Category: The Gospel

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Why You Must Receive the Gift of Righteousness

Unless you receive the gift of righteousness from God, any righteousness you muster will fall short of what he requires.

The gift of righteousness

If I asked, What did God give you when you became a follower of Jesus? what would you say? Stop reading, close your eyes, and think of two things he gave you at that point of conversion.

My guess is you said one of the following: salvation, forgiveness of sins, grace, mercy, eternal life. Most likely you didn’t say one of the most important things God gave you at the point of conversion. He gave you the gift of righteousness.

Scripture uses that phrase in Romans 5:17: “If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (ESV).

The gift of righteousness

Think birthday or Christmas gifts. God has given you a far greater, priceless gift, and it is the gift of righteousness.

In my early teens, my parents gave me the gift of an adult bicycle. I loved that bike and remember everything about it: the metallic-red finish, the wheels narrower than those of a kids’ bike, the ability to go much faster than on my previous bike. That bike changed and enlarged my life, setting me free to go longer distances, to go to the homes of friends farther away, to explore, to simply enjoy riding fast and going where I wanted.

In far greater ways, the gift of righteousness changes your life. It especially changes your life if you understand it.

Martin Luther tormented

For example, in the early 1500s Martin Luther was a Christian scholar who like most people of his time did not understand the gift of righteousness. He believed in foundational Christian teachings such as the Trinity, atonement through Christ’s death, and the nature of Jesus as God and man, but he understood righteousness as something you have in yourself with help from God’s grace. You try hard to be righteous, and then God in righteousness judges your words, thoughts, motives, and deeds as either righteous or not.

As a result, he was miserable, for he knew he never measured up no matter how hard he tried. So he went regularly to confession and meticulously confessed his sins, every single act of omission or neglect, every wrong motive or attitude. He would literally confess for hours. And shortly after leaving the confessional booth, he could turn around and go back in and confess more failures. He was a tormented man, obsessed with the condition of his soul, never sure of his salvation.

Luther’s awakening

Then one day as he studied Romans 1:17, he received the revelation that changed his life and eventually changed the Christian world. This verse says that in the gospel “the righteousness of God is revealed.” He had always understood the phrase “righteousness of God” in the possessive sense, meaning God’s righteousness, in particular God’s righteousness in judging sinners.

Luther’s breakthrough came when he realized that “righteousness of God” meant instead the righteousness that God gives to those who have faith, in other words, the righteousness that comes from God to those who believe. This is using the word of in the same way it is used in the phrases “the rewards of hard work” or “the benefits of healthy eating.”

In other words, Luther came to understand that righteousness is a gift given to those who have faith in Christ.

Paul discovers the gift of righteousness

The apostle Paul had a similar awakening. He had been a Pharisee entirely focused on keeping the Law of Moses so that he could be righteous. Then God revealed to him the gospel message about righteousness being a gift. As a result of that revelation, Paul writes:

“I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Philippians 3:8–9, ESV).

The great exchange

The righteousness that God gives you is the righteousness of Jesus himself. This is one half of the Great Exchange. Our sins were credited to Jesus on the cross, and his righteousness is credited to us.

The gift of righteousness is called imputed righteousness. Christ’s righteousness is imputed to you.

Preferring self-righteousness

This sounds wonderful, but not everyone welcomes the idea, in particular those who are proud of their own supposed righteousness and therefore don’t think they need Jesus. The apostle Paul writes of his beloved countrymen:

“My heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:1–4).

The same thing is happening today. People of many religions are trying to establish their own righteousness to make themselves acceptable to God apart from Jesus.

It won’t work. That’s like trying to swim from California to Japan nonstop. Some people will swim farther than others, but no one will make it there, not even close.

No one can be righteous on his own. The only way to be acceptable to God is through the gift of righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

What the gift of righteousness tells us about God

What does all this teach us about God and his ways? Remember, God designed the way of salvation long before he created the world, so the gospel reveals his desires.

It tells he wanted to relate to us on the basis of grace and mercy, not our merit. (See Ephesians 2:8–9; Romans 11:32; Luke 18:9–14)

It tells of his infinite generosity. He wanted to give us an indescribable gift. (See John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 9:15)

It tells he is absolutely opposed to human pride and boasting. (See 1 Corinthians 1:29–31; Ephesians 2:8–9) He knows he alone is worthy of all glory, and he will not give his rightful glory to another. (See Isaiah 48:11)

It tells he himself wanted to be our righteousness. (See Jeremiah 23:6)

Our way and God’s way

Our way: Be good, do the right thing, and God will approve of you and welcome you into heaven, regardless of what you believe about Jesus.

God’s way: Acknowledge you can never be good enough for God, no matter how religious or moral you try to be. Just as you can’t swim nonstop from California to Japan, you can’t be holy enough for a perfectly holy God of impeccable justice who promises to one day judge you for everything you’ve ever thought, said, and done. Rely on Jesus alone to give you the gift of his righteousness.

Life principle: Confidence in our relationship with God comes from understanding the gift of righteousness. “The righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17).

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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God’s Commitment to Righteousness

Doing right is God’s non-negotiable way of doing things.

doing right

I was shopping at Walmart a few years ago during the Christmas season and came across a shirt for sale with this message printed on the chest: “naughty, nice, whatever.”

That alludes, of course, to the song about Santa Claus and his work:

He’s making a list,

And checking it twice,

Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

He sees you when you’re sleeping,

He knows when you’re awake.

He knows when you’ve been bad or good,

So be good for goodness sake!

Doing right

“Naughty, nice, whatever” expresses the spirit of our age, commonly called postmodernism, and is summed up in the word whatever. In other words, nothing ultimately matters, there really is no such thing as absolute right and wrong, or if there is, no one can say for sure what it is. To the person wearing that shirt, being bad or good doesn’t really matter, and being good for goodness sake is merely a quaint idea.

That spirit stands in direct contrast with one important truth the gospel teaches about God—his righteousness. The gospel turns on the idea of righteousness—God’s righteousness, our unrighteousness, and how God’s righteousness can be imputed to the unrighteous sinner.

Jesus doing right

Jesus personified the importance of righteousness to God. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he came to John the Baptist at the Jordan River to receive baptism. John said, “‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’” (Matthew 3:14–15, ESV)

Fulfilling all righteousness is God’s way of doing things. He fulfills all righteousness in everything—everything—he does. In the innumerable things that God has thought and said and done in the history of this created world, he has never done wrong, not once. He cannot do wrong. He loves what is right and does only what is right.

Scripture says

Scripture says:

“The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works” (Psalm 145:17).

“I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:24).

“The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory” (Psalm 97:6).

The gospel turns on righteousness

God displays his righteousness in many ways, but far and away the greatest display is the gospel. In the following summary of the gospel in Romans 3, notice the centrality and repetition of the word righteousness and different forms of the word just:

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21–26, ESV)

In Greek, the words righteousness (dikaiosyne) and just (dikaios) are based on the same root (dik). Righteousness pervades the gospel. The gospel answers two questions: (1) How can sinners be found righteous in the sight of God? and (2) How can God be righteous in forgiving sinners?

God showing his commitment to doing right

We might suppose God doesn’t care what anyone thinks. In one sense that is true, of course, but in another sense, God is extremely concerned what humans, angels, and demons think. Verse 26, above, says God designed the means of salvation as he did “to show his righteousness at the present time.” God cares so deeply about righteousness that he designed the gospel in such a way is to leave beyond any question that he has been perfectly righteous in his dealings with mankind.

When Judgment Day has reached its conclusion and all things are known, when all the works of God and humans have been made public, as they surely will be, every mouth will be stopped. No one will be able to accuse God of wrongdoing. At that time, God’s righteousness will shine brighter than the sun, to the praise of his glory.

How the gospel displays God’s righteousness

1. How can unrighteous sinners be found righteous in the sight of God? God makes the unrighteous righteous. He accomplishes this by the work of his righteous Son Jesus on their behalf. God’s righteous Son Jesus accomplishes the Great Exchange—in fact, the greatest exchange in human history.  “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Our unrighteousness was put on Jesus, and his righteousness was given to us. At the cross, our status was exchanged with his status. Our unrighteousness went to him, and his righteousness went to us.

We can be found righteous in the sight of God because we are found “in him,” in Christ, in the righteous one.

“By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11).

“The Lord is our righteousness” (Jer. 33:16).

2. How can God be righteous in forgiving unrighteous sinners? God won’t ignore justice to forgive the unrighteous, because he is perfectly righteous and just. He can forgive our unrighteous deeds because Jesus acted as our substitute, receiving the wrath of God in full at the Cross for these deeds.

Jesus “committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:22–24)

At the cross, God showed beyond a doubt that he is the righteous judge of all. Even if it required punishing his beloved Son, he would not just forgive sins.

Our ways and God’s ways

Our way: Fallen mankind is not committed to what is right.

God’s way: The Lord is totally committed to what is right, even if it means Jesus must go to the cross in order to save the sinners he loves.

Life principle: Once our unrighteous deeds are forgiven through faith in Jesus, we must walk in the ways of our Father in heaven and learn to delight in righteousness, to be totally committed to doing what is right. God did not put Jesus through the suffering of the cross for us to go on content with unrighteous living. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). The better we understand God’s commitment to righteousness, the more we become committed to righteousness if we truly love him.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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You Need the Atoning Blood of Jesus

Blood is just as essential to spiritual life as it is to physical life. The blood of Jesus is atoning blood.

Atoning blood

Two months ago I was in the emergency room suffering from what I later learned was a kidney stone. One of the first things the doctor did was order blood work. The phlebotomist wrapped an elastic cord around my arm and stuck a needle in my vein.

I looked away. I always look at the wall on the other side of the room when phlebotomists draw my blood. I don’t like to see that mysterious red liquid being taken from my body. I’ve never gotten lightheaded or fainted at the sight, but it’s disturbing, so I look the other way.

Anyone’s blood is disturbing to look at. War movies with blood splattering everywhere? No thank you.

A few years ago I saw a National Geographic photo of a room where animals were slain for religious sacrifice in India. A puddle of blood covered the floor.

The photo was shocking to me because I have grown up in the West. I have never witnessed animal sacrifice. Educated Americans generally regard it as a mark of primitive religion and superstition. Blood is even used in occult practices.

Atoning blood

Yet, at the center of the Christian gospel is the importance of blood. Not that we shed the blood of animals or humans today. But the gospel speaks of the importance of the blood of the Son of God shed 2,000 years ago on the cross.

One New Testament verse that summarizes the message of the gospel says: “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith” (Romans 3:25, NIV).

What sophisticated Westerners today regard as primitive is actually a necessary element of how God redeemed sinful mankind. But it’s still disturbing. In fact over the last century, liberal “Christian” denominations expunged blood from hymns and polite preaching. But you cannot remove blood from its prominent place in the Bible without rewriting it.

Why?

Why at the Last Supper did Jesus call attention to his blood when he announced the enactment of a New Covenant with God?

“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20, ESV).

Why was Jesus willing to offend and lose dozens of disciples with a similar statement at an earlier time?

“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:66).

Why?

Why did the apostle John call special attention to the blood that flowed from the side of Jesus when pierced by the spear of the Roman soldier?

“So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe” (John 19:32–35).

Why?

Why does the Christian church today regularly practice the ordinance/sacrament of Communion with the symbolic drinking of the blood of Jesus at the center of the ritual?

“As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:26–27).

Why?

Why did Jesus need his shed blood to enter the true temple in heaven itself as our high priest?

“When Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11–12).

Why?

Why, when Jesus appears in glory in the sky at his Second Coming, will he be wearing a bloody robe?

“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God” (Revelation 19:11–13).

Why?

Why do Christians need the blood of Jesus in order to defeat Satan?

“They have conquered him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11).

Why?

Why is Jesus’ blood necessary for healing?

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Why?

Why does blood make peace between God and sinners?

God was pleased “through him [Christ] to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20).

Why?

Why does the eternal covenant that Christians have with God depend on blood?

“May the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant…” (Hebrews 13:20).

Why?

Why is the blood of Jesus one of the three great witnesses given by God himself to mankind?

“This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son” (1 John 5:6–9).

Why? Why? Why?

Why did Old Testament law forbid eating blood? (Leviticus 17:12)

Why for the original Passover did God tell the Jews in Egypt to smear blood on the door posts and lintels of their homes on the night the death angel would pass through the land? (Exodus 12:7, 22–23)

Why at Mt. Sinai when Moses established the Old Covenant between God and Israel did he fling basins of blood over the gathered people? (Exodus 24:5–8)

Why on the holiest day in Israel’s annual calendar, the Day of Atonement, in the holiest moment of the ritual, did the high priest sprinkle blood seven times on the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle/temple? (Leviticus 16:14)

Why did Abel’s blood, shed in murder by Cain, cry out to God from the ground? (Genesis 4:10)

Because

Because blood is more than its natural elements, more than proteins, more than white and red blood cells, more than hemoglobin.

Blood is life. “The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life” (Leviticus 17:11).

Blood is spiritual.

The blood of Jesus is necessary for the salvation of sinners, for it satisfies the demands of God’s holy justice and transforms his righteous wrath into favor. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).

Therefore blood is sacred. It is just as essential to spiritual life as it is to physical life. No medical doctor treats human blood as too primitive for attention or as something to do away with.

Our way and God’s way

Our way: Westerners want salvation without the cross, without messy, disturbing, atoning blood.

God’s way: Blood is important. Blood is central to all life and salvation. It is central to the gospel. If you don’t understand the sacredness of blood in God’s sight, you don’t understand God’s ways with mankind.

Life principle: Put faith in the blood of Jesus. When you wonder whether God will forgive some great sinful failure, when you wonder whether God will heal your disease, when you wonder why God would accept you and welcome you gladly into his heavenly presence, put your hope and confidence in the atoning blood of the Son of God.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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How to Atone for Your Sins

You cannot atone for your sins. But there is hope.

how to atone for your sins

I learned how to drive in a red Volkswagen Beetle that had a four-speed stick shift. The stick shift was fun. I felt like a race car driver. Decades later I bought a Chevy Cavalier with a stick shift, with which I commuted to work on Chicago expressways. That stick shift was not fun, because in rush-hour, stop-and-go traffic, I would have to push in the clutch pedal and go back and forth between first and second gear dozens and dozens of times. In hot weather, in a car for 45-minutes, without air conditioning, after a taxing day at the office, that stick-shifting felt like more work than I wanted to do.

So here’s something you now know about me: living in Chicago, I won’t buy a car with a stick shift. Not for an incredibly low price (unless I intended to buy the car and immediately sell it at a profit). Not if the car had every comfort and luxury available. A stick shift is a deal breaker.

Atonement

Similarly, there’s something you need to know about God and his ways. This is absolutely who he is, and it will not change. Because he is just and holy, this is the way God works with people: you cannot have a relationship with him without there being an atonement for your sins.

The word atone means to make amends for a wrong. To atone means to satisfy the demands of justice or to repair a wrong. To atone means to fully compensate for doing evil.

On a human level, a person who stole $10, could atone for it to the victim by apologizing and returning the $10 and adding an additional $30 for causing distress.

On a human level, a violent criminal guilty of assault and battery must atone for it by going to prison or paying money for suffering and medical bills. In addition, he must show sincere remorse and offer a humble apology.

Atonement requires death

The atonement that God requires for sin is not as easy and doable as paying money or doing a good deed. It includes nothing less than death.

“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

“The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20).

“Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

God told Adam in the Garden of Eden, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

What cannot atone for sin

That God absolutely requires the atonement of your sin means he won’t just forget about sins, as though the passing of time, even thousands or millions of years, would change what he requires. He won’t ignore sins. He won’t forgive them solely out of mercy.

He won’t put your sins on one side of a scale and your good works on the other side of the scale, and then, if your good works outweigh your bad works, forgive your sins. In other words, good deeds can’t atone for bad deeds, just as a life of good deeds can’t atone for murder in the eyes of the criminal justice system.

God won’t accept you because you do thousands of religious duties such as going to church or mass, saying prayers, reading the Scripture, keeping religious holidays, having religious statues and pictures in your car or your home, wearing a religious necklace, or taking religious sacraments. He won’t be your Father or Friend unless there is an atonement for your sins.

But he will gladly forgive sins if there is an atonement—only if there is the atonement he requires.

What can atone for sin

Like it or not, agree with it or not, regard it as primitive if you like, this is how the Bible reveals God from Genesis to Revelation. In the Old Testament, the purpose of animal sacrifices was atonement for sin. Likewise in the New Testament the purpose of the death of Jesus on the cross was atonement for sin.

For example, prescribing how the priests were to make sin offerings of lambs for the Israelites, Moses said, “The priest shall burn it on the altar, on top of the LORD’s food offerings. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven” (Leviticus 4:35 ESV).

The Old Testament Book of Leviticus, which tells the priests in great detail how to conduct all the sacrificial offerings of animals, uses the word atonement 51 times.

The only sacrifice that ultimately atones

Likewise the New Testament says:

“Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

“Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:12).

“In him [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Ephesians 1:7).

“Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).

Atonement and forgiveness

Notice in the following verse the words atonement, sin, and forgiven: “The priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven” (Leviticus 4:35).

Notice in Leviticus 6:7 the words atonement, forgiven, and guilty: “The priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and thereby become guilty.”

Sin brings guilt before God, and it must be judged by God. This is important: something about the nature of God’s holiness and justice requires—absolutely and without exception demands—that sin be judged. If you don’t know this, you don’t know God rightly according to the teaching of the Scripture. Sin brings guilt before the God of perfect justice, and guilt makes one liable to punishment by the God of perfect, holy justice.

Our way and God’s way

Our way: We want to make amends for our wrongs by performing religious rituals, going to church, giving money to some good cause, being nice.

God’s way: He accepts one thing—and only one—for the atonement of our wrongs: the death of his Son Jesus on the cross. His death can be, and is if we trust in him, the only substitute for ours. (The sacrifice of animals no longer avails for atonement, for God accepted that method only as a temporary, forward-looking proxy for the atoning death of Jesus. See Hebrews 10:1–14.)

Life principle: Any religion or belief system that makes the atoning death of Jesus on the cross for our sins unnecessary, is anti-Christian and contrary to the Bible. It won’t work. God won’t accept you without the atonement brought about through Jesus Christ and without your sincere faith in that atonement on your behalf and its power to bring the forgiveness of sins. This is why Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

I invite you to read my weekly posts about knowing God and his ways better. —Craig Brian Larson

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The Humility of God

The humility of God is on stunning display at the cross of Jesus.

The humility of God

We are currently looking at what the gospel teaches about God, and we come today to one of the most significant elements of the gospel, namely the cross. What does the crucifixion teach us about God?

Of course, you can fill libraries with this topic, so we will need to be selective. Let’s look today at one thing the cross teaches us about Jesus. In the crucifixion we see that the most glorious, exalted, powerful being in the universe, from whom and through whom and to whom are all things, whose name is above every name—this God is humble.

The humility of God in human form

Scripture says, “5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5–8, ESV, italics added).

Humility was the “mind” (v. 5), the attitude, of Jesus. His humble attitude expressed itself in his actions.

Notice the threefold repetition of the word “form”:

  • “the form of God,” in verse 6
  • “the form of a servant,” in verse 7
  • “in human form,” in verse 8

This repetition sets up a stark contrast. Jesus was and is God, the unique Son of God, and he had all the majesty, authority, and privileges inherent to the Son of God. Thus in heaven Jesus was worshiped, served, adored, obeyed. All this is what the phrase “the form of God” means—not his physical form but his exalted position and prerogatives. He had “equality with God” (verse 6).

Jesus emptied

But when Jesus became a man, he surrendered that form, leaving the glory he had in heaven. He “emptied himself” of it, as one pours out the contents of a full glass. He did this willingly. The Father did not have to pry it from his grasping fingers (v. 6); instead Jesus opened his hand and released it. In this, Jesus revealed his humility. Moreover, since Jesus is the perfect reflection of the Father and the Holy Spirit, he displayed their humility.

Imagine the Queen of England surrendering all the privileges, clothing, and majesty of her position to become the lowliest servant in the kingdom, washing floors and dishes in a dingy bar. That’s a picture of what Jesus did when he took “the form of a servant” (v. 7). Again, Jesus did this willingly. One only does something like this willingly if he is profoundly humble.

The humility of God in the obedience of Jesus

But Jesus took this self-humbling much further. “He humbled himself by becoming obedient.” He obeyed everything the Father commanded him to do. Have you ever found yourself chafing when someone gives you orders? Have you ever complied outwardly with the commands of someone in authority yet inwardly churned with rebellious thoughts and feelings? That’s pride, pure pride.

Jesus didn’t do that. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34). And, “I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father” (John 14:31).

Jesus obeyed willingly, joyfully, wholeheartedly, even though he too is God.

The humility of God in the death of Jesus

And now we come to the fullest expression of the humility of Jesus. He obeyed “to the point of death, even death on a cross” (v. 8). No one wants to experience death. It is the terrible consequence of sin. Jesus did not deserve to die. In his divine nature he could not die. In his human nature he could, but he had lived a perfectly holy and righteous life and therefore deserved only the reward of eternal life and blessedness.

Nevertheless, the Father determined that he must atone for the sins of evil humans, and so Jesus willingly went to the cross to suffer the agony of death (Acts 2:24), to die the death of the wicked.

Death in the worst way possible: “even death on a cross” (v. 8). This was the cruelest way to die known on earth. The Romans employed this form of execution to dissuade conquered subjects from rebellion. This was torture and torment.

The humility of God in the suffering of Jesus

And that was so if you were just dying like any human. But Jesus was not dying like any human. On the cross, he took upon himself the guilt of human evil and suffered the furious divine wrath ­that evil deserved. In this wrath was a spiritual and emotional agony beyond anything we can imagine. It included his beloved Father withdrawing his presence, withdrawing the awareness of his love, something Jesus had never in his eternal existence experienced, such that he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

This was the humility of the Son of God.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, he saw all this coming and asked that the Father would find another way. But the Father said no, and Jesus said, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

This was the humility of the Son of God. This is the humility of God. This is the gospel.

To our exalted, humble God be all glory.

Our way and God’s way

Our way: We resist humility.

God’s way: The Lord values and demonstrates humility, and sooner or later he rewards it.
Philippians 2 continues: “ 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him [Jesus] and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11).

Life principle: “Whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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The Savior of the World

The Lord has the heart of a savior. He is both mighty to save and willing to save. He is the ultimate, incomparable, quintessential Savior!

savior

Recently my wife and I visited her brother in the hospital. He had just been diagnosed with cancer. Two days earlier he had almost died in the emergency room.

Some ten years ago he had suffered the same cancer, and after receiving various therapies for more than a month in the hospital he had fully recovered.

The doctor who treated him then was still working at the hospital and would be able to treat him now, for which he was very grateful. He had not yet seen her since coming into the hospital and was waiting for her to arrive in his room at any time.

He told us the story of how ten years ago, after recovering from the cancer, he had seen her at the hospital in the hallway from a distance and pointing toward her had called out loudly for all to hear, “She saved me!”

We visited for 20 minutes, and then the “savior,” his cancer doctor, suddenly walked in the door. She smiled broadly.

When he saw her, his face lit up, he beamed, and they began chatting enthusiastically like old friends.

Human saviors

A person who saves you holds a special place in your heart, especially if they literally save your life. We see such stories in the news regularly. A fireman rescues a person trapped in a burning building. Someone donates a kidney to a dying friend. A lifeguard rescues a drowning swimmer. A soldier rescues an injured fellow soldier under enemy fire. Those saved tell their stories with tears.

Even when threats are far less serious, we feel a special bond of gratitude toward people who help us in a tough situation. My wife called me last week from an hour away and said she had pulled the car off the road because it was making strange, loud noises from underneath. She texted a photo of something hanging midway along the muffler pipe. “Where should I take the car?” she asked.

We hung up so I could do some internet research. Suddenly I remembered a mechanic we had used several times when we lived in that area. He is a Christian and had always done quality repairs, at a fair price, with honest advice about what we really did or did not need. I called him immediately, and he said he could squeeze us in. Forty-five minutes later my wife called to say he had used one screw to reattach a pipe shield and charged us nothing for his time and no diagnostic fee.

Bonded with saviors

What a relief to have a “savior”! We love

  • the helpful tow-truck driver who gets your car moving again
  • the nutritionist who tells you how to eat and overcome health problems
  • the author or financial coach whose book saves you from crushing debt
  • the exercise coach who saves you from fat, fatigue, and heart problems
  • the roofer who installs a quality roof that saves you from chronic, home-destroying leaks
  • the skilled accountant who saves you from thousands of dollars in unnecessary taxes
  • a friendly and competent clerk at a government office
  • the competent lawyer who saves you from an unjust lawsuit
  • the pastor whose sermons, podcasts, and books save you from spiritual ignorance and self-destruction.

They save us money, uncertainty, fear, time, frustration, and problems.

The ultimate savior

On an infinitely more important scale, what the gospel reveals about God is that he is the ultimate, incomparable Savior. First, of course, he is the Savior of one’s soul. But he doesn’t stop there. The gospel reveals Jesus traveling through Palestine healing the sick and crippled, delivering those tormented by demons, feeding the hungry. The gospel reveals the Lord as the Savior willing and able to rescue you from every harmful thing, every danger, torment, and problem.

The heart of God is to save people in need. He has the nature of a first responder, an emergency-room doctor, a beach lifeguard, a war hero, a financial coach to debt-crushed people, a suicide counselor. He rescues people who cannot save themselves.

God says, “I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11).

Scripture says, “The Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14).

The angel told Joseph: your wife Mary “will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus [which means, Yahweh is salvation], for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

The title Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. A messiah is a savior.

God is not reluctant to save people. He “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

How do you need to be saved?

What threatens you? How are you in danger? What do you fear and worry about? The Lord is willing and able to save you from all the following needs and threats if you pray and put your faith in him.

Trouble: Jeremiah described God as the “hope of Israel, its savior in time of trouble” (Jeremiah 14:8).

Pain, disease: Jesus “took our illnesses and bore our diseases” (Matthew 8:17). “By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Lack: “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Spiritual, demonic torment: “That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick” (Matthew 8:16). “He went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons” (Mark 1:39). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Death: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die’” (John 11:25–26).

Emotional torment such as fear, despair, depression, meaninglessness, rejection: Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28–29). Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:9–10). “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst’” (John 6:35). “Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).  “Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37–38).

Guilt for sin: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23–24).

Judgment Day and the wrath of God: “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

Our way and God’s way

Our way: Fallen people prefer to save themselves. They don’t want to have to trust in God.

God’s way: “Salvation belongs to the LORD” (Psalm 3:8).

Life principle: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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God’s Compassion for the Lost

God's compassion for the lost

God seeks and saves the lost.

Imagine a man who doubles as a judge and social worker. By day he wears a black robe and dispenses justice. By night he wears blue jeans and walks the sidewalks of his crime-ridden city, befriending as many gang members and drug addicts as possible, hopefully to redeem their lives. On weekends he visits prisoners in the penitentiary, giving life-coaching and helping convicts care for their families and prepare to return someday to society as upstanding citizens. On holidays he volunteers at the hospital emergency room counseling with people experiencing drug overdoses.

Although he judges criminals according to the requirements of the law, he also loves criminals. In love he seeks criminals to help them. In love he saves those willing to be saved.

In a similar way, God is both Judge and Savior. Because of his love, he does not want to condemn sinners. Because of his love, he does not want anyone to perish, but all to be saved. And so, because of his love, he seeks and saves the lost.

God’s compassion for the lost

This is what we learn about God from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus both taught it and lived it. He went from town to town preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick, delivering people from demons. Thereby he demonstrated God’s love. He did not come to judge, but to save.

Seeking and saving one notorious sinner

One incident especially brought this into perfect focus. As Jesus walked with his disciples and a crowd of people through one town, Jesus suddenly stopped, looked up into a tree, and spoke to a man who had climbed it to see Jesus as he passed by.

The man was a notorious sinner, one of the hated Jewish tax collectors who in greed had betrayed his people in order to work for the Romans and cheated his own neighbors by demanding more than they were required to pay.

Lunch with scoundrels

Well, Jesus invited himself over for lunch, and the tax collector cheerfully brought him home. He not only brought home Jesus and the 12 disciples, he invited all his tax collector friends. In no time, the man, whose name was Zacchaeus, believed in Jesus and was ready to repent of his evil. He stood up and announced, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”

Like a perfectly ripe apple ready to be picked and eaten, Zacchaeus had been a sinful soul just waiting for a Savior.

One lost soul does an about-face

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:8–10 ESV).

In this story Jesus demonstrated his gracious, uncondemning love for sinners, and then as some in the crowd complained about it, he explained God’s love unequivocally: “The Son of Man [Jesus] came to seek and to save the lost.”

This was the purpose of Jesus and this is the purpose of the Father. When you see Jesus, you see the Father (John 14:9).

The compassionate heart of a savior

Elsewhere Scripture says, “God our Savior…desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3–4).

Stated another way, the Lord is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Scripture specifically attributes God’s soul-saving desire to his love: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16–17).

Jesus’ mission of compassion

In the early stage of Jesus’ ministry, he stood up in a synagogue to read Scripture. He chose a text that was a prophetic description of the ministry of the Messiah. Jesus read it as a statement of his mission. It reveals the loving sympathy God has for sinners. Even though they have brought suffering on themselves through their wrongdoing, they are truly experiencing all manner of torment, and the God of love cares for those who suffer. So, Jesus reads:

“‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’

“And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:18–21).

In other words, Jesus said, that’s me. That’s who I am. That’s who the Father is. That’s what we’re about. We care about the poor, the captives, the blind, the oppressed.

God’s compassion for Satan’s victims

God has compassionate love for suffering sinners. He wants to save them from what destroys them.

Scripture says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

Jesus demonstrated this with a crippled woman who for 18 years had been unable to stand up straight. Scripture says, “She had had a disabling spirit”; that is, a demon had caused this affliction. Jesus laid his hands on her and healed her instantly.

When the synagogue ruler objected because it was the Sabbath, Jesus said, “Ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” (See Luke 13:10–17).

This woman was not perfect. She had sinned in many ways as all people do. Yet God had compassion for her suffering inflicted by Satan. In love he wanted to set her free.

Three parables of love that saves

On another occasion, “the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him,” and the religious leaders again objected to Jesus’ welcoming them. Jesus defended his actions with three parables that emphasize the love of God that seeks and saves the lost.

The first parable told of a shepherd who lost one of his sheep and therefore left the ninety-nine to hunt for it until he found it.

The second parable described a woman who lost a coin and therefore swept the house thoroughly until she found it.

The third parable told of a father whose son took his inheritance and left the family. After the son ruined his life and decided to return, Jesus emphasizes the love of the father, which he demonstrated by his joy over the salvation of his son:

“The father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’” (Luke 15:22–24).

God acts as both judge and savior

The Old Testament Scriptures frequently show God acting as first the righteous judge and afterward the compassionate savior of people from his very judgment. This is the plotline of the books of Judges and all the prophetic books from Isaiah to Malachi.

One prophet wrote, “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up” (Hosea 6:1).

The prophet Jeremiah lived through the judgment God brought on Israel when he brought Assyria to conquer the nation and carry them into exile. In the wake of all the sorrow that entailed, Jeremiah wrote of the Lord: “Though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love” (Lamentations 3:32).

Our way and God’s way

Our way: In a world of suffering and evil, fallen people often question God’s love.

God’s way: God’s heart is moved with compassion for suffering people, even when they are suffering for their sins against God. The gospel perfectly reveals God’s love as a seeking and saving love for lost sinners. His love does not want anyone to perish, but for all to be saved.

The great irony is that God compassionately seeks and saves sinners from his own judgment. God saves sinners from God’s wrath! He is both Judge of those who are not willing to be saved and loving Savior of those who are willing to be saved.

Life principle: When you feel completely unworthy of God, he loves you still. He seeks you as you are in your sins and wants to save you from them. He will certainly receive you if you will turn from sin in repentance and trust in Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Four Common but Erroneous Views of God’s Love

Does your view of God’s love agree with the Christian gospel? If not, do you still think you’re right? How can you be so sure? Have you ever been wrong about anything? What happens if you’re wrong about God?

common views of God's love

If you are not a Christian, the good news of the Christian gospel is that God loves you. Scripture says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV).

But there may be a problem. He loves you in a way that is probably different than you think.

In this article I contrast four common assumptions about God’s love with what the gospel teaches.

1.     The common view of God’s love is that it is unconditional. In fact, God’s love is both unconditional and conditional.

If God’s love is unconditional, that means no matter what you do he feels good about you, puts no conditions on you, and requires nothing from you. He loves like the stereotypical mother who loves her son even if he has done horrible things and is sitting in prison.

The truth is God both loves us no matter what and requires a response from us if we are to know him.

Scripture teaches this fact in the most famous verse in the Bible about God’s love: John 3:16–18:

“16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Here we see the unconditional side of God’s love: he gave his only Son to save the people of the world from perishing.

Still, the conditional side of God’s love is, he requires that people believe in Jesus. Whoever refuses to believe in Jesus is “condemned” (verse 18 above).

2.     The common view of God’s love is that it is not judgmental. In fact, God’s love is both non-judgmental and judgmental.

No one enjoys feeling guilty. No wrongdoer wants to be held accountable. No one wants to be judged by others. In particular, no one wants to be judged by an all-knowing, perfectly righteous God.

Consequently it has become popular in our time to think of God as someone who loves us so much that he does not judge us. He doesn’t tell us we’re doing wrong, doesn’t make any rules, doesn’t punish anyone, especially in the areas of sexual practices, marriage and family choices, and pleasure-seeking.

There is truth to the idea that God has a non-judgmental side. Jesus said, “I did not come to judge the world but to save the world” (John 12:47). John 3:17, quoted above, says, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Jesus was “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matthew 11:19). Jesus said he came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

And since the time of Jesus, those Christians who have properly understood the Lord’s teaching have related to non-Christians in the same way.

However, we take this truth completely out of context if we assume it is the whole truth on the subject. John 3:16–18, quoted above, says that those who persist in unbelief will be “condemned.”

Jesus continually warned people about God’s coming judgment. (For example, see Matthew 7:21–23; Matthew 12:37; Matthew 25:31–46; Mark 9:43)

What we find when we read the whole New Testament is that humanity is living in a window of opportunity when God is offering grace and mercy to sinners through faith in Jesus, but this season will someday end. The Scripture says, “‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). God is the righteous and just judge of his creation, and he has not done away with calling all people to account for evildoing. Rather, he is largely delaying judgment to the day called the Final Judgment (see Revelation 20:11–15; Romans 14:10–12; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

3.     The common view of God’s love is that he is not angry. In fact, God is both patiently gracious and rightfully angry with non-Christians.

No one wants to be around an angry person, especially if he is angry at you. Therefore it is not pleasant to think that the almighty ruler of everything is angry. When we think of the God who describes himself as love (1 John 4:8), we might assume that he is continually quiet, peaceful, benign, gentle, humble, comfortable to be around no matter what you think, say, or do.

And God is in fact the “God of peace” (Romans 15:33). He hates violence (Genesis 6:11–13). Jesus said, “I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). In one of the most important revelations in the Bible, God described himself to Moses as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6–7). He is rich in “kindness and forbearance and patience” (Romans 2:4).

But the fact that God is “slow to anger” (see above) does not mean he never gets angry. There would be something wrong with a God who did not feel anger at the sort of evil people do to each other in this troubled world. (Do you ever get angry at evildoers, especially those who wrong you?)

The Bible says, “Whoever believes in the Son [that is, Jesus] has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36).

There we see the phrase “wrath of God.” The wrath of God is real. The Bible speaks of it repeatedly in both the Old and New Testaments (for example, Nahum 1:2; Ephesians 5:6; Romans 1:18; Revelation 6:15–17; 19:15). Jesus can remove God’s wrath from us, but if we refuse to submit to Jesus, God’s wrath “remains on” us (John 3:36), and someday we will experience it in full, unending measure.

4.     The common view of God’s love is that he accepts everyone. In fact, he accepts everyone who accepts Jesus, but he rejects those who persist in rejecting Jesus.

We all want acceptance. Rejection is extremely painful. And so, in our culture we value inclusion and bristle at exclusion. We pass laws to ensure equal opportunity for all.

One of the most attractive truths about God is how accepting he is of those commonly rejected. He turns the world upside down, gladly receiving the poor, the weak, the failures, the sick, the old, the young, the people of any color or religious or family or sexual background, the ignorant, the uneducated, the marginalized, the helpless, the powerless, the needy, the meek, the unattractive, the awkward, the undeserving, the people with a criminal record. These are God’s kind of people because they are often humble and grateful for the Lord’s gifts.

Scripture says, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:27–29).

And one of the astounding truths of the Christian gospel is that the holy God who judges all people will gladly accept anyone who will turn to him in repentance and through faith in Jesus Christ, no matter what wrongs they have committed or how they have broken bad. Scripture says of Jesus, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11–12).

God will accept all who receive—accept—Jesus as their Lord and Savior, turning from their evil ways and believing what he says.

However, God also rejects people. He rejects those who reject the gracious gift of his beloved Son, whom the God the Father lovingly gave to an evil world, whom he mercifully gave to suffer and die for our evil thinking, evil speaking, and evil doing. We deserved only condemnation; he gave a way to have forgiveness.

But he limits this gift to those who will turn to him in repentance and believe in his Son.

Those who reject God’s gift have chosen the alternative, which is to get what they deserve, which is holy justice. So, every person has the choice to receive mercy or justice.

Scripture says, “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:10–12).

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Our way and God’s way

Our way: We want God to love people in a sentimental way.

God’s way: He is love, and he is God. He has revealed in the gospel how his perfect love works. God’s love is not sentimental, but holy and righteous and entirely good.

Life principle: Those who are not God, those who are imperfect themselves in love, those who are morally and spiritually broken, those who often fail to love the people around them, should not presume to tell God how to love. We need to humble ourselves and acknowledge that God is infinitely greater in every way than we are, and be grateful for his sacrificial, merciful love. We don’t deserve it, but God has graciously offered salvation, at the cost of great suffering to himself (his torture and death on the cross). If we want his mercy instead of his justice, then we need to accept his love on his terms. You can’t come to your Creator, Sustainer, and Lord on your terms.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Why the World Needs God’s Justice

If there is no law, there is no justice. If there is no justice, there is unrestrained evil. Ultimately, the choice is God’s justice or no justice.

God's justice

Imagine living in a place ruled by a weak government led by corrupt officials bribed by competing drug warlords. The cruelty and greed of the warlords is beyond comprehension. No one is safe, not children, not women, not the old, not the weak. Children are kidnapped for ransom or sold into trafficking. Women are raped in public. Men who resist paying extortion to maintain their farms or businesses disappear. Money, power, and violence reign.

Then a beautiful thing happens. Somehow a man becomes president who has the strength, courage, and virtue to oppose the warlords, corrupt judges, legislators, and policemen. He announces, “From this day forward, our nation will be ruled by law and by justice. No one will be above the law, not me, not the warlords or their soldiers, not the judges of our courts nor the police in the streets. Law and justice will rule, not bribery, not money, not power.”

Remarkably, in the months and years that follow, he keeps his promise. He removes every judge from office and appoints new judges sworn to refuse bribes—judges of integrity and courage who love and uphold the law.

The president likewise replaces every person in the police force, top to bottom, with policemen of integrity and courage who love and uphold the law and hate bribes.

Likewise with the legislature.

And over a period of just a few years, the nation is transformed into a place of justice, peace, and human flourishing.

Without God’s justice, evil is unrestrained

If you lived as one of the common people in this land, how would you feel about the law? How would you feel about justice? Only if you have lived in a place like I have described could you fully appreciate the precious value of law and justice. This story illustrates the value of what is called the rule of law.

One of the pillars of the gospel is the importance of law and justice.

What the gospel reveals about God is his love of law and justice.

He says, “I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense” (Isaiah 61:8 ESV).

Isaiah 33:22 says, “The LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us.”

The ultimate law-giver and judge

He is the law giver and justice enforcer.

James 4:12 says, “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy.”

Both God’s law-giving and justice-enforcing are perfectly good, for he alone is perfectly good. He has the wisdom and goodness to frame perfect laws. He has the power and righteousness to enforce them. He has the commitment to justice to see that all wrongs are made right, that all transgressions of the law are called into account, that in the end justice is perfectly done.

These actions are the essentials for having a society where a good person can live forever in perfect peace, prosperity, and happiness. Law and justice uphold perfect, sustainable order and paradise, a world where humans can flourish.

How Jesus satisfied God’s justice

God’s design for the gospel stands on the truths of law and justice. The reason Jesus Christ had to die on the cross was to satisfy the requirements of God’s law and justice. God would not set aside his law and justice in order to save sinners. Even his infinite mercy would not allow him to do so. Law and justice are too important for that.

Jesus emphasized that the purpose of his human life was to fulfill God’s holy law:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17–18).

Jesus fulfilled the law by being accountable to it: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4). And Jesus kept the law perfectly: “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22).

For our part, without Jesus we are completely unable to measure up to the requirements of God’s holy law:

“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19–20).

The message of the gospel is that Jesus has taken the penalty that God’s holy law demands of transgressors:

“10 ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’… 13 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’” (Galatians 3:10, 13).

The centrality of law in a world of justice

The Bible reveals in many ways God’s love of creating and giving what should be life-producing laws.

On Mount Sinai, after God had saved his people from Egypt, he began to form them into a nation. He gave Moses two tablets of stone engraved with Ten Commandments intended to maintain a just and good nation.

In the Tabernacle and eventually in the permanent Temple, in the most sacred 400 square feet on earth—the Holy of Holies—sat the holiest object in the Temple, the Ark of the Covenant, and what was contained in that Ark? The two stone tablets on which were engraved these foundational Ten Commandments. The unmistakable message is the centrality of God’s Law.

Based on them, God gave hundreds of other specific commands that fleshed the laws out in the many situations that life presents.

Looking back from the New Covenant perspective, the apostle Paul wrote, “The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Romans 7:12).

Our way and God’s way

Our way: Shackled with our fallen sinful nature, no one can perfectly obey God’s law. In fact, we don’t want to. Humanity resents, resists, and ignores God’s law.

Western culture has almost completely forgotten and rejected the idea that there is a divine law to which every person is accountable. In place of God and his justice, people have substituted ideas such as naturalism (there is no God, just matter), “spirituality,” and “mindfulness,” or a deistic God who is uninvolved or indifferent to things on earth, or a non-judgmental God of love who simply wants to make people happy.

One of the most offensive ideas to people today is that anyone—including God—judges anyone. People don’t like feeling guilt and reject anything or anyone who makes them feel guilty.

God’s way: “Say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity’” (Psalm 96:10).

“He has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

God sent his Son to become a man, who obeyed the law perfectly and then died on the cross to take our penalty for transgressing God’s law.

Life principle: Through faith in Jesus, our transgressions of God’s law are forgiven, and God credits the perfect law-keeping of Jesus to us. “Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Galatians 3:11).

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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What God’s Assessment of Human Nature Reveals about God

Jesus never labeled human nature as merely inappropriate.

Human nature

How athletic coaches evaluate players reveals as much about the coach as it does about the players.

For example, one professional basketball coach can evaluate a college player he is thinking of drafting as “lightning quick, a pure shooter, great vertical leaping ability, a can’t-miss future star.”

A coach from another team can evaluate the same player as “talented but lacks character, lazy at practice, selfish with the ball, has a big ego, disliked by his teammates.”

We gather from this that the first coach thinks the team with the most talent wins. The other coach thinks talent plus character plus teamwork wins.

Jesus’ assessment of human nature

Similarly, God’s assessment of human nature reveals as much about God as it does about humans, and how we evaluate human nature does the same.

The gospel according to much of humanity is that human beings are basically good. If a person believes in some God or follows some spirituality, doesn’t commit any big evils such as murder, and tries to treat others the way he or she wants to be treated, then they will enter heaven someday.

This is the preschool soccer-coach God. He has low expectations. He yells “good job” over and over again from the sidelines. He gives out trophies and medals just for showing up.

The gospel according to the God of the Bible is very different. Jesus showed God’s view of humanity when he said to his disciples, “9 Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9–11, italics added).

Notice, in this teaching on prayer, the Lord’s evaluation of human character. He said mankind is “evil.”  Evil is a strong word. Jesus didn’t say people are imperfect, flawed, prone to do inappropriate things now and then. He said mankind is evil. This shows that he evaluates mankind with a more demanding yardstick than we use. We learn much about God here.

What the great flood reveals about human nature

Moreover, Jesus wasn’t just saying his disciples were evil; he was describing humanity. This is confirmed by many other Scriptures.

For instance, God explained why in the time of Noah he decided to send the great flood on the earth that would destroy everyone but Noah and his family. “5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them’” (Genesis 6:5–7).

Notice in verse 5 the words wickedness, every, only, and continually. Again, what we learn here about his assessment of mankind’s corruption tells us much about God. His standard is higher than ours. He is not like the preschool soccer coach. He expects something from us. He expects much.

The ultimate assessment of human nature

The fullest description of why Jesus calls humankind evil is found in Romans 3:9–23:

“We have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’ 13 ‘Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.’ ‘The venom of asps is under their lips.’ 14 ‘Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.’ 15 ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.’ 18 ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ 19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

What God expects

These verses called attention to several virtues that God expects—requires—of humans:

  • Sinless obedience to the law of God. Perfect righteousness. (v. 9, 10, 20)
  • To understand God’s ways and requirements (v. 11)
  • A life of seeking the Lord (v. 11)
  • Never turning aside from the Lord’s path (v. 12)
  • To do good always (v. 12)
  • Perfect honesty, no deception (v. 13)
  • Living continually at peace with others, including in speech (v. 13–17)
  • The fear of God, evidenced by careful attention to his commandments (v. 18)
  • Character and actions that continually display the glory of God, that is, perfectly display the character of God (v. 23)

Gulp! Double gulp!! God’s requirements for mankind are way, way higher than the preschool, soccer-coach model. God literally requires moral perfection and a life completely oriented around him.

The better we know God’s expectations, the more we understand why the gospel is good news. When we see how bad we are, we grasp how wonderful is the news that God sent his Son Jesus to die for all the ways we have fallen short of God’s requirements.

Our way and God’s way

Our way: We measure mankind morally by the yardstick of mankind, comparing ourselves to others and comparing people to people.

God’s way: The gospel teaches us that God measures mankind by comparing us to himself. He compares us to the standard of perfect righteousness, holiness, and wholehearted love for God. To rescue us from condemnation, he had to send his Son to become a man, die as a substitute for our evil deeds and evil nature, and save us by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot measure up any other way.

Life principle: You cannot decide for yourself what you think God requires of you. You must decide based on what he reveals in the gospel of Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Bible.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)