Christ’s Death on the Cross
The death of Jesus on the cross and the shedding of His blood is the central event of history and the heart of the gospel. Paul makes this clear in I Corinthians 2:2 when he says, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” He says again in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The cross was many things. It was “the judgment of this world” (John 12:31)— the darkness, the earthquake and the rending of the veil all testify to this (Matt. 27:45, 51). The judgment of God revealed at the cross was so evident that those who witnessed it went home beating their breasts (Luke 23:48).
It continues to be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to those who do not believe. At the cross Christ was not only laid as the chief cornerstone, but also as a stone of stumbling (I Pet. 2:6-8).
The cross, therefore, makes the division between faith and unbelief, between election and its fruits and reprobation. The cross and “Jesus in the midst” (John 19:18) show clearly that the reason why one believes and another does not is not found in man, but in Christ’s cross and in the purpose of God revealed through Him.
The death of Jesus Christ on the cross is also the source of our sanctification. As Paul says in Galatians 6:14, “… by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” It is the reason we suffer persecution (Gal. 6:12), and it is the pattern of the self-denial we must practise for His sake (Matt. 10:38).
The blood of the cross is the reconciliation of all things in heaven and earth (Col. 1:20). Above all, the cross is our reconciliation to God, the payment for our sin, our atonement and our redemption (Col. 1:21).
At the cross all of Jesus’ suffering and humiliation reach their climax, especially during the three hours of darkness. During that time, bearing our sins, He faced God as Judge. What took place in those hours is far beyond our comprehension, and only one brief cry comes to us out of the darkness: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
In that moment He, the Son of God, was forsaken by His Father and suffered all that our sins deserve. He was forsaken so that we might be accepted by God and never be forsaken by Him. Bearing the full wrath of God for our sins, He delivered us from that wrath, so that we shall never experience what He endured in those hours, nor know what it is to stand before God as an angry and implacable Judge, except as it is revealed to us in that fourth cross word. Rev. Ron Hanko
Give Attention to Prophesyings
“Despise not prophesyings” (I Thess. 5:20).
A reader asks what this admonition of the apostle means for us today.
The question assumes that it must have a different meaning now than it had when the letter was first written. No doubt the reader is thinking of the fact that prophesyings were among the special gifts of the Holy Spirit in the apostolic church (I Cor. 12:10). Scripture teaches that these extraordinary gifts, present before the completion of the canon, have ceased. Does the apostle’s admonition still have significance?
Indeed it does.
The answer depends on the meaning of prophecy.
In the Old Testament God spoke to His people through the prophets, who were entrusted with His word. The term “prophet” literally means “one who boils over.” The idea is that the prophets were so filled with the word of God that they overflowed with it and could not refrain from speaking.
Many have a mistaken idea of prophecy, thinking it is nothing more than predicting the future. While the prophets did foretell what God revealed, prophecy is much broader than that.
A helpful definition is this: prophecy views all things from the perspective of the end, in the light of God’s revealed counsel, and with a view to the development and culmination of His kingdom in Christ.
Thus prophecy concerns all of history as the unfolding of God’s counsel, as He works all things toward the final day of the Lord.
The Old Testament prophets were the mouthpieces of God and prefigured Christ, who is God’s only Prophet. He reveals the counsel and will of God, not only by what He said and did during His earthly ministry, but by what He is. He is Himself the revelation of God, for “we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
Christ continues to function as our Prophet. Though He speaks through the Scriptures, which He Himself has given, He still reveals God’s counsel and will. He does so through those whom He appoints to proclaim His word, namely, His ministers who preach the gospel.
In the Old Testament the three offices were divided among prophets, priests and kings. In the new dispensation these offices are united in Christ.
While every believer shares in these offices as prophet, priest and king, Christ has ordained that they are also represented distinctly in the church: elders exercise kingly rule, deacons serve in a priestly capacity and ministers serve as prophets.
Therefore, prophesying continues today. It continues in the preaching of the gospel on the Lord’s day, when Christ’s appointed servants proclaim the word of God with authority.
This gives meaning to Paul’s admonition. We must not despise prophesying. That is, we must not despise God’s appointed servants nor the word they bring.
Scripture gives many similar exhortations. Solomon says, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few” (Eccl. 5:1-2).
James exhorts, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20). Peter adds, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Pet. 2:2).
We despise prophesying when we sit in church indifferent to what is being preached. We despise it when we reject or mock the proclamation of the word. We despise it when we hear the word, but as soon as we leave, forget it and continue unchanged.
The opposite of despising is loving. We must love the word when it is preached, receive it as our own, humble ourselves under it and walk in its truth by faith.
It is striking how often people refuse to hear the word, especially when it touches on their sins. They find countless reasons why it does not apply to them, yet they are often the very ones who demand more “practical” preaching.
But God’s people hear the word, repent, flee to the cross and seek to obey their Father in heaven. These are the ones who do not despise prophesying.
“He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear!” Prof. Herman Hanko
Does the Lord Purchase False Teachers?
One of our readers asks about a difficult passage, II Peter 2:1, which appears to contradict the biblical teaching of particular redemption, that Christ died only for the elect. The verse reads, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
The question is: how can these false teachers be said to have been “bought” by the Lord?
It is clear that the false teachers described by Peter are not saved. Yet the passage seems to suggest that Christ died for them. But did He?
In light of the many passages that teach particular redemption (e.g., Isa. 53:11; Matt. 1:21; 20:28; 26:28; Luke 1:68; John 10:14, 15; Acts 20:28; Heb. 9:28), Scripture cannot contradict itself by teaching that Christ died for those who perish eternally.
Such an idea would not only deny the doctrine of particular redemption, but would also dishonour the blood of Christ. It would imply that His blood was shed in vain and failed to save those for whom it was shed. This must be rejected.
What, then, does II Peter 2:1 mean?
Several explanations have been proposed.
One explanation is that the word translated “Lord” refers to God the Father rather than to Christ, as it is often used in that way (Luke 2:29; Acts 4:24; Jude 4; Rev. 6:10). Since Peter is writing to those with a Jewish background (I Pet. 1:1), “bought” may refer not to Christ’s atoning blood, but to God’s act of redeeming Israel from Egypt. In this view, these apostate Jews deny the God who redeemed them.
A second explanation, which we prefer, is that the word “them” refers not to the false teachers, but to “the people.” The false teachers arise within the church and deny Christ who bought His people, not Christ who bought the false teachers themselves.
The passage does not specify whether their denial took the form of rejecting the power of Christ’s atonement or teaching some form of universal redemption. In either case, their aim was to undermine confidence in Christ’s saving work.
While this interpretation may seem awkward in English, where “them” would naturally refer to the nearest noun, it is not impossible. In Greek, pronouns do not always follow that pattern.
If this understanding is correct, then the passage does not teach that Christ died for those who perish. That would contradict His own words in John 6:37 and 39.
We therefore give thanks that not a drop of Christ’s blood (more precious than gold or silver) was shed in vain, but that every drop was effectual for the salvation of those whom the Father has given Him, the elect. Rev. Ron Hanko
