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Lesson 6
Christ Has Paid Our Penalty
We have all sinned, and the penalty had to be paid in
order for God to be just. Christ has paid that penalty. Romans 5:6-10
says,
"For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for
the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps
for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His
love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for
us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall
be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were
reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life". Such wonderful love for
God and Christ to have paid our penalty.
Also, we read in I Peter 3:18, "For Christ also
suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God." Yes, Christ is the just, who had to die for us the
unjust, so that it would be possible for us to be brought back to God.
Because of the death and suffering of Christ for us, God can now be just in saving us.
The only way that man can be saved is through Christ. There is no other
way. John 14:6 says, "Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and
the life: No man comes to the Father except through Me." The
only way we can get to God is through Christ. We also read in Acts 4:12,
"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." We
cannot be saved by relying on Mohammed, Buddha, Judaism, Hindu gods or any
other way. Neither can we devise our own system of
"Christianity" as is being done today and expect it to save us.
Only Jesus Christ can specify the conditions for our salvation, because He
paid our price and is our only
saviour.
Christ went through much suffering for our sins. It is
beyond our imagination what he endured. Christ came to this earth for the
purpose of dying for our sins. There are many Old Testament prophesies
that foretell the inevitable death of Christ. For example, please read for
yourself, Psalms chapter 22 and Isaiah chapter 53. Christ's death was
no accident, because it was in God's eternal plan to redeem man.
Christ in his omniscience, fully knew what was soon
going to happen. In Matthew 20:17-19 we read, "Now Jesus, going up to
Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them,
Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the
chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and
deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the
third day He will rise again". Christ went there willingly to die
for us.
Christ was both divine and human. The human part of
Christ dreaded his death on the cross as much as we would if we were on
death row. He knew that it was going to happen. When Christ was in the
garden of Gethsemane with his apostles the night before his crucifixion,
we read in Luke 22:41-44, "And He was withdrawn from them about a
stone's throw, and knelt down, and prayed, saying, Father, if it is your
will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but yours, be
done. Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And
being in agony He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like
great drops of blood falling down to the ground". Yes, Christ was
dreading the horrible death that he was about to endure for you and for
me.
Also, we read in I Peter 2:24, "Who Himself bore
our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might
live for righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed." Jesus has
personally paid the price for our sins, so that we can be made righteous
before God. When a person is made righteous, by obeying God's plan to
save man, God will then save him.
The human side of Christ knows how we feel. He had the
same feelings, the same sorrows, the same fears, and He experienced pain
just like we do. He fully knows what it is to live a human life. On the
Day of Judgment, no one will be able to point a finger at Christ and say,
"You just don't know what it is to live as a human." Yes He
does. The dread, the fear, the sorrow, the mocking, the spitting, the pain
of scourging, and the crucifixion were all dreaded by our Lord. It hurt
Him as much as it would us. He was the innocent dying for us, the guilty.
Crucifixion on a cross is the most cruel form of torture that has ever been
devised by man. There is nothing worse. Our Lord hung there in pain and
agony for six long hours in a slow death, enduring punishment, so that God
could be just in saving us. What wonderful love beyond description that
God and Christ have for us.
Questions Lesson 6
Christ Has Paid Our Penalty
(click on the button of the answer of your
choice)
1) (Romans 5:6-10) If we are justified it will be by
Our own goodness.
Our church.
The blood of Christ.
2)
Christ
died for sinners like you and me.
3) (1 Peter 3:18) Christ suffered once for our sins, He is the
just,
We are the unjust.
We are also the just.
But we did not need Him to suffer for us.
4)
Christ's death was to bring us back to God.
5) (John 14:6) How many ways are there to come to God?
We can come to God our own way.
Christ is the only way.
Many ways such as Mohammed, Buddha, Hindu, etc.
6)
We can serve God by our own way and still go to Heaven.
7) (Matthew 20:17-19) The death of Christ was
An accident.
A surprise to Christ.
Known to Christ before He came to this earth to die for all mankind.
8)
Christ
went to Jerusalem knowing He was going to be crucified.
9) (Luke 22:41-44) The death of Christ
Was dreaded by Christ.
Was not dreaded by Christ.
Was punishment Christ deserved.
10)
Christ
prayed to God for another way so he would not have to die.
11) (1 Peter 2:24) Whose sins did Christ bare when he died?
His own sins.
Our sins.
Only the sins of criminals.
12)
Since Christ paid the price for everyone's sins then all people will be
saved.
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