Bible Study for Oct. 18: Christ's commitment to us

Posted

Bible Studies for Life
Romans 5:6-12, 18-21 

Michael Pigg

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the TV show "Extreme Makeovers." In this “made for TV” series, candidates are selected for a complete makeover from head to toe, at no cost to them. The show features famous top hairdressers, clothing designers, make-up artists, and plastic surgeons who perform a miracles on average people. With each candidate, the goal remains the same –  to transform a person from average to extraordinary.

I imagine like many people, I watch the show wondering if they can do anything for me. Everybody knows their personal imperfections.  A weight shift, brighter smile, a new haircut, some new clothes, maybe one of those fancy manicures, a pedicure, or even a facial can make me brand new!

Can altering my appearance really change me? When all is said and done, wouldn’t I still be the same old person I was before the great exterior cover-up? What I want and need is a radical change on the inside, don’t you?

Christ was committed to die as a payment for sin
Romans 5:6-8

We need transformation, not a makeover.  It’s not my hair and my clothes that need constant attention, it’s my heart. I need a makeover that purges me daily of the “sin that doth so easily beset” me, so I can run this race with patience (Heb. 12:1). I need an extreme makeover that changes my earthly uglies into heaven’s pleasure. Sin has rendered us unfit for heaven.

God loved us while we were still weak and powerless to deal with sin. This means that our spiritual security is not in our ability to live godly. We need an outside power to eradicate our sin. It is important to notice that God took the initiative in loving us. Paul said, "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." While we were completely helpless to bring ourselves to God, God sent Jesus to die for us as a substitutionary sacrifice as payment for sin (Rom. 6:23). He died for us even though we were ungodly and completely unworthy of his love. When we had no power to escape from our sin, God sent Jesus to die on our behalf.

Christ was committed to reconciling us to God
Romans 5:9-11

As an enemy I am reconciled to God. How is that possible since reconciled means I live in harmony with God or my relationship have been restored? The idea is that two persons who should have been together all along are brought together; two persons who had something between them are restored and reunited.

This is the personal work of God. Every person born on this earth is an enemy of God, because all have sinned and come short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23). This may seem unkind and harsh, but it is exactly what Scripture is saying. The sinner cannot be said to be a friend of God. People are born as an antagonist toward God, opposing what God stands for. A sinner is disobedient to God often rebelling against Him. A sinner rejects divine righteousness and promotes self above God.

The entrance of Christ on the earth is the point of God's great love or reconciliation. He did not reconcile and save us as righteous and good. He reconciled and saved us when we were enemies who rejected Him. Christ came because we are sinners and enemies who needed to be reconciled.

God accepts the death of Jesus Christ for the death of the sinner. God accepts the sins borne by Christ as the sins committed by the sinner. God accepts the condemnation borne by Christ as the condemnation due to the sinner. Therefore, the sinner is freed from his sins and the punishment due his sins. Christ was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:4-8).

Christ was committed to give us eternal life
Romans 5:12, 18-21

 Adam's sin brought death; God's gift, his Son Jesus, brought righteousness. Adam's sin brought condemnation; God's gift brought justification. Adam's sin brought the reign of death; God's gift brought the reign of life. Adam's sin brought condemnation to all men; God's gift brought justification of life upon all men. "By the offense of one judgment came upon all persons to condemnation." However, "by the righteousness of One the free gift of eternal life came to those who are justified by the grace of Jesus.”

What an awesome revelation! I have been justified by his blood. I will be saved from the wrath of God through the atoning work of Jesus from the cross on Calvary. In other words, instead of that fearful moment looking forward to the agony of wondering what will happen to me after I die, and that dreadful feeling that if God judges me I won’t have a leg to stand on — instead of all that, I can say, having been justified by the blood of Christ I have peace with God. Christ Himself makes intercession for me to God.  When the day comes for me to stand before God, I will be saved from God’s wrath, not through what I have done but through the work of Christ.

Ephesians 2:4-9 (ESV)


4  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

What about you? Do you live under the grace of Lord Jesus the Christ? The only way to live out this lesson is to become a true believer who has fully experienced the passionate grace of Christ.

I invite you to first Admit that you are a sinner living by your personal passions (Rom. 3:23). Secondly Believe that Jesus paid the full price for your sins as He became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). Lastly Commit yourself to follow through with your beliefs by actively obeying the Word of God and become a follower of Christ (John 3:16, Rom. 12:1-2). If you have completed these three simple steps, please share it with another believer so they can celebrate with you.


Christ, gospel, redemption