He Paid It All: It isn't an Excuse by Brandi J. Ray

     You don't know ministry until you've experienced a second Sunday worship with Triumph Baptist Church's Youth Choir. I know someone has tried to sell you their church and their church's experience before, but I tell no lies when I say that TBC's Youth Choir was one like no other. Each second Sunday, we'd fill the rows of Triumph "Blue" and put on a holy-ghost filled show full of good harmonies, coordinated outfits, and, possibly, an electric slide or two. The one thing that the experience of worship taught was that worshipping God was freeing – you can enjoy Him, you can dance for Him and, you can be your total self with Him.

Each Easter season, we'd find ourselves preparing for our Easter Sunday selections. Of course, "At Calvary" was an anticipated song selection which, would get the sanctuary on their feet. But, years later and maturation in Christ – I've finally digested the full weight of the beautiful hymn. Maybe. 

 

"Years, I've spent in vanity and pride,

Caring not my Lord was crucified.

Knowing not it was for me, He died

On Calvary."

 

The last time you and I gathered at the Sacred Desk, we explored James' and Paul's assertions of the justification by faith or rather, faith in practice through the lenses of James. However, this month, I find it just as essential to tackle Paul's fundamental basics in ministry - the meaning of justification by faith. Throughout Paul's ministry and specifically, in Romans, Paul champions people for Christ by explaining and defining the justification by faith. In short, Paul's argument is that the former Jews, now Christians, no longer need to submit to the works of the law to get approval or be made right with God. That was already taken care of by Jesus at Calvary. And if that seems a little confusing, in short: There is nothing that we can say or do that will earn God's love or grace – Jesus paid our debts with His crucifixion. However, as Paul says, still abide by the law but do it out of obedience and pure willingness to serve God, not because you assume that this will win God over. It won't – and trust, we'll explore that in a few. 

As always, maybe you're not like me. Perhaps you got it the first time around. But, it took a deep dive into the word and rewatching the Passion of the Christ to fully grasp the scriptures and what they've been saying all along. Crucified. We have heard all of our Christian life that Jesus died for our sins, but what exactly does that mean?

John 19:1 indicates that Jesus was first flogged and while the Bible most certainly spares the details – flogged isn't such a pretty action. It is the act of a maximum of forty lashings with whips and chains, made to weaken the body before execution. So many of us quote Isaiah 53:5, that He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities and yet, lack the fullness of understanding of how He was bruised and why. And although, Pilate called for this punishment in hopes of avoiding the crucifixion – the people, God's people, the people that Jesus was there to save, us, were not satisfied. So, Pilate was encouraged to crucify Him.

In John 19:2-3, the Roman soldiers proceeded to penetrate a crown of thorns from a rose bush into Jesus' head. They mocked Him and challenged His assertion of kingship and divinity. Maybe the lack of visuals or our absence at the cross doesn't display these actions' severity. But, Jesus was divinity in the flesh. He was human. We "ouch" and "whine" if a thorn pricks us, but He endured a horrid beating and then was made to wear a crown not fit for a King. 

By John 16, Jesus was condemned to death. As if the beating and the crown of thorns on His head weren't enough, the Roman soldiers forced Jesus to carry a cross of about 165 pounds and walk to His death approximately a mile away – while being spit on, mocked and, taunted. All the while, having had been departed from God. By taking on our sins, being the sacrificial lamb – a man once without sin became the bearer of our sin, thus, leaving from His relationship with God. 

To the cross, they dislocated His shoulders and nailed Him, they continued to mock Him, gamble over His belongings all the while, Jesus suffering a brutal, cruel, and undeserved death. I'm not sure if you know how crucifying kills, but it is a slow death by asphyxiation. By the body and specifically, Jesus' body needing to be supported by His wrists – it became hard to breathe. Now, imagine that. A broken, bruised, and weakened body struggling to breathe – all for people who didn't recognize them as their Lord and Savior. 

The actions of the crucifixion were not merely man's cruelty but symbolic and purposeful. Jesus had to die that death. In the Old Testament, the bloodshed of bulls and goats would offer temporary atonement for the people's sins. The priest would sprinkle blood on the ceremonially unclean. The Temple of that time was separated by three parts: the courts, the Holy Place (where only the priest could enter) and, the Most Holy Place, reserved for God and only accessed by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. But, our rebellion became too great, the blood of bulls and goats was no longer enough. So, God offered His lamb, the blood of Jesus, which would cover us for the rest of our natural-born lives – He would rip the curtains of the High Temple and give us direct access to Him. God did this while we were undeserving of His love – while we were in the state of rebellion, while there was no peace between us. That's why there is nothing that we can say or do to earn His favor and grace – He already gave it most perfectly through the new covenant: the crucifixion of Jesus. 

For years, we've spent time in both vanity and pride – caring not our Lord was crucified, knowing not it was for us He died, on Calvary. 

 

“Mercy there was great and grace was free,

Pardon there was multiplied to me.

There my burdened soul found liberty,
At Calvary.”

 

A common misconception that I addressed last month that Paul addresses in Romans 6, is that this mercy and grace is not the privilege nor the excuse to remain in our sin. We are justified by faith and pardoned for our sins forevermore through Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. And while we are still sinners, very well-born into the sinful world – God’s grace is the privilege and the opportunity to continuously renew and refine ourselves from the evil world. Christ’s death offered us the liberty to live free of the deserving penalty for our faults – the same faults and burdens Christ carried on the cross. The death that Christ endured, a similar death to that of persecuted murderers and robbers, is no longer our fate. In fact, He did pay it all. 

But Christ paying it all isn’t our hall pass. As Paul teaches in Romans 6:1-5, as we continue sinning, our grace from God will increase. However, this is not the encouragement to continue sinning. Instead, as with Christ, we have died to sin – through our baptism into Christ, our former selves should no longer exist. Sin and Christ cannot coexist. As Christ resurrected, we have the same resurrection and the same chance to live a new life. And to be fair, if we jump ahead to Hebrews 6:4-8, those who’ve come to Christ and return to sin make the mistake of crucifying Christ every single time we sin. We become the culprits of flogging (beating, whipping and, striking), mocking, and suffocating Him to His death all over again.

 

“And when I think about,

How He died for me,

When I think about,

How He set me free,

When I think about,

How He pardoned me,

I will praise His name,

Forevermore.”

When we come to think about Christ’s death, our freedom, and our gift of pardoning – we should (personal convictions, speaking) be drawn near to Him and His will for our lives. And when I say, draw near, I mean to draw on the Christ that fully lives in us all. His death shouldn’t be an Easter Sunday sermon but the root of our mission in this world: service to Him. 

As Paul continues in Romans 6:15-23, we become slaves – entirely under Jesus’ mastery. This slavery is one of devout obedience that allows us to live as God wishes for us to live. The obedience, as James argued in James 2, is one of righteousness. Once at war and in conflict with God, people now become people who have an allegiance to Him. And while Paul reminds us that we, in fact, have human limitations – we are to offer ourselves to the righteousness that leads to holiness, not sin that leads to death. For the wages of sin is death, whereas the gift of God is eternal life in Christ. 

Such an example of living and being in Christ is genuine praise – honoring His name by offering our hearts and minds to His example. An opportunity that we have here on this Earth and the promise that we can and will live out forevermore on the day of His return.

May the words and praises we sing no longer be just good songs that are filled with the Holy Ghost when we need a Christ “pick me up” but the reminders of the absolute truth of Christ and His credible promises for us. 

Be kind to yourselves, 

Brandi J. Ray 

 

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