Grace Roots Blog
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Jesus became a curse for us and Jesus became sin for us
Abraham believed God and God accounted that to him as righteousness. That is the blessing of Abraham. Christ became a curse for us so that we might receive the blessing of Abraham. Also, Christ became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him! It's through nothing we've done... It's all what He has done! Your sins are not counted against you. You are not cursed. By faith, you are counted as righteous.
2 Cor 5:21
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Gal 3:5-14
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? — 6 just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them."
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
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i know what you are thinking. you are thinking those verses were talking about the vicarious death of jesus. well, it is not. for a very long time, we assumed this traditional message, passed down by dead theologians/priests(eg martin luther) who lived centuries ago, was right. subsequently, all other scriptural interpretations were built on the foundational truth of christ vicarious death.
ReplyDeletewell, hate to say this but, god cannot break his own laws. god cannot punish an innocent person for someone's sin or wrong doing.
then how should jesus death be interpreted?
take a look again at this verse:
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
christianity assumed that that tree was the cross of penance. no dude. that tree symbolizes something else and if anyone who will rule(hang) from that tree, that person is cursed!
subsequently, humanity was cursed. but it has nothing to do with your personal failures or "imperfection"
so your struggle with the "laws" is absurd. however, the laws imposed upon you from that tree is....deadly yes but, to those who are governed by the one hanging on the tree of power.
dude, Christianity blew it big time! your belief is basically nonsensical that's the reason why rational people rejected the gospel.
sad but the gospel in fact is VERY SENSIBLE and RATIONAL!
Christianity is not!
Anon,
ReplyDeleteYou sound like some people I know who take what I say and make it into something else and then argue against that! But I'm sure they wouldn't stoop to the depths of anonymous comments. They'd show their faces I'm sure, and claim their own comments for themselves!
Essentially... for the most part... I agree with what you're saying here. In my video I didn't highlight that all of humanity was cursed, because my point is that people think their bad deeds and failures are what keeps them from God. But it wasn't their deeds in the first place... it was being born in Adam. And so, no matter what, the good news is that Jesus becamse the curse and Jesus became sin, so that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles and so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
If you don't agree with me, that's fine, but it's funny how I'm trying to share good news with people and apparently I haven't made it good enough! (And the only reason for that is because my point wasn't to expound on the whole gospel in 9 minutes... it was to make ONE point).
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteAre you saying that Jesus didn't die for our sins?
matthew campbell,
ReplyDeleteyup. joel misunderstood what i had written otherwise, if i didn't misread him - himself an evangelical, he would not have been quick to agree with me.
yes, jesus did not die FOR you as in, he took your place as a sinful person so you can be "righteous" in him - this concept of redemption or interpretation is absurd because, it goes against god and civil laws.
instead, jesus died TO sin, for your sake - a sin which is ill defined by christianity.
and that SIN has nothing to do with your...personal failing such as...your white lies, your dirty thoughts or...the so called "seven deadly sins"( not in the bible) etc.
now if you believe Christianity definition of SIN or the message of redemption, you will inevitably conclude that your humanity is "sinful"
that's rubbish!
Anon,
ReplyDeleteOk, gotcha. Thanks for clarifying.
below is a sample of what's being taught in our churches( very common in the west i am sure because, most of the teachings we get over here were "imported" from your side of the world - western world).
ReplyDeleteyou know how much we pay this chap to teach us the following? millions of dollars!
"2 Corinthians 10:5
casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Have you ever felt condemned because of the bad thoughts you have had? You could be in the middle of a prayer meeting when suddenly a dirty thought enters your mind. Actually, it is the devil who puts such thoughts in your mind. Then, he steps back, looks at you and knocks you on your head, saying, “How can you call yourself a Christian and still think such thoughts?”
I used to be in bondage over the bad thoughts I had because I felt that I had to confess every one of them and seek God’s forgiveness. But that is not what God’s Word exhorts us to do. You see, God wants us to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”. Now, whose obedience are we to focus on? Christ’s obedience and not our own obedience!
But what is “the obedience of Christ”? It is His obedience at the cross, where “by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous”. (Romans 5:19) Jesus shed His blood for us at the cross. This means that when our thoughts condemn us, we are to focus our thoughts on Jesus’ obedience at the cross.
My friend, the devil can only make inroads into our minds when he gets us to focus on our obedience instead of Christ’s obedience. His strategy is to point us to our obedience or the lack of it to determine our standing before God. But just as our position as sinners is not based on what we do, but what the first Adam did, in the same way, we are forever righteous today not because of what we do, but because of what Christ, the last Adam, did on the cross.
So the next time your thoughts seem to condemn you, say, “I am righteous whether I have good or bad thoughts. My righteousness has nothing to do with my obedience. Jesus’ obedience at the cross made me righteous.” Then, go ahead and pray, knowing that you have access to God and His favor, and that He hears the prayer of the righteous. (Proverbs 15:29)" - end sermon.
basically, it is pure garbage!
Hi there Singapore, I mean, Anonymous...
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite sure why you have chosen my blog to preach your very inspiring message that is so filled with love and grace. But thank you. "It is pure garbage." Wow! Such encouragement! You moved me and stimulated the love that's in my heart! I'm sure you've set us straight on so many things and we'll all now be able to die peacefully!
Hey, here's an idea for you, since you obviously have such tender words of inspiration and compassion. Perhaps you could show your face to the world and start your own blog! With such inspiring and encouraging words, is there really any more need to hide in the cowardice and gutlessness of anonymity?!?!?
I would be very careful about what you call rubbish. Especially if you are referring to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
ReplyDeleteTru Dat!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had fun discussion :) I wish I would have been sooner to the party. Maybe it was good that I missed it, my blood pressure doesn't need the help. There is one thing I have noticed, atheists and legalists tend to have the same debating style. I also noticed that Judah had a Jewish visitor arguing against Jesus being the Messiah. It was interesting, but futile; people are not convinced by intellectual arguments.
ReplyDeleteGary
...my blood pressure doesn't need the help."
ReplyDeleteHa ha, I hear ya!
And yep, you're right. I still find myself trying to have intellectual arguments (exchange of ideas) with people at times, but not nearly as much as I used to. Sometimes it's fun or interesting, and might even be thought provoking, but so many times it truly is futile, as you say.