Metaphors of Salvation
Sabbath School Class—Life as Discovery and Hope
November 29, 2008
Larry R Evans
Before we push aside this week’s study as being an exercise in theological vocabulary, think again? How much do we really understand about “righteousness by faith.” Has it become so familiar that we never look inside to see what is in the package? What is Heaven really trying to tell us? A special messenger of God’s once wrote,
“There is not one in one hundred who understands for himself the Bible truth on this subject [justification by faith] that is so necessary to our present and eternal welfare.” Ellen White in Selected Messages, book 1, pl.161.
But she didn’t stop there.
“The enemy of God and man is not willing that this truth should be clearly presented; for he knows that if the people receive it fully, his power will be broken.” Ellen White in Gospel Workers, p.161.
Questions for Reflection
1. When it comes to redemption, slavery in any form is bad and must be put aside. True or False? (Rom 6:17,18)
2. The reconciliation provided by Christ was complete at the cross. True or False? (2 Cor 5:18-21)
3. Justification by faith means we are righteous. True and False (Rom 3:21,22).
4. Christ’s sacrifice liberated us from the wrath of God. True or False?
5. The cross is a revelation of hell. True or False?
6. By loving others the invisible God is revealed. True or False? (1 Jn 4:12)
Reflective Study
1. When it comes to redemption, slavery in any form is bad and must be put aside. False (but could be True depending on the reasoning) (Rom 6:17,18)
“The New Testament interprets Jesus’ death as an act of redemption. The concept of redemption weaves throughout Scripture from Mathew (Matt. 20:28) to Revelation (Rev.5:9). It was a concept widely used in the marketplace during the New Testament period. The terminology designated the redemption of prisoners of war and slaves through a ransom.” (Rodriquez, Spanning the Abyss, p. 100)
Paul picks up the concept of “slavery” and makes an important point: we are either servants/slaves of sin or servants/slaves of righteousness. One leads to death and the other to life. Paul identifies himself as a slave to righteousness, i.e. Christ.
Rom 6:11-18
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
(from New International Version)
Gal 4:5-7
6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
(from New International Version)
1 Cor 7:21-24
22 For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.(from New International Version)
Paul uses the term slave as both a slave to sin and a slave to God or righteousness. The difference is that one is in bondage and the other is free.
2. The reconciliation provided by Christ was complete at the cross. True and False (2 Cor 5:18-21)
Reconciliation of what or of whom? In Christ we are reconciled, but God is still in the process of reconciling the world to Himself. Therefore, He calls us as ambassadors and as such has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
2 Cor 5:17-21
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(from New International Version)
3. Justification by faith means we are righteous. True and False (Heb 2:17)
“Justification is, fundamentally, a legal term that refers to the acquittal of someone accused of a crime but who is found innocent in a court.” (Quarterly, Tuesday)
Rom 3:22-25
22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.(from New International Version)
“Even in grace He did not compromise His justice. The cross revealed both God’s true attitude toward sin and that He is righteous in the way He has both dealt with and is now dealing with it. On the other hand, He displayed His mercy in redeeming and justifying them. The cross indeed demonstrates His saving and punitive justice. The death of Jesus beautifully combined mercy and justice.” (Rodriquez, p. 109)
True and False because we are righteous in the sight of God but of ourselves we are not.
4. Christ’s sacrifice liberated us from the wrath of God. True
There are two big theological words that are being introduced here: Propitiation and Expiation. This is often debated in theological circles. Both present parts of the whole and this is important to recognize.
Propitiation is normally defined as changing God’s attitude toward humans while expiation is seen to mean God doing as accomplishing something for humans. Let’s take a look at the primary passage:
Heb 2:15-17 (NIV)
17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
Heb 2:17 (KJV)
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
The emphasis in NIV is expiation where Christ’s sacrifice accomplished something for sinful man. Whereas the NIV uses reconciliation to emphasize changing the mind of God.
“One should acknowledge that the primary perspective in those texts appears to be that of expiation. However, the idea of propitiation is not totally absent, particularly in the case of Romans 3:25. . . . Divine wrath against sin is real. But here we should be careful not to give the impression that the Son had to persuade the Father to love us by becoming the object of His unloving and vengeful wrath. . . . We must emphasize that ‘this is not the pagan idea that an angry god may be appeased by sacrifice: for God himself provides the means of propitiation and justification. In Christ, God himself absorbs the destructive consequences of sin.” (Rodriquez, p.110)
“Propitiation does not mean that Christ persuaded the Father to love us; it means that Christ’s sacrifice made it possible for God’s love to reach us.” (Quarterly, Wednesday)
5. The cross is a revelation of hell. True
Gal 3:13-14
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 hung on a tree." (NIV)
Matt 27:45-46, 50
45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" . . .
50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. (NIV)
6. By loving others the invisible God is revealed. True (1 Jn 4:12)
The fruit of all theological concepts is seen in the following passage.
1 John 4:9-12
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (NIV)
Reflective Review
So what? That’s right “So what?” If we get all the theological terms right and know what they mean, “So what!”. How does our mastery of terms like redemption, reconciliation, justification, and expiatory and/or propitiatory sacrifice make any difference in how we live the Christian life? I found the words of Oswald Chambers inspirational at this point:
“Our Lord’s teaching is always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a man; His purpose is to make a man exactly like Himself, and the characteristic of the Son of God is self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain, but what He pours through us that counts. It is not that God makes us beautifully rounded grapes, but that He squeezes the sweetness out of us. Spiritually, we cannot measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us, and we cannot measure that at all.” Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest, September 2.
The terms and the concepts behind them are very important for they bring us assurance that God is actively involved in our lives. He is working to bring restoration and hope to the very ones who have brought such agony to His own heart. Changed and fulfilled lives is God’s purpose and our reward.
“The story is told of a minister who was scheduled to speak in a certain city, but arrived with a severe case of laryngitis. A crowd of four thousand people sat waiting, but he knew that he could not possibly be heard. He begged to be excused, but the local pastor insisted that he speak. Only those in the front could hear. The rest remained only out of courtesy.
But at the close of the meeting, a man from the next to the back row made his way down to the front and said to the minister, ‘Sir, I sat tonight where I could not hear a word of your sermon. But I could not escape the shine on your face. If to believe the gospel means the coming of a light such as I saw on your face, then I want to confess Christ as my Savioiur.’” Marjorie Lewis Lloyd in Too Slow Getting Off, p.60.
“It is not that God makes us beautifully rounded grapes, but that He squeezes the sweetness out of us.”
If the salvation terms of this week’s study can do this then we have found their true meaning.
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