God's Love and Justice Meet

God hates sin because of His righteous nature. God loves us because of His loving nature. These two attributes collided most powerfully in one location: the Cross. 

How much does God hate sin? He crushed His own Son. The sinless Son of God was credited with your sin and God poured out His fury on His beloved Son because Jesus had been credited with your sin. How much does God love you? He crushed His own Son on your behalf that you might be forgiven. 

God’s wrath and love are most vividly on display at the Cross. If you ever doubt God’s settled anger at sin, look at the Cross. If you ever doubt how kind, good, and loving God is, look at the Cross. Jesus’ brutal death on the Cross is God’s greatest and clearest demonstration of His wrath and love. 

Adapted from Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You by Todd Friel

Boasting in the Cross

What do we think and feel about the cross of Christ? We live in a Christian land. We probably attend the worship of a Christian church. We have, most of us, been baptized in the name of Christ. We profess and call ourselves Christians. All this is well, it is more than can be said of millions in the world. But what do we think and feel about the cross of Christ?

I want to examine what one of the greatest Christians who ever lived, thought of the cross of Christ. He has written down his opinion, he has given his judgment in words that cannot be mistaken. The man I mean is the apostle Paul. The place where you will find his opinion is in the letter that the Holy Spirit inspired him to write to the Galatians. The words in which his judgment is set down are these: "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Now what did Paul mean by saying this? He meant to declare strongly that he trusted in nothing but Jesus Christ crucified for the pardon of his sins and the salvation of his soul. Let others, if they would look elsewhere for salvation; let others, if they were so disposed, trust in other things for pardon and peace, for his part the apostle was determined to rest on nothing, lean on nothing, build his hope on nothing, place confidence in nothing, boast in nothing, except in the cross of Jesus Christ. Paul boasted in nothing but the cross. Strive to be like him.

Set Jesus crucified fully before the eyes of your soul. Listen not to any teaching that would interpose anything between you and Him. Do not give Chris's honor to another. "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (1 Cor. 1:31).

Adapted from Our Great Redeemer: 365 Days with J. C. Ryle

The Man Who Was Crucified Beside Him

The Friday of Passion Week is known as Good Friday. The origin of the term is uncertain. Most of us have heard at least one sermon about what makes Good Friday good, the answer being that on that day the greatest good since the creation of the world was accomplished. But there is another tradition that suggests the origin lies in the Old English: God’s Friday. This day commemorates the work of God for our salvation. But did anyone who participated in the events that day think of it as a good Friday? It certainly didn’t seem good for any of the people we’ve been looking at this week—Judas Iscariot, Simon Peter, Pontius Pilate, Simon of Cyrene, and others. Mary was losing her Son. John was watching his best friend die. The Roman centurion might have looked back on it as a turning point in his life, but we can’t be sure. 

Even the religious leaders who engineered our Lord’s crucifixion had all kinds of anxieties about the day. After all, they’d been trying to avoid Jesus being executed at the time of the Feast of the Passover. But there was one man for whom the day started as the worst day of his life but ended as the best (as well as the last) day of his life. In the morning, he had been dragged with two others from his prison cell and forced to carry the instrument of his own crucifixion. From around midday, he began to experience the agony of crucifixion, a torturous form of execution that led the great Roman orator Cicero to say that the very word should be absent from the lips of a Roman citizen. Sometimes it could take days for a man to die, ultimately by asphyxiation. 

Perhaps all this man could hope for was that since Passover was about to begin, the execution squad would show mercy and do something to hasten his end. At first, he had the strength to curse anything and everything. He noticed that the crowd that had gathered seemed focused on the man hanging on the cross beside him. They were mocking Him. What must have struck him was that the chief priests were there, too. That was strange. Wasn’t one of the most sacred days in the year about to begin? What were they doing there, and why were they mocking Him? He could surely hear what they were shouting: “So You saved others, did You? Let’s see You save Yourself” and: “If He is the King of Israel, let Him come down now from the cross. Then we’ll believe in Him. He trusts in God. Let’s see if God really cares about Him. He said He was the Son of God. Look at the Son of God now” (see Matt. 27:40–43). At first, he joined in the shouts. He was in agony, and he was angry. But then he heard an echo of his own words from the other criminal being executed along with him: “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39). The words were bitter. They were words of anger and hatred. But the man hanging on the center cross beside him was without anger or bitterness. He had prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (v. 34). And something happened in the man’s heart. He shouted over to the criminal on the other side: “We deserve this, but He doesn’t. He has done nothing wrong” (see vv. 40–41). 

It felt as though he’d been struggling in his pain to solve a puzzle, and now the pieces were beginning to come together. This man who had somehow saved others must be Jesus of Nazareth. Most people in Jerusalem seemed to know what He had done. Could that notice on His cross be true: “This is the King of the Jews” (v. 38)? And that prayer for the forgiveness of those who were crucifying Him—that was amazing. I don’t suppose he could put it all completely together, but this much was clear: this was the King, the Messiah who had been promised, who could open the gate to the kingdom of God. What should he do? What could he say? He turned his head to Jesus and said these never-to-be-forgotten words: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (v. 42). 

That Friday began as the worst day of his life. It was the last day of his life. But it was the best day of his life because the Lord Jesus said to him, “Today, you will be with me in paradise” (v. 43). It wasn’t an easy road that brought him to Jesus. It was strewn with his own sin and failure. But at last, he was brought near to Jesus to recognize Him as Savior and King, to turn to Him, to cast himself on His mercy, and to find forgiveness and eternal life. And now he is with Jesus in paradise. That is what made this Friday “Good Friday” for him, and it’s the only thing that can make it good for us, too.

Adapted from Things Unseen: One Year of Reflections on the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson

Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Test Your View of the Cross

The Cross does not merely tell us that God forgives, it tells us that that is God’s way of making forgiveness possible. It is the way in which we understand how God forgives. I will go further: how can God forgive and still remain God? — that is the question. The Cross is the vindication of God. The Cross is the vindication of the character of God. The Cross not only shows the love of God more gloriously than anything else, it shows his righteousness, his justice, his holiness, and all the glory of his eternal attributes. They are all to be seen shining together there. If you do not see them all you have not seen the Cross. That is why we must totally reject the so-called ‘moral influence theory’ of the Atonement — the theory which says that all the Cross has to do is to break our hearts and to bring us to see the love of God. 

Above and beyond all that, Paul says, ‘He is declaring his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past’. Why this, if it is merely a declaration of his love? No, says Paul, it is more than that. If it merely proclaimed his forgiveness we would be entitled to ask whether we can depend on God’s word, and whether he is righteous and just. It would be a fair question because God has repeatedly stated in the Old Testament that he hates sin and that he will punish sin, and that the wages of sin is death. The character of God is involved. God is not as men. We think sometimes that it is wonderful for people to say one thing and then do another. The parent says to the child, ‘If you do this thing you shall not have that sixpence to buy your sweets’. Then the boy does that thing, but the father says, ‘Well, it is all right’, and gives him the sixpence. That, we think, is love, and true forgiveness. But God does not behave in that manner. God, if I may so put it, is eternally consistent with himself. There is never a contradiction. He is ‘the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning’. All these glorious attributes are to be seen shining like diamonds in his eternal character. And all of them must be manifest. In the Cross they are all manifested. 

How can God be just and justify the ungodly? The answer is that he can, because he has punished the sins of ungodly sinners in his own Son. He has poured his wrath upon him. ‘He bore our chastisement.’ ‘By his stripes we are healed.’ God has done what he said he would do; he has punished sin. He proclaimed this through the Old Testament every­where; and he has done what he said he would do. He has shown that he is righteous. He has made a public declaration of it. He is just and can justify, because having punished another in our stead, he can forgive us freely. And he does so. That is the message of verse 24: ‘Being justified [being regarded, declared, pronounced righteous] freely by his grace through the redemption [the ransoming] that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood.’ Thus he declares his righteousness for having passed over those sins in his time of self-restraint. ‘To declare, I say’, his righteousness then, and now, and always, in forgiving sins. Thus he is, at one and the same time, just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. 

Such is this great and glorious and wonderful statement. Make sure that your view, your understanding of the Cross, includes the whole of it. Test your view of the Cross. Where does this statement about ‘declaring’ his righteousness and so on, come into your thinking? Is it something that you just skip over and say: `Well, I don’t know what that means. All I know is, that God is love and that he forgives.’ But you should know the meaning of this. This is an essential part of the glorious Gospel. On Calvary God was making a way of salvation so that you and I might be forgiven. But he had to do so in a way that will leave his character inviolate, that will leave his eternal consistency still absolute and unbroken. Once you begin to look at it like that, you see that this is the most tremendous, the most glorious, the most staggering thing in the universe and in the whole of history. God is there declaring what he has done for us. He is declaring at the same time his own eternal greatness and glory, declaring that ‘He is light and in him is no darkness at all’. ‘When I survey the wondrous Cross. . .’, says Isaac Watts, but you do not see the wonder of it until you really do survey it in the light of this great statement of the Apostle. God was declaring publicly once and for ever his eternal justice and his eternal love. Never separate them, for they belong together in the character of God. 

Source: Test Your View of the Cross from Monergism

Around The Web-March 1, 2019

50% off the New Studies in Biblical Theology series

Walking When You Can't Seem to Crawl by Nathan Clinkscales

Ask Pastor John: Can a Coin Flip Reveal God’s Will for My Life?

The Power of the Cross by Michael Milton

Revisiting Andy Stanley’s “Unhitch” Remark by Garrett O'Hara

A Healthy Church and Her Scars from Doctrine and Devotion

The Sin-Bearing Sufferer of Psalm 38 by Timothy Brindle

Church History Made Before Our Eyes: United Methodists Make History, Affirm Biblical Standards of Sexuality by Albert Mohler

The Extent of the Atonement: A Brotherly, Biblically-Based Discussion and Disagreement with Michael Brown and James White

The Focus of Christianity is the Cross and the Empty Tomb

In everything Paul wrote—more than half of the New Testament letters are his—he says the good news is the front-page headline. “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3–4, italics mine). God says the gospel is the most important truth in his word. “First importance” (or “most important,” NLT), means that the gospel is the leading truth of the Bible; it’s at the head of the pack, the alpha truth, and all other biblical truths fall in line behind it. The gospel is the mama duck in our gaggle of doctrine. She leads, she guides, and all other doctrine looks to her, follows her, and keeps in step with her. To live a Christian life is to live “in step with the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14) and to “let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Phil. 1:27).

The Christian life is formed by the glories of the gospel—it’s patterned and powered by the gospel of grace in all of life, for the rest of life. The gospel is the center of the Bible, and it ought to be the center of our lives, homes, churches, ministries, spiritual disciplines, songs, parenting, marriages, jobs—everything. The focal point of the Christian life is one cross and one empty tomb. Without the gospel, we lack the proper understanding of any doctrine, and especially a robust knowing of God himself. “The gospel,” Michael Bird, author and systematic theologian, says, “is the nexus into the reality of the God who has revealed himself.” If we want to know the glory of God, his high-definition glory is found in the gospel of Jesus—for Jesus makes God known (John 1:18). The cross is our logo. It’s the power of our lives, because Christ is alive in us. Husbands and wives pattern their marriage after the gospel (Eph. 5:22–33). Christian interaction is gospel-driven. Humility is possible for us proud people because of Jesus at work in us (Phil. 2:1–11).

The gospel is the message of the church. Christians are made strong because of the gospel. Bird is right: “We need a gospel-driven theology in order to yield a gospel-soaked piety and a gospel-acting church.” It’s all gospel. All the time. A gospel party don’t stop. The gospel, the news of the eternal Son of God dying in our place for our sins, is not only the center of the Bible; it’s also the center of history. In God’s gospel, he is reconciling all things unto himself for the praise of his glory. Nothing compares to the glory of the gospel in giving glory to God—and God will never get tired of the gospel; it’s the soundtrack of the heavenly places (Rev. 5:1–14). The angels, who have seen things we can’t even fathom, looked at the bloody cross and the empty tomb with sheer excitement. Peter tells us, "Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look." (1 Peter 1:10–12)

Do you long to look into the gospel? When you hear the gospel preached, do you perk up? I can relate to being bored by a lecture on some theological abstraction from a land far, far away, but not by the gospel; the wildness of the gospel vaporizes yawning and boredom. There is a shock-and-awe that comes with the gospel. God loves the gospel. The angels are giddy over it. If you don’t quite get the fireworks of the gospel, preach the gospel to yourself. Like Paul prayed for the Ephesians, pray "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places." (Eph. 1:17–20)

Adapted from Gospel Formed: Living a Grace-Addicted, Truth-Filled, Jesus-Exalting Life by J.A. Medders

Around The Web-February 16, 2018

40 years of counseling distilled into 100 pages from books by David Powlison

10 Things You Should Know about the Cross of Christ by Sam Storms

Repenting of Confirmation Bias Christianity by Jared C Wilson

David Platt Is Ready to Leave the IMB

5 Ways Pastors Can Prepare Their Churches for Suffering by Dave Furman

What's the True Source of Powerful Evangelism? by Casey Lewis

5 Basics of Biblical Interpretation by Dave Jenkins

Six Gospel Themes in First Half of Genesis by Aaron Armstrong

Jonathan Leeman: Biblical Theology Protects Churches from the Prosperity Gospel

The Meaning of the Cross

We have seen the cross on church buildings, paintings, on the wall of someone's house, and even as a piece of jewelry around someone's neck. I remember as a kid who had no idea who Jesus was, I associated the cross with the Japanese anime cartoon robot Voltron. We see a cross used in vampire movies to fight them off because it will burn them.

Many churches do not have cross anywhere in their building because it might offend people. I believe a lot of Christians have lost what the cross truly means. In this short video, R.C. Sproul discusses the meaning of the cross.

Book Review: CROSS edited by John Piper and David Mathis

There are many conferences that happen all over the world and especially hear in the United States. Some conferences happen yearly and every other year. We have Passion, Desiring God, Together for the Gospel, and The Gospel Coalition. Some of these conferences will have a certain theme to them but what one conference that was focused on students. Some of you would say, "Isn't what the Passion conference does?" I am talking about one that focuses on students whose hearts are for the nations. Those who desire to do missions.

In December 2013, thousands of student gathered together to be mobilized for missions. To go in places where it is dangerous. To places where it is remote and people don't know who Jesus is. This conference featuring John Piper, Conrad Mbewe, Ricahrd Chin, Mack Stiles, Matt Chandler, Michael Oh, David Platt, Thabiti Anyabwile, Kevin DeYoung, and D.A. Carson is called CROSS, which also happens to be the title of this book.

Each chapter is a general session each preacher did during CROSS. Piper addressed the chief end of missions which is the supremacy of God in the joy of all people. DeYoung's chapter was on the five surprising motivations for mission where he addressed the doctrines of grace also known as T.U.L.I.P. which are the five points of Calvinism. I love Mack Stiles' chapter where he expressed if you are called to be a missionary, you must be inspired by the gospel. It does no good for a missionary to go over seas and not love the gospel as they serve the people.

One thing this book addresses is that not all Christians are called to be missionaries. Some are called to go while some are called to stay. David Platt addressed that in the conclusion of this book. What is most important is your obedience to God on whether or not you should be in the mission field. When I was in college, I heard a lot about missions. I kept thinking if God wanted me to go. I felt the speakers who I heard kept making me feel guilty that I am not a missionary. Praise be to God, this book did not give that impression and I hope those who heard these messages felt the same.

This is great book to give to a student considering missions. I think youth pastors will benefit from it too as well as those in college ministry to equip their people.

Thanks B&H Publishing for letting me review this book.

The Cross Was Never About Us

The cross is not primarily a shout-out to our worth, but a shout-out to God's worth and righteousness, that he might be exalted as the "just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Romans 3:26)...The cross is primarily about God's glory. It is about his holiness and righteousness and justice being upheld and vindicated in the forgiveness of sinners...The cross was Jesus' finest hour because it was the hour when he preserved the Father's glory and put it on display, which was the greatest longing in the human heart.

J.R. Vassar, Glory Hunger

Our Sins Did Not Thwart God's Plan

God didn't plan for Christ's work on the cross to extend a certain distance only to discover later that his creatures have somehow thwarted his good intentions. God's grace always goes precisely as far as God planned.

Daniel Montgomery & Timothy Paul Jones, Proof: Finding Freedom Through the Intoxicating Joy of Irresistible Grace

The Cross Was Part of the Plan

The cross of Jesus Christ was not some surprise, not some plan B for God, but rather the plan known about within the Godhead since the beginning. God's response to the belittlement of his name, from the beginning of time, has been the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on a Roman cross.

Acts 4:27 tells us, "For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel..." Now, for the record, that's everyone in the world.

It would be like me saying, "You Americans and all other peoples of earth." This is everyone. Everyone involved in the crucifixion has been just been named here. But look at how it continues in verse 28 "...to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." Whose hand and whose plan? God's plan.

The cross of Christ was God's idea. The death of Jesus was God's idea. From the first day, when God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, in perfect unity, said, "Let us make man in our image" (Gen. 1:26), the cross of Christ cast its shadow across all of eternity. It was the predetermined plan of God. The death of Jesus, wrath-absorbing cross of Christ, was the plan of God before creation.

The cross now stands at the central tenet of all we believe about salvation.

Matt Chandler, The Explicit Gospel

Jesus' Cross is Love

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers (1 John 3:16)

Jesus Faced The Flamming Sword

On the cross, Jesus faced God's flaming sword, guarding the way back into the garden and the presence of God. He walked through it at the cost of his own life. He dd this so that any who repent of their idolatry and turn in faith to Christ might find forgiveness for sins and reconciliation with God. He did it so he could welcome us back home.

Michael Lawrence, Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church

You Have Been Brought Near to God

Isaiah 59:2 says our "iniquities have made a separation" between us and God. Our sin keeps us from enjoying fellowship with God. Many people say they feel God is so far away they cannot fathom why He would interact with mankind. Even some Christians do not feel close to God because of unrepentant sin or their prayer life does not match some other maturing believers. Deists believe that God is the creator of the universe but has no interaction with His creation. Some would make a good case they are distant from God.

I have got good news for those who feel God is distant. You can be brought near to God through Jesus. In Ephesians 2:11-12, Paul writes, "Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called 'the uncircumcision' by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." All of us have been separated from Christ because of our sin. We all know all have sin and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). God does not tolerate sin because God is holy. So how can sinners have fellowship with God and be closer to God?

Ephesians 2:13 answers that question: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Through his sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus made the way possible for us to be brought near to God. After His death on the cross, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from the holy of holies where only the High Priest went in to confess the sins of Israel and his own sins. We have access to God because of Jesus. 1 Peter 3:18 says, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit."

When you feel that you are not close to God, remember the gospel tells us that Jesus brought us to God through His death on the cross. Jerry Bridges once said in our good days and bad days we are never out of God's grace. Even when we struggle with sin or pray for 5 minutes, we are closer to God than we thank because of Jesus.

Music Monday: Jesus, Thank You

Another Easter has come and gone. I am sure many of you were filled with awe and wonder over what the celebration of Easter means for us as Christians. The truth is we should always be celebrating Easter even when it is not the time and season for it. We should always be rejoicing over the gift of salvation provided to us by God through the finished work of Christ on the cross. Jesus satisified the righteousness of God on our behalf and was raised from the dead to defeat death. This leads us to this song from Sovereign Grace that I love called, Jesus, Thank You. Let these words sink in as you give thanks to Jesus for all He has done:

Jesus Died for the Weak

Tomorrow is Good Friday which means for some people it's a day from work which makes it to them a good Friday. Good Friday for Christians means we take time to celebrate and mourn the death of Jesus. We celebrate His death because He took upon Himself the chastisement that brought us peace with God. We mourn His death because it was a death He did not deserve because He was without sin.

However, I am thankful Jesus took my place. Why, you may ask. Because He is stronger than I am. Romans 5:6 says, "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." We were unable to help ourselves in making us justified before a holy God who demands absolute obedience because He has creator rights over us. The popular expression, "God helps those who help themselves" is a lie because we are unable to help ourselves because we are full of ourselves and will boast in our accomplishments of getting right with God if we could do it ourselves.

Jesus was able to take our place for our sin because we were still weak but He is stronger than we are. He is greater than us and more perfect (because He never sinned) than us. Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). We are poor in spirit because we depend on Jesus to say us from our sins because we are weak, powerless, and unable to help ourselves.

The Cross Redeemed Us

How then did the cross actually redeem us, through Jesus' death? By reconciling us to God, ending the alienation and estrangement that were previously there, linking God and us together in new harmony, replacing enmity between us with friendship and peace, by means of the putting away of our sins. (See Rom. 5:11; Col. 1:19-22)

So how did the cross actually reconcile us to God, and God to us? by being a propitiation, ending God's judicial wrath against us. (See Rom. 3:24)

And how did the cross actually propitiate God? By being an event of substitution, whereby at the Father's will the sinless Son bore the retribution due to us guilty ones. (See 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; Col. 2:14)

J.I. Packer, In My Place Condemned He Stood

Jesus Had To Be Divine and Man

In order for Jesus Christ to qualify as the atonement for the sins of the redeemed, he must be personally perfect-that is, holy, having lived a sinless life. In order to be perfect, Christ must be more than a mere man-he must be divine. God's chosen mediator, Jesus Christ, is himself fully God (John 1:1, 18) and thus uniquely qualified to complete the work of redemption.

However, because man sinned, man must bear the penalty of sin, so in addition to being fully God, the mediator must also be fully man in order to bear the sin of man as their representative. Also, the mediator must be a man since the mediating act of atoning for sin requires a sacrificial death (Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22), and it is impossible for God to die.

Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington, The Great Exchange

Jesus Died to Pay A Ransom

The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45)

There is no thought in the Bible that Satan had to be paid off to let sinners be saved...When Jesus says, that he came "to give his life as a ransom," the focus is not on who gets the payment. The focus is on his own life as the payment, and on his freedom in serving rather than being served, and on the "many" who will benefit from the payment he makes.

If we ask who received the ransom, the biblical answer would surely be God. The Bible says that Christ "gave himself up for us, [an]...offering...to God" (Ephesians 5:2). Christ "offered himself without blemish to God" (Hebrews 9:4). The whole need for a substitute to die on our behalf is because we have sinned against God and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). And because of our sin, "the whole world [is] held accountable to God" (Romans 3:19). So when Christ gives himself as a ransom for us, the Bible says that we are freed from the condemnation of God. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). The ultimate captivity from which we need release is the final "judgment of God" (Romans 2:2; Revelation 14:7).

John Piper, Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die