all the other people in the Bible who were restored to life. They didn't come back to a second life; no, they came back to the very same life and had to die all over again. Only Jesus has a second life right now because he is said to be the first fruits from the dead; viz: he's immortal. Since I am *in Christ— I died with Christ, and I rose with Christ —then I too am reckoned dead in my first life; and alive in a second life. To be sure, I do not have an immortal body yet; but it's on the books; and only a matter of time before I take full possession of it.

Question: So you believe Jesus was executed for your past sins. What about the sins you commit after you get "saved" Do you have a quote regarding sins committed after accepting Jesus?

Be careful not to brush aside the concept of double jeopardy. Jesus is never going to be put to death for sin again. It was a one time deal. So if the first time around wasn't good enough to do the trick, then no one has any hope at all for the future.

...But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (NIV)

We all have to die at least once; and we all have to face Divine judgment at least once. But we can opt to go through judgment right now, painlessly, by proxy in Christ's crucifixion. Those who don't, will have to face the full brunt of retribution on their own later.

§.1Tim 5:24 ...The sins of some men are open, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. (NIV)

Christianity is a lethal religion. It quite literally, in some supernatural way that I don't quite understand, puts its adherents to death.

§. Rom 6:3 . . Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

§. Rom 6:6 . . Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him

§. Gal 2:20 . . I am crucified with Christ

§. Col 3:3 . . For you died when Christ died

What's so good about being dead? Well; one of the good parts is: according to Rom 7:1-4 dead people are no longer under the jurisdiction of the Ten Commandments. In other words; I have a license to steal because there is no law in the whole Bible that penalizes a man for stealing while he's dead.

Protest: I have never met a sinless Christian. How can God just let them do whatever they want?

I can understand how you might feel Christians have an unfair advantage. First off, let me say that no one is getting by with anything. But the big difference between the redeemed and the damned is how God deals with their sins. God treats the sins of the damned as crimes. But He treats the sins of the redeemed as a family matter because He already dealt with the criminal aspect of their sins on Calvary. If your child lies or steals, you don't disown them and/or send them off to prison to be baked in an oven do you? No. You discipline them. That's how you teach them right from wrong, and that's how you make them behave.

In one respect, the redeemed have a license to steal in that it is now impossible for them to go to Hell because the their personal life has no effect at all upon the security of their salvation. (See The Stages Of Salvation) But sin will cost them something in the end because there is the prospect of rewards and prizes to think about. (See Rewards) However, in the court of heaven, God carries nothing of any legal significance on the docket against any of His own and it's all the same as if they had never sinned at all.

§.Rom 4:4-8 ...Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." (NIV)

§.Rom 8:28-39 ...And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all— how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.

...Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died— more than that, who was raised to life— is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)

The sheep might get their little fannies spanked now and then, and they might have to live a *wilderness experience for lack of God's providence; and they might lose out on some nifty compensations for faithfulness, but they will never again be in danger of going to Hell because neither God nor Christ have anything of which to accuse them. Jesus took the blame for everything.

§.Isa 53:5-6 ...But he was wounded because of our sins, crushed because of our iniquities. He bore the chastisement that made us whole, and by his bruises we were healed. We all went astray like sheep, each going his own way; and the Lord visited upon him the guilt of all of us. (1985 JPS Tanakh)

§.Isa 53:12 …And he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses. (NAB)

Objection: It would seem most unfair to condemn somebody to eternal damnation (assuming a Hell exists) just because they cannot believe in the divinity of Jesus!

Personally, I believe Hell will be populated with a pretty good number of Christians who believed in Jesus' divinity because even the demon world believes in his divinity but that belief isn't going to protect them from retribution because it's not belief in Jesus' divinity that rescues people from the wrath of God; no, not even close: It's confidence in his crucifixion as an adequate ransom to rescue people's souls from retribution; yes, that's the belief that does the trick (John 3:14-18).

Bible belief contains the elements of trust and dependence; and I can assure you, with no reservations whatsoever, that the demon world isn't depending upon Jesus' crucifixion to rescue themselves from an eternal existence in liquid flame because they're fully aware that Jesus died to rescue his fellow human beings from retribution; rather than the Devil's fellow demons.

§.Mark 10:45 …For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

§.1Tim 2:5-6 …For there is one God, and one mediator between God and human beings; the human being Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all

§.1Tim 1:15 …This is a faithful saying, and worthy of whole-hearted acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to rescue sinners

§.Acts 4:12 …Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be rescued.

When the Bible says to believe in Jesus' name it's not talking about believing in his name as a God. No, it's talking about believing in his name as a redeemer.

What's a redeemer? It's somebody who pays off your debts when you are absolutely, and completely helpless and unable to pay them off yourself.

In Jesus' day, debt was a very serious thing. Nobody had the option of filing for bankruptcy in his day; no, they either indentured themselves into slavery and/or went to debtor's prison and paid their debts by torture. So the word "redeemer" was a really important word among the Jews of that day.

Everybody owes debts to God. It's like the debts that criminals owe to society for their crimes. The one thing you do NOT want to do is attempt to pay those debts yourself because I can easily assure you, with no hesitation whatsoever, that you have nothing with which to pay except torture and imprisonment.

TOP

  It Is Well With My Soul