An infinite eternal God stepped into time and space taking upon himself the form of a servant and his creation. He came into his world to redeem those whom he called from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Jesus Christ was born into the world to live a life which his people could never live so that they might enter Heaven, which they could never do without the perfect life. He died the most gruesome death we can imagine and was raised again so that we have the sure hope of a glorious life eternally spent with him. To this life, he invites freely anyone who will come and give up his life to attain it. It is the life lived in pursuit of holiness which is Jesus' nature. We live our entire life in response to this beautiful free grace following our Lord to whatever place and through whatever times he would lead us. This short clip by John Piper is a fantastic explanation as is this spoken word poem from Matt Papa.
There are three aspects to the gospel.
1) Justification- This is a one time act in which all of our sins are washed away and Christ's righteousness is given to us. He died in our place so we receive the reward of his life.
2) Sanctification- Our entire life is spent pursuing what God has laid out for us to accomplish, growing more holy and closer to him by his Grace.
3) Glorification- That we will be made like Christ. As we suffer with him in this life we shall be made glorious with him in the next.
It may seem incredibly contradictory to suppose a loving God, and at the same time claim that God makes it incredibly difficult to achieve such a glorious salvation. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me." ~ John 14:6-7. These are unimaginably bold words. Most usually the criticism is a general "how could authority be given to an individual, or just one individual path? That seems incredibly cruel. A loving God wouldn't do that." So quickly, though, an inconsistency arises in this view. What gives this particular skeptic the authority to say it is not restricted to an individual path? Thus we start to understand why presuppositions are so important.
The Christian claim is that the only way to Salvation (as described above) is by means of Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that we are a broken people, unimaginably outclassed by a Sovereign, Omnipotent, Uncaused Creator. It can be described as nothing other than complete, absolute Love and Grace that this Being would even allow a means by which we could be reconciled so that we may know Him. In this way, there must be a means to Salvation that in some way specifically resolves this dilemma. This infinitely spanned gap between the perfect, and the ultimately undeserving.
By his love, Jesus came to Earth, as human, certifying his Holiness by way of miracles and teaching the message His Father recognized as necessary. In a not so spectacular betrayal of the Sovereign, Jesus humbly atoned for each and every sin and transgression ever committed by living a perfect life, submitting himself besides His ability to bypass such a gruesome event, and consequently descending into hell to defeat evil, and rid humanity of our impossible struggle of self-accomplished perfection. Through Jesus alone has any justification of such a transformation been proven and logically sufficient. Jesus' death and resurrection are necessary and sufficient for the affirmation of the divine and the transformation of the fallen. Praise God for a sufficient path.
What should we write on next? We have a couple of controversies in mind if no one suggests anything, but we welcome your ideas. Email us: theology.guys@gmail.com
In Christ Alone,
Athanasius
Excelsior
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