The Doctrine of Imputation

Posted on September 21, 2018 by Randy Buchman

Imagine that your great-grandfather had made a terrible business mistake and that it affected the entire family system, down to you even many years later. It was a huge debt, and you have inherited it. There is nothing you could ever do to repay it. The situation is hopeless.

But a generous person of unlimited wealth comes into your life and offers to pay the debt for you. That would indeed be wonderful, and you would surely welcome that to happen.

The institution holding the debt would hear of this and would take the obligation from you and transfer it to the donor to own the debt and provide the payment. And upon making payment, the donor would receive the receipt that would also register in your account as paid in full. There would therefore be no way that any debt judgment could fall upon you, as your account would now contain a “paid in full” designation.

It is difficult to find a human illustration that fully and accurately pictures what Christ has done for our salvation and what it is that we have gained. The first thing that makes this difficult is that there are few ways to communicate the debt of sin that is our identity in Adam. Our illustration falls short, for as we have previously written, it was not just a matter of us inheriting the consequences of another’s failure. We were actually a participatory partner in that sin.

Another impossible piece to illustrate in the payment. Whatever we do to pay off the debt of sin in our own power does not register at all with any value. It is not merely that the debt is too great. Our works and deeds are the wrong “stuff” … as “filthy rags” say the Scriptures. It is like trying to pay a bill with the wrong currency, and there is no way to make an exchange into a currency the bank will accept.

But even with such limitations, I believe there is no better way to present the gospel to someone than to use banking terms. We all understand debits and credits, or assets and liabilities.

One might speak of it this way: Because of sin inherited from Adam, we all have a debt in our spiritual account that we cannot pay. It is too large, and the bank (God) does not accept our payments as legitimate. We need righteousness (perfection), though we cannot earn it and only one person has ever had it – Jesus. But our sin has been taken from our account and put into Christ’s account. He paid the debt with his sacrificial death and our sin was judged and covered (atoned) by his blood payment. However, our account remains empty and still needs the positive credit of righteousness. When we trust and believe that Jesus paid our debt, the righteousness that is in his account and is at the moment of faith transferred to our account. Therefore, when the holy judge looks at us, he does not see our debt (which was removed) nor an empty account lacking a necessary deposit. Rather, he sees a former debt removed and covered by the deposit of Christ’s righteousness – giving us the positive asset that we need to be in right relationship with God.

So three transfers happened: Adam’s sin to our account, our sin to Christ’s account, and Christ’s righteousness to our account. In theology, this is called the doctrine of imputation. This will be the main idea of what we talk about in this second portion of our identity series. This is how we go from being first a sinner in Adam, to now a saint in Jesus Christ through the justification provided.

I have found in my life, as I’m sure many of you have also experienced, that the more you study the great grace of God in salvation, the more you are humbly amazed at just how massive it is. We never fully arrive at understanding the mountainous debt of sin, and yet we never plumb the full depths of God’s marvelous grace. And more fully understanding these identities is the motivating factor behind the decision to work through this particular study and sermon series.

The Childless Father Abraham (Genesis 15:1-21)

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Randy Buchman

Down in my neck of the woods locally in what might be called River Rat Country along the Potomac border of Maryland and West Virginia, so many of the long-time locals have unique nicknames. And no, I’m not just talking about “Bubba and Cooter.” Guys often got their names very early in life and have been unable to outgrow them – like one kid named “Pockets.” I don’t think anyone in Williamsport actually knows what his real name is – hopefully his parents remember. They named him that because he always had his pockets full of stuff when he was a tiny kid. And then there was this other boy everyone simply called “Tubby.” You would think that he was a rather rotund fellow, but the last I saw him he was rather small in height and weight for his age – which I am guessing was dissimilar to his shape as a toddler. There are tall guys named “Shorty” and chubby guys named “Tiny.”

There was likewise a fellow in the ancient Near East who had such an unusual name relative to his appearance and circumstances. It was “Exalted Father” (Abram). The problem was that, until age 86, he had no children; and beyond that, the child came through a means other than his wife. And then, before his second child was born 13-14 years later, God came along and changed his name to “Father of Many” (Abraham). This name changed actually occurs two chapters after our passage today:

17:4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

Imagine what it was like for him when he used his credit card at the local Home Depot. The cashier would look at it and say, “So, Father of Many, of how many are you the father?” And Abraham’s face would turn as red as if burnt in the desert sun. (I’m not sure if she then said, “You can do it, we can help.”)

Though it must have been difficult at times to sustain, on the bottom line at the end of the day, Abraham had a promise from God that his offspring would number like the stars of the sky. And his faith was solidly placed in that promise that it would indeed happen. This faith was “credited to him as righteousness.” It was imputed to his account (to use the word from last week).

The content of his faith in God’s promise secured for Abraham his standing with God, so it would be true to say that he was indeed justified (declared righteous) by faith. And that is a definition of our word for this week – justification: it is a declaration of righteousness applied due to faith in God’s revealed truth.

There were a lot of circumstances to challenge Abraham’s confidence. Years of childlessness did little to bolster any natural security that this was going to happen. At the beginning of today’s reading, Abram simply states his reality – that without children to inherit his estate, it would fall to the steward of his household, a guy named Eleazer. But God restated his promise (originally given in a covenant in chapter 12), and Abram believed in it. God reaffirmed the covenant, and though the fulfillment would ultimately come, there were to be even more challenges of passing time and circumstances.

So over the next several days, while talking about our cross word of justification, we are also going to see the incredible reality of Abraham’s faith … along with God’s reward.

Are you waiting for something in your life? Are you feeling like you’ve been put on hold by God? Stay faithful with the last word you had from him, do what is right and in keeping with biblical holiness, and God will be faithful to you and reward you in ways beyond your imagination.

Genesis 15:1-21—The Lord’s Covenant With Abram

15:1 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi <river> of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

PUZZLE REVELATION DAY

Today is the big day for figuring out the word search puzzle. For those viewing this on a devise, you may have to go to your computer. and probably the best and easiest thing to do would be to print it out and work on it in that fashion.

There are two final puzzles … find all 68 words from this list and there will be 17 letters remaining. These letters can be unscrambled to make a phrase in the first puzzle. The 17 letters in the second puzzle spell out one long theological word. The first person to get the answer to one or the other (or both) is a winner. Email the answer to me at randy@tristatefellowship.org

The words:

Adoption / Agape / Aloes / Assurance / Atonement / Blood / Curse / Dark / Deity / Efficacious Grace / Elect / Eloi / Eternity/ Evil / Expiation / Faith / Fall / Favor / Finish / Forgiveness / Freedom / Glorification / Glory / God / Good / Gospel / Grace / Hell / Holiness / Hope / Imputation / Innocence / Jeshua / Jesus / Judgment / Justification / Lamb / Law / Love / Mercy / Nails / Noon / Open / Payment / Peace / Propitiation / Pulse / Pure / Ransom / Reconciliation / Redemption / Restoration / Regenerate / Righteousness / Sacrifice / Salvation / Sanctification / Satan Denied / Sin / Sonship / Thief / Tomb / Torn / Tree / Truth / Veil / Vicarious / Wrath

PUZZLE 1 – this is fairly easy

PUZZLE 2 – this one is difficult!

Just Put it on my Bill (Philemon 1:1-21)

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Randy Buchman

If you read the passage first today, I know what you’re thinking: “Really Randy? You had us read this little personal letter at the end of a week of devotionals on the theological topic of imputation?” Yep! Since I’m writing this way in advance of when it is seen by you, I might just even preach on it on April 7^th… although it will be difficult to not use Romans 5.

Have you ever wanted someone to do something, all the while realizing that it is indeed going to cost them some money to make it happen? Perhaps it is a scenario where you know something is good for them, or perhaps it is simply the right thing to do – though you are not sure they will quite see it the same way as you do? You hope so, but you’re not quite sure how they will react when you present it to them. In that you have a high view of them, you expect that it will be well-received, but you can’t quite be positive. So, to make sure that the proper deed will be accomplished, while asking and challenging the person to be responsible and take the high ground position, even with its costs, you finish off your request by saying, “If you won’t pay for it, I will.”

That is what is happening in this personal letter from the Apostle Paul to a fellow named Philemon. This recipient of the letter – an apparently wealthy individual who lived in Colossae and was a part of the church of the Colossians – had a slave named Onesimus who had run away. In the course of God’s sovereignly-directed events, Onesimus comes into contact with Paul, is converted to the faith, and is now being sent back to his owner Philemon.

There is not time now to talk about the issue of slavery in the Roman Empire. Understand that it was not exactly like slavery in American history, and in fact more than half of the population were slaves. Owners and slaves were in the same church together, and Paul did not write to upset these conventions. Though we might picture it more like indentured servitude, it was a crime to do as Onesimus had done.

So Paul writes to implore Philemon to accept him back. Paul speaks of the great benefit he has received from Onesimus, and he tells the owner that he will now not only have a better worker, he will be welcoming back a brother in Christ.

The reason this passage is being used in this series is because of verse 18 – If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. Paul is saying to Philemon that if it is a matter of not accepting him back because of financial loss, that the owner should charge the loss to Paul’s account and he would make good on the debt. This is an example of imputation – the placing of a debt to another’s account, and the consequent transfer of credit that frees the person from the pending execution if the debt is not paid.

So we finish this week on the great doctrine of imputation, thankful – as was the theme in the sermon – that we have a new identity by being “in Christ” … we have Christ’s righteousness which gives us a standing as God’s children. That’s a pretty good deal for a bunch of broken sinners!

Philemon 1:1-21

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker— 2 also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

Paul’s Plea for Onesimus

8 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— 10 that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

12 I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. 13 I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. 14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. 15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.

17 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20 I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

Here is a final set of cross words before all the words are given in the next devotional on Monday. There will be additional words there in a master list that were never listed or defined over the past four weeks:

Glorification – This is a word that defines the final result of our salvation, where our earthly bodies are replaced by eternal spiritual bodies.

Regenerate – or Regeneration – speaks of the actual giving of new life – the very moment of salvation. See Titus 3:5.

Forgiveness – No secret meaning here, as this is our great need as sinners; and to be forgiven by God is the ultimate forgiveness.

Holiness – This is the character of God and is the goal of our lives to grow more and more in this direction.

Sanctification – The process of growing in holiness is called sanctification. There is positional sanctification = our perfect standing before God based upon the cross. There is progressive sanctification = the ups and downs of becoming more and more like Christ. And there is perfect sanctification = the reward of the perfect bodies we receive on the other side.

Back to Egypt Syndrome (Galatians 3:1-10)

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Randy Buchman

Over the years of coaching high school kids I have had some who start out with the cross country team in the fall of their freshman year and really perform well. They meet a whole new group of good kids and friends, and their high school career is off to a great start. But along the way, something happens to interfere with their early success. Usually it is something to do with a relationship – like a girl getting involved with a guy who distracts her from the disciplines of academics and athletics, or it could be a guy who simply chooses to travel with a bad crowd. It is terribly sad to see someone who started so well and had so much potential get off the tracks in the wrong direction.

But it has not only been with adolescents that I have seen this happen. Over the decades as a pastor I have sadly seen people come to know Christ, walk with him and serve well for a time, but ultimately make choices or be drawn away to a different crowd of people and perspectives. You can see them disintegrating in front of everyone and you can even confront it, but the attraction is strong and it often takes folks away from a healthy place in life.

We might term this spiritual declension “Back to Egypt Syndrome.” There were a number of times in the Old Testament where God’s covenant people ran off to Egypt when things got tough in the land of promise.

And in our passage today, Paul is writing to essentially ask the Galatians what happened that had taken them away from their previous strong position of faith in Christ. The issue was that a group of teachers had come into the assembly to promote the idea that along with the gospel message of Christ, the Old Testament Law requirements still needed to be kept. And Paul is battling this heresy by asking them in our reading today how they had come to faith originally – was it through Christ? or through the Law? … well of course it was through Jesus and their faith in him and his cross work on their behalf.

To support the argument, Paul tells them that their connection to God is not based upon their works of keeping the law, but rather upon faith. And the great father Abraham was likewise the same – not having his good standing imputed to his account because he performed a long series of prescribed deeds, but because he believed in God’s promise to him. His faith was credited (imputed) as righteousness.

The fact is that salvation has always been the same; it has always been by grace through faith. What has changed over time is the content of the faith. For Abraham, it was in God’s promise; and for the Galatians, it is in the work of Christ. But in neither case was it by the Law – which was not yet even given in Abraham’s day, and which served only to point out sin and the inability of man to be perfect. It was an instrument of condemnation, so why would they want to trust in that when they had the better way of knowing God through Jesus Christ?

People still do go “back to Egypt” spiritually. You have all that you need in Christ and by means of his righteousness imputed to your account. Trusting God – even in the hard times – is the way of living by faith as well as being saved by faith.

Galatians 3:1-10

3:1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”

Cross Words for today to add to the word search puzzle:

Elect – This is a controversial word, as is the doctrine of election. But the Bible says that believers are the elect, and it is a word that does mean choosing. The argument is about what is election based upon, and that is a subject for another day!

Adoption – This is a wonderful cross word and concept – to have been taken into the very family of God as his own children!

Sonship – The New Testament speaks often that believers are members of God’s family, and this is called sonship.

Gospel – The Good News.

One Check that Pays all Debts (Hebrews 10:1-18)

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Randy Buchman

Here we are just five days away from the most odious of all days on the calendar – April 15^th. To be honest with myself and you, it is not just that it involves the payment that it does – though I support the Reaganesque concept of economic growth resultant from lower tax rates. The bigger problem is the actual annual headache it produces in terms of the piles of paperwork and meetings with accountants, etc. This is all greatly exasperated by family business ownership ventures along with unique tax categories for the clergy part of it – involving employee status for the IRS but self-employed status in terms of social security (I’m not making that up!). It is a mess to sort out!

It would be so wonderful to have a situation where it was simply not necessary anymore. Imagine that! Think about what it would be like to not have to pay so much money toward a government that spends so much of it (along with our kids’ and grandkids’ future money) in ways that are far from necessary or honorable. Imagine never again having to gather financial information, tax forms, accountant appointments, etc. That would be fantastic! It is said that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. The annual experience of dealing with the latter makes you want to experience the former!

In the Old Testament / Old Covenant system of worship, it must have been a similar sort of pain to have to deal with sin. After arguing with his wife about whether the sheep in the backyard were a flock or a herd (either is correct), the worshipper was always having to pick out the best young lamb for yet another sacrifice. In honest self-evaluation, it was unjust to be angry about the situation – after all, as a sinner there was no ground for any attitude other than humble contrition and gratitude that a method existed for paying the great debt of sin. It was an annual reminder that a final payment had not been made, and that the best that could be found was always only temporary and short of the perfect ideal.

But in Christ, a new day has come. A new priest has come. This priest was like no other; he was of a different sort. He also brought a new sacrifice unlike any other. It was not some dumb bull or goat (like all the priests heretofore had done). He himself was the sacrifice, as well as the priest. The debt of the old system was paid and an entirely new system established. The new way had no necessity for annual or regular payments, all because there was no more debt to be paid. In fact, the debts have not only been paid, they have been erased and forgotten forever.

So, aren’t you glad that this coming Sunday you don’t have to bring a goat, sheep, bull, turtledove or whatever and slit its throat and sprinkle blood all over the place and burn it on an altar? Yep! And … uh … you ARE going to be there at church, right? I mean, after all, isn’t that the least you could do in light of what we’ve been studying about these cross words?

Now that I have gotten this far with these thoughts, and fearing that you might think I’m laying a guilt trip on you that is self-serving, I’m going to ask you to read just a bit farther in the chapter through verse 25. Here it is: 19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

OK – YES, I’M YELLING NOW! AND I’M DOING IT FROM THE HIGH GROUND OF BIBLICAL TRUTH! AND I DO NOT FEEL BAD ABOUT IT AT ALL. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT VALUING REGULAR ATTENDANCE WITH GOD’S PEOPLE. YOU NEED US; WE NEED YOU! DON’T GET INTO A HABIT OF NOT DOING IT! BE THERE! I’LL SEE YOU SUNDAY.

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;

6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.

7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’”[a]

8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”

18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

Cross Words for today …

Vicarious – This is really another word for “substitution” … the idea of how Christ took our place. In theology it is often used with the word atonement. So, to say “vicarious substitutionary atonement” would be to almost pile up redundant modifiers.

Assurance – The concept of the once-for-all final payment of Christ gives us assurance of salvation.

Efficacious Grace – This means that God’s grace has efficacy = sufficiency… that it works!

The Ultimate Innocence Project Client (Isaiah 53:1-12)

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Randy Buchman

It would be a terrible thing to be falsely accused of a crime, tried by jury, found guilty, and sentenced to death. But it does happen; and if it happened to you, it would be your desire to have someone contend for your innocence. There is an organization called “The Innocence Project,” defined on their web page as “a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent further injustice.” There have been 305 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States… 18 of whom were on death row. In about one-half of cases, the actual perpetrator of the crime has been identified.

It is one thing to be falsely accused and sentenced for someone else’s crime, but it would be even more incredible to willingly offer oneself as the substitute for the guilt and death sentence of another – and to do it in such a manner as to not murmur nor complain in any way. And that is what Jesus Christ has done for us as he has taken our place as our substitute – having our sin imputed to his account that he may make the substitutionary atonement for it – done willingly in love.

Throughout this series we have talked about the Old Testament / Old Covenant method of a lamb taking the place of the guilty sinner. We have seen this on the Day of Atonement and the Passover event and commemoration. As well, we recall to mind the Scripture that Christ is the Lamb of God and the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. And today, we see this incredible passage from Isaiah – written by the prophet hundreds of years in advance of the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross.

We see Christ depicted as an ordinary man who had placed upon him the transgressions of mankind. The scene was terribly gruesome, the suffering too difficult to view. See the verbs deployed by Isaiah: punished, despised, stricken, afflicted, pierced, crushed, oppressed, cut off.

The passage abounds with sheep references as well, speaking of how we in our humanity resemble the stupid side of sheepdom – the capacity for wandering away and getting lost in the self-absorbed activity of eating and engaging in creature comforts.

The lamb illustration is also used of Christ’s work, though it is not a perfect picture. Only one aspect of a lamb is selected to make one point – that being the silence of the animal when not complaining about what is going to happen to it. But unlike the daft lamb, Christ knew what was to come in bearing the sufferings of the cross. He wrestled mightily with it in the Garden of Gethsemane, but having dealt with it there, in total submission and obedience to the Father, Jesus set his face to go to the cross willingly as our substitute.

Our sin – imputed to us from Adam, and then transferred from us to Christ’s account – has been judged and God has been propitiated. So why not receive the imputed righteousness of Christ that makes us adopted children of God? The ultimate Innocence Project guy has taken your place and the debt is fully paid. You can be free!

Isaiah 53:1-12

53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
²He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

⁴Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

⁷He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
⁸By oppressionand judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.
⁹He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
¹¹After he has suffered, he will see the light of lifeand be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
¹²Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,and he will divide the spoils with the strong,because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Cross Words for today:

Peace – Often the Scriptures speak of the new condition of peace that exists when the work of the cross has made and opened a restored condition of peace between God and man.

Torn – This word is used of the body of Christ upon the cross. It fits well with the verbs used in today’s Isaiah passage.

Pure – A state of innocence exists when something is pure – free from the stain, filth, and debt of sin.

Isn’t It All Adam’s Fault? (Romans 5:12-19)

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Randy Buchman

It is no secret that I am committed to a conservative political agenda and that I have even been active in that realm to some extent behind the scenes in elected party politics and leadership (though I am no longer serving in such a capacity). Whether you agree or not with my perspectives is not the point of this illustration, but rather I simply mention this to say that someone of my bent has an oft difficult time in the very blue state of Maryland. My representatives – particularly on the national level – do not often vote and represent me in the manner that I would wish. And those who serve in state government in my place, though they do represent my viewpoints rather well, are most often snowed under by a massive opposition majority. It is difficult and annoying, to be quite honest.

But maybe that is how you feel about Adam – you know, Adam from Eden, Eve’s husband – that guy! Man, he had it all! He lived in paradise, had a perfect relationship with God, no weeds grew in his garden, it never rained or was nasty outside, and all he had to do was stay away from one tree and not eat the fruit of it. How hard is that to do? But he blew it; he really messed up big-time! And that is what this Romans passage today is all about – comparing how big is the mess that Adam made, but how grand is the fix that Christ secured for those who trust in it.

But again – thinking about Adam … maybe you are just totally annoyed with the way that he “voted” on your behalf! If you were there, you wouldn’t have done such a stupid thing. So why should you have to bear the consequences of his idiocy? Look again at the end of verse 12 – “because all sinned.” Now don’t make me go explaining this to you right here right now, but, it is actually more than just Adam representing us (though that is true), we were actually sinning in him in an active way. Again – this is the stuff of books, not devotionals. But whatever, we are guilty.

This week we follow up from the sermon yesterday that taught about our next cross word – Imputation. This is a term that is like a banking word for the transferring of funds from one account to another. As was presented yesterday, there are three transfers/imputations: Adam’s sin to our account, our sin to Christ’s account, and Christ’s righteousness to our account.

The main sense of the passage today – which is admittedly very complicated sounding – is that though we had a huge debt of sin come into our account from Adam which results in a judgment of death, the righteousness of Christ that comes to our account upon faith and justification is a credit that is larger than the debt, and it leads to life.

If you really understand this, you really understand the very central idea of what salvation is about. Along with it, in my opinion, comes also the very best way to communicate what salvation entails. Everyone has had a bank account and knows about debits and credits. This presents a great picture for you to explain that we have the debt of sin (few will argue that) in our individual account, but that we cannot ever pay that debt with our deposits; and so we need the perfect deposit of Christ’s righteousness to pay our debt for us. So, stop trying to pay it off, and trust in the one who has done it for you.

Death through Adam, Life through Christ

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Cross Words for today (remember – all words will be released one week from today)…

Innocence – There is not much of this, apart from the perfection of God and the person of Christ. We think of infants as innocent, but the truth is that they too – from the moment of conception – have the imputed curse of Adam’s sin. The lamb sacrifice pictured innocence, but was of course an imperfect example of the perfection of Christ – our sacrifice.

Grace – This is more than a simple extension of mercy or someone choosing to be nice, which is how we might use the term. It is actually favor extended where wrath is deserved. It is getting mercy, when in fact, you fully deserved just the opposite.

Seriously

The Goal-Oriented Christian Life

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