Dr. G. Campbell Morgan stated: “The cross interpreted by the resurrection was the Gospel according to Paul.” The message that the Apostle Paul preached centered on the fact that the entire earthly ministry of Christ would culminate in only one purpose and that was “to give His life a ransom.” This He did outside the gates of Jerusalem on Golgotha where He was suspended between heaven and earth. There between two thieves He died on the cross of Calvary for the sin of the world. There He was “made to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness in Him.”
Dr. Paul S. Rees emphasizing the centrality of the cross wrote that the incarnation contemplated the cross, the resurrection complimented the cross, and Pentecost was the consequence of the cross. The message and demands of the cross is still a point of contention today as it was in Paul’s day.
Jesus warned us in Matthew 24 that there would come false Christs and false prophets that would arise in the lasts days spreading their heresies and would try to deceive the very elect. In Acts 20 Paul warns of those who would pervert the truth and draw men away from the faith. We are living in a age of deception and we are admonished to “try the spirits whether they are of God…” Tares resemble wheat, philosophy is often mistaken for theology and sectarianism has several suits and like all counterfeits they are not easily distinguishable. They must be put to the test by the Holy Scriptures. We must beware of any private interpretations or proof texts that are taken out of context and do not agree with the whole fabric of the Scriptures.
The message of the cross must be kept central in our faith otherwise it opens the door wide to all kind of heresies. Jesus encountered this fact in Matthew 16 when “Jesus began to show unto his disciples, how that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day…..Peter began to rebuke him, saying, be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” Peter was trying to initiate a counterfeit religion. He wanted Christ as the Messiah but without the suffering of the cross. Jesus saw that it savored of brimstone and rebuked him. “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”
Cain tried to worship God without a bleeding lamb and his sacrifice was rejected. So will it be with any who try to reject the blood of the Lamb of God. Humanitarianism without blood atonement is simply a refined heathenism. Beware of any creed or teaching that does not show a scarlet thread running all the way through it, such teaching is as counterfeit as a dollar bill without the thread of silk running through out. “Without the shedding of blood is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22)
The words we read in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” encase a truth which levels all men in a common category of demerit and reveals that all mankind is in need of a Savior. The only effective ground upon which a sinner can meet God is the ground of the cross.
C. H. Spurgeon said that He could have destroyed the sinner and punished him forever and remain just in so doing, but He would not be a loving and merciful Savior. He further said that if He forgave the sinner without pronouncing judgment on the sin He would have created rogues galore. Christianity would then be nothing but a sentimentalism, sinning would be of no consequence, and God would only have been a mere benevolent grandfather.
On the cross justice and mercy embraced one another. Through the death of the only begotten Son of God the broken law was satisfied, justice was maintained so that love, mercy, and forgiveness could be extended to all the lost sons and daughters of Adam’s race. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God.”
To the Jews the cross was a stumbling block and to the intellectual Greeks it was foolishness. So even today whether through prejudice or pride the cross will remain a mystery until the arresting Holy Spirit reveals to us our lost and hell-bound condition. When, through conviction, our guilt becomes unbearable and we cry out and plead the blood of Christ, there we will find pardon for our guilt, purity from our pollution, and reconciliation for our estrangement from God. We soon discover that the cross was not only a work done for us but it is also an experience that is wrought in us.
When one truly and personally comes to grip with the words in Romans 3:23, “For there is no difference,” he discovers that this is a sweeping statement that shatters the self-righteousness of all men. It reduces all to a dependence on His atoning death as the only solution to the sin problem. This was the reason that Paul said to the Corinthians, “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but unto us which are saved, (are being saved), it is the power of God.”
The hymn writer had it right when he penned the words:
“When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.”
“Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far to small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all!”
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