Evening Sermon

April 20, 2008

Nailed to Cross

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"My sin-O the bliss of this glorious thought!-my sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more; praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul." Those words we often sing, written by Horatio Spafford, well capture the right and proper sense of what we come to this evening.

Last week we studied the significance and meaning of the outward sign of circumcision and baptism, as the badge of those who set apart as belonging to God, first in the Old Covenant and then in the New Covenant. The symbol of cleansing from sin, and the evidence of our union with Jesus Christ. So tonight, very much related to that and flowing out of it, we come to a gloriously encouraging description and definition of our salvation.

The issue is not just the relationship between circumcision and baptism. The matter of most importance is not the sacrament, but rather in the reality behind the sacrament. So the whole discussion of circumcision and baptism is not designed for a debate about infant baptism or baptism by immersion, or how the Old and New Covenants related to one another. All of those things are secondary, of secondary importance. Not unimportant at all, but important only when they point us to the right understanding of the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ.

So, understanding that salvation, we begin we an understanding of,

I. THE NATURE OF A NON-CHRISTIAN. In terms of the headings of theology, this would be called the doctrine of man. Anthropology, the study of man. And we are in desperate need of such study today, for wrong ideas abound everywhere, among Christians and non-Christians alike.

Here is the wrong idea that is so prominent in the thinking of so many people, that man is basically good. By nature, man is essentially good. And perhaps without saying it quite that boldly, the grievous error might simply be to believe that there is something good in man, something in himself that he needs to fan into flame in order to make good of himself. Something that originate within himself.

That is the foundational principle upon which the modern educational system is based. The answer to the problems of our day is education. Give students information, impart knowledge, and people will respond by doing good because they are essentially good, lacking only what education can provide.

It is the foundational principle of modern psychology, which is why the popularized pop-psychology often defined with spiritual words or even overtly Christian-sounding themes is so dangerous. It is the deadly pitfall of the positive thinking movement, and the gospel of self-esteem and self-help.

It is also the foundational principle of modern liberalism-modern, liberal theology. Man is basically good, so the job of the church is to teach you how to be good, or at least, how to be better. And at all costs, of course, as the very foundation of that modern gospel, don't talk about sin. Don't talk about the law. Don't talk about judgment or justice. And don't conceive of God as a God of justice, but only a God of love. And a loving God would never condemn anyone. A loving God would never punish anyone for his sin. And the whole concept of hell, and the devil, those are just left-over remnants of an age that is past, that old, angry, fundamentalist age when all that preachers talked about was fire and brimstone.

But we, of course, know better today! Sadly, too many people think they know better today, and will be doomed to discover that they are wrong only when it is too late.

Heb. 9:27 "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment."

Rom. 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

You see, what is missed or explicitly denied in all those things I just mentioned, is the doctrine we often label "total depravity." The "T" in TULIP, if you are familiar with that abbreviation of the five points of Calvinism. T, total depravity. What that means in the exact language of the Bible is that everyone who is born, every human being from birth is,

A. Dead in sins. That is the universal human problem. By nature, we are dead in sins.

Paul writes in, Eph. 2:1 "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."

By nature, we are children of wrath. By nature, by fallen nature, we are described as being already dead. Born dead, spiritually speaking. Not sick or diseased, by dead. Not maladjusted, nor suffering from psychological infirmities or illnesses. Our problem is not some sort of stress-disorder, nor any other kind of disorder. Our problem is that the nature of man is that he is dead in his sins.

From birth. From conception, actually. Remember David's confession of sin,

Ps. 51:3 "For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight-- That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."

In more theological language, we read, Rom. 6:18 "Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."

In Adam, through Adam, we have condemnation. We were made sinners. Or more specifically,

1 Cor. 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive."

Actually, those verses refer to what we call original sin, the sin of Adam which is imputed to us, so that we are guilty of sin in Adam and are sinners because of the sinful nature we inherit from Adam. But as sinners, there is something very significant that happens in our lives. We sin. We sin because we are sinners. And those sins we commit in our own lives is the focus of what Paul writes in,

v.13 "And you, being dead in your trespasses."

Trespasses. Actual, specific, personal sins! Without Christ, apart from Christ, the nature of a non-Christian, every non-Christian, is that he is dead in sins. And don't get misled by familiar, polite language, with which we often refer to people with these words, "He was really a good person." That not who we are in ourselves, any of us. Rather, apart from Christ, everyone is dead in sins.

And, therefore,

B. Separated from God. That's why the reference in verse 13 to "the uncircumcision of your flesh." Remember from last week, circumcision is the identification of God's people. It is the outward mark by which they are set apart from the world. They are "the circumcised."

Paul's description of unbelievers in Ephesians 2 is especially helpful. In talking to Gentile Christians in the church about what they were before they were saved, he makes reference to that Old Covenant distinction among all people, the distinction between those who were circumcised and those who were not. Those who were not were separated from God.

Eph. 2:11 "Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands-- 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world."

It can't be any clearer than that. The "Uncircumcision" are those who are without God, and without hope. Enemies of God. Dead in their sins. And only at that point with that understanding can you possibly understand,

II. THE NATURE OF SALVATION. The easiest way to understand that work of salvation is the clearest. Salvation is not a moral renewal. It is not a political uprising. It is not a social liberation. Nor is it a church growth formula. Salvation is not illustrated by someone recovering from an illness, or fulfilling some sort of New Year's resolution. The nature of salvation is a resurrection. It means to be,

A. Made alive. That, of course, implies you were dead. And those dead bones spring to life with flesh and blood. That dead corpse pulsates with the flow of oxygen.

It is the image of the valley of dry bones from,

Ezek. 37:4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 'Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 "I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD."'" 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. 9 Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."'" 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army."

Beloved, that's the nature of salvation.

1 Cor. 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive."

Eph. 2:4 "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

Our salvation can well be labeled the first resurrection.

Rev. 20:4 "And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 "But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

Believing that thousand years refers to the whole of this present age, the first resurrection then is the resurrection unto life of those who had been dead in their sins. That's what salvation is all about.

And with that resurrection, with reference to those sins, the very nature of our salvation is,

B. The forgiveness of sins. This is why the liberal gospel of social or moral reformation is so absolutely contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see, if you are essentially good, or have some seed of goodness within by which you do good of our own accord, then you can theoretically do enough to please God and be accepted by him without reference to your past sins.

But the lingering question ought to remain, Have I done enough? Enough to atone for my sins? You can develop all sorts of psychological maladies by going down that road. You will either become a self-righteous Pharisee or a loathing, guilt-ridden psychotic.

The chief question that develops in the heart of every person is very simple. The chief struggle of every human being is that very question, how can my sins be forgiven? And unless your conscience is utterly seared and your heart horribly hardened such that you simply don't consider your own sinfulness, there are only two possible answers to that question. How can my sins be forgiven? Either I have to do something to obtain it, or earn it. Or God himself has to forgive me as a matter of his own grace and mercy. And that second solution, of course, is the Christian gospel.

v.13 "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses."

That's what it is all about. Eph. 1:7 "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."

That promise is the very invitation of the gospel given by Peter at Pentecost,

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

Paul's gospel is no different, Acts 13:38 "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins."

And this was Paul's commission from Jesus himself, to be a preacher for the Gentiles,

Acts 26:18 "...to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me."

But wait a minute. What about justice? What about God's justice? What about the righteousness of God? Again, there are only two possible solutions, if God is going to maintain the righteousness of his justice. He cannot look upon sin, he cannot overlook sin. So he must either punish the sinner or he must punish a sinless substitute. So if he is going to be just and the justifier, if he is preserve his own righteousness and at the same time forgive those who are unrighteous, then a perfect, sinless substitute would have to receive the penalty and the punishment that you and I deserve. A substitute would have to be offered as the sacrifice for your sin to satisfy the demands of God's perfect and unrelenting justice.

And beloved, that is the Christian gospel! This is what Christ accomplished himself, in the flesh.

C. The satisfaction of justice. Thus "the forgiveness of sin" in verse 13 is achieved only because of what Jesus did according to the description of,

v.14 "...having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

What was the handwriting of the requirements that was against us? The NASB translates it, "having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us." Cancelled the certificate of debt.

Growing up, I remember the day my parents paid off their home mortgage. The final payment. The certificate of debt was cancelled. Several years ago I refinanced my own mortgage with a 15 year mortgage instead of 30, so that I could actually envision that day. We're 6 years into it, 9 more to go. A certificate of debt cancelled. What a marvelous thought.

That's what Jesus did. He went to the mortgage company and paid the balance in full. The debt is cancelled, the debt of justice. Did you ever wonder why we pray, "Forgive us our debts?" The Bible also uses the language, "Forgive us our sins." So which is it, sins or debts? And the answer is both, of course. You see, your sin incurs a debt. Your sin renders you a debtor. A debtor to the justice of the law. And it is a debt you can never repay, except with your own blood.

The forgiveness of sins is the cancellation of that debt. It is the satisfaction of justice. That's what Jesus did. He "wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us." With his own blood, he "canceled out the certificate of debt ...against us."

That's forgiveness. But notice how verse 14 continues, giving us further insight into,

III. THE NATURE OF CHRIST'S WORK. v.14 "And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

What has he taken out of the way? What has he nailed to the cross? That certificate of debt. In other words, our condemnation. And what did he nail to the cross? Our condemnation.

What Jesus accomplished upon the cross was,

A. The death of condemnation. He put to death the judgment against us of condemnation. It was, in the words of John Owen, the death of death.

For someone who has gone through the ordeal of being arrested and convicted of a criminal, this would make perfect sense. The death of condemnation means that your record is expunged. Your criminal record is erased. The conviction is overturned and the charges are dropped. The death of death. The cancellation of the judgment.

That judgment against you is nailed to the cross. Killed, along with Jesus. Wiped out.

Psalm 103:10 [The Lord] has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us."

Micah 7:18 "Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. 19 He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea."

Jesus nailed to the cross the sentence of condemnation against you!

Rom. 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

And then even more, more personally. Jesus' work upon the cross marks,

B. The death of Satan's power to accuse. v.15 "Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."

Jesus "disarmed principalities and powers." Those are spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. He disarmed them. He took away their weapons, and Satan's chief weapon, the weapon for which he is named, is the weapon of making accusations. Satan is the Hebrew word for the accuser. Satan is the accuser, the prosecuting attorney, if you will, leading the charge against you. But Satan has no charge against those for whom Jesus has died. Thus we read in,

Rev. 12:9 "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down."

The accuser is silenced. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."

And one more thing related to all this. One more thing about the nature of Christ's work. It was a triumph! This text more than any other in Scripture points out,

C. The triumph of the cross. v.15 "Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."

Jesus didn't die the death of a martyr. He didn't die the death of a victim. It wasn't simply a death teaching us by example of what it means to love. It was a triumph. It was a victory. The cross was a victory. A triumph over Satan.

His death was a triumph, for all the reasons I have identified tonight, and so many more. It was a triumph because the purpose of God was fulfilled. The purpose of God for the redemption of his people was accomplished. And to tie that together with what we are studying in Revelation in the mornings, Jesus' work of redemption accomplished on the cross was a triumph for which he is worthy of our praise,

Rev. 5:9 "And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth...12 Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"

Worthy is the lamb who was slain! Jesus is worthy to pronounce the judgment of God, because he has redeemed us to God by his own blood! And when Jesus cried out, "It is finished," the victory was won. The triumph was established.

Thus this banquet table set before us is a declaration of that triumph. This is not a sad and somber memorial service in which we think about the death of Jesus. Rather, this is a proclamation of the Lord's death as the triumphant victory won by Christ for our redemption. So as you eat and drink tonight, let this sacrament be a celebration. Celebrate the victory won by his death. Delight yourselves in his invitation to eat and drink of his body and blood, knowing that in him you who were dead in your sins have been raised from the dead. You who were by nature children of wrath have become beloved sons and daughters. So eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you shall live.

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