Christ our Substitute

Christ our Substitute

When I came to live in Chicago I worked a few months as a substitute teacher.  A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, or other reasons.  In some regions, the qualifications for substitute teaching may not be as strict as those for a regular teacher.  Some areas require a college degree and the successful completion of competency tests (this was the case in Chicago); others require only that the applicant possess a high school diploma or its equivalent; others again insist on full teaching qualifications (Now the case in Chicago).  Standards are often lower for short-term substitute teachers, who may only fill in for a teacher during a short illness or personal day, compared to long-term substitutes, who may be assigned to a class for up to an entire semester. Some authorities will allow a substitute teacher without any training in the subject to be taught, who will not cover new material but will simply supervise students working independently on work previously assigned by the regular teacher.  Some school administrators may not hire full-time teachers unless they have had substitute teaching experience.   Often, the role of a substitute teacher may be covered by a retired teacher from that school or district; in school districts that have gone through layoffs, some furloughed teachers may substitute in the district where they previously held full-time positions.

The noun substitute is defined as one that takes the place of another; a replacement.  It is also defined as to serve or cause to serve in place of another person or thing.  As we can see from the above paragraph a person taking the place of a teacher, must have some kind of training or education.  Most places by now require the substitute teacher to have a similar training and education; which means that the substitute teacher must be an adult. 
In the game of basketball a substitute player is a member of the team, that plays as well or almost as well as the one substituted.  Also, as a member of the same team, the substitute has the same interest and goal as the player being substituted.  So, there is identification.  So, we can see that there are requirements for a substitute: 

1.       The substitute should come from the same pool of person substituted.

2.       The Substitute should have similar if not equal training (same could be said of properties or characteristics).

3.      The substitute must be available to do substitute when necessary.

4.      The substitute should identify with person being substituted.

When we say that Christ was our substitute, this must mean that He must have fulfilled the above requirements.  As God incarnate, He became one of us, so He came from our pool.  He grew up as we grew up.  He was trained as we were (or as we could be) trained.  He was touched with our infirmities and tempted in all things as we are (yet without Sin; Hebrews 4:15).  Many times it the bible says, that Christ was moved with compassion to serve others.  So, He identified with us.  Evidently, if He was doing the job, He was available. 

All of the above would qualify Jesus to be a substitute, but not our Savior.  To save us Jesus identification went beyond a mere sympathy.  Jesus became us.  The idea is that when Jesus came to this earth we were all in Him.  Just as Levi was in Abraham when Levi paid tithes toMelchisedec.  We see this idea echoing in Romans 5 and 6 when Paul contrasts the two Adams.  Perusing the following verses we can see the idea,

Rom5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Rom5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

Rom5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Rom6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Rom6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

When Adam sinned we all sinned.  We were all in Adam.  But, when Christ conquered Sin in the flesh, so did we.  We were in Christ, which is why we die and are buried with Him.  So, we are resurrected with Him also; which is why Paul says that in Christ we are in Heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).  So when Paul says in Galatians 3:13 that, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole,’” He can do this because He is us.  Paul repeats the same concept in 2 Corinthians 5:21,

2 Corinthians 5:21 For He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Christ did not merely replace us.  He did not merely die our death.  His identity with us was complete.  He carried us and our Sin in Him.  So, He suffered the curse that we should suffer, but we suffered it with Him. So, His victory is our victory.  Do we believe it? 

Commentary: Remission

Remission

I have met several patients of cancer in my life.  Some of them have gone through surgery or other kinds of therapy to get rid of the cancerous tissue.  On more than one occasions the treatment was successful.  But, the doctor's never said that the patients were cured.  The doctors always said that the patients were in remission.  I wondered what that meant.  And as I found out, I realized that remission from a disease is very similar to how God deals with Sin.  Let us talk a little about cancer and remission, and after this we will make the parallels between Sin and cancer, and being in remission from a disease and Sin.

Cancer refers to a class of diseases.  Therefore, it is unlikely that there will ever be a single "cure for cancer" any more than there will be a single treatment for all infectious diseases.  Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, monoclonal antibody therapy or other methods. The choice of therapy depends upon the location and grade of the tumor and the stage of the disease, as well as the general state of the patient (performance status).  There are challenges inherent in some of the treatment that can limit its effectiveness.  The effectiveness of chemotherapy is often limited by toxicity to other tissues in the body. Radiation can also cause damage to normal tissue.  Complete removal of the cancer without damage to the rest of the body is the goal of treatment. Sometimes this can be accomplished by surgery, but the propensity of cancers to invade adjacent tissue or to spread to distant sites by microscopic metastasis often limits its effectiveness.

That is why it is not said that a person is to be cured of cancer, but that the cancer is in remission.  A remission is a temporary end to the medical signs and symptoms of an incurable disease.  Remission is the state of absence of disease activity in patients known to have a chronic illness that cannot be cured. It is commonly used to refer to absence of active cancer or inflammatory bowel disease when these diseases are expected to manifest again in the future.  

Sin, this side of eternity, is like cancer in that it can be treated but it does not disappear.  As long as we live in this earth, those who live by faith can stop committing Sin; however their sinful nature is still alive.  As long as we live in this Earth, Sin is always a threat.  Just like cancer can show its ugly face when and where you least expect it, so can Sin when not held in check.  It is always present and always fighting for the upper hand.  But, as long as we subject ourselves to the Jesus treatment, Sin will be in remission.  This is what Peter talks about Jesus in Acts 10:43,

Acts 10:43 To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.

There is a similar expression in John 3:16, "…that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  The verb believeth in the Greek is in the continual present.  This means that it should read as such, "whosoever continually believes in Him …" Also, the Greek word for believe here is the same for faith.  So, "whosoever continually has faith – believes, trust, has confidence …" So, the remission of Sin comes through believing and so does righteousness.  We know this from Genesis 15:6,

Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Ellen White said that "The law demands righteousness, and this the sinner owes to the law; but he is incapable of rendering it. The only way in which he can attain righteousness is through faith" (Selected Messages, book 1, p. 367).  So, now we see that there is a relationship between remission of Sin, "not perishing, but having everlasting life," and being righteous.  Believing causes all three.  So, this means that those who are righteous by continually believing, experience remission of Sin, and eventually receive incorrupt and immortal bodies (1 Corinthians 15:53). 

The word righteous is a synonym for just.  So, the expression justification by faith means, made righteous by continually believing.  So, Paul tell the Galatians,

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

True justification by faith always produces law keeping Christians.  And, since the law is summed up (fulfilled) in Love (Romans 10:13), true justification by faith always produces people that love God above all things and their neighbor as themselves (Galatians 5:14).

 

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Raul Diaz
www.wolfsoath.com

Did Peter know he was wrong?

Did Peter know he was wrong? 

One Sabbath School class was discussing the life of Peter.  Emphasis was given to Peter before conversion and after conversion.  Before conversion, although Peter was boisterous and short tempered, he denied the Lord.  After conversion Peter was the opposite.  After this, they briefly discussed Paul confronting Peter about his prejudice behavior as recorded in Galatians 1.   The teacher then asked the class, "With which Peter do you indentify: the one before conversion or the one after conversion?"  There was murmuring in the class.  Tony, who was sitting in the back raised his hand and said, "I identify with Peter."  The teacher and some of the students turned around and asked him to clarify, "which Peter, the one before conversion or the one after?"  The student referring to the event of Paul confronting Peter, answered, "I identify with Peter in that even though he knew that crowd is wrong, I see myself following them."  The class hushed for a few seconds, and then there was murmuring again.  Tony looked around and saw people nodding.  The teacher sighed, but did not speak.  A sister in front of Tony smiled and nodded at him.  Another sister, walking down the aisle, smiled and touched his arm.  It seemed that many agreed with him.  They saw themselves drifting the wrong way knowingly.  Now, just because many people do this does not make it right? 

Paul found that this was wrong, which is why he confronted Peter.  Did Peter know He was wrong?  He should have.  Peter was present at the Jerusalem Council when it was declared that circumcision was not necessary to salvation and therefore not to be made an issue (Acts 15:1-24).  He had encountered this situation before when God had clearly revealed to him that he was not to consider any one class of people as "common or unclean" (Acts 10:28).  He had even declared that he understood "that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him" (Acts 10:34, 35).  Clear testimony had been borne by the Holy Spirit, the other apostles, and the corporate church body that there was to be no distinction between Jew and Gentile, and that righteousness is by faith alone in Christ Jesus.  In light of all this, Peter and others withdrew themselves from the uncircumcised Gentile believers.  This discrimination was in effect saying, "Except ye be circumcised... ye cannot be saved" (Acts 15:1).  This action on the part of Peter and the others was not only a denial of the gospel, but it was a virtual denial of Christ.  So, we can conclude that Peter knew better.  But, he allowed himself to be carried away by the influence of the other Jews, "fearing them which were of the circumcision" (Galatians 2:12). Peter's attitude grieved God.  Ellen White says, 

"Even the best of men, if left to themselves, will make grave blunders. The more responsibilities placed upon the human agent, the higher his position to dictate and control, the more mischief he is sure to do in perverting minds and hearts if he does not carefully follow the way of the Lord. At Antioch Peter failed in the principles of integrity. Paul had to withstand his subverting influence face to face. This is recorded that others may profit by it, and that the lesson may be a solemn warning to the men in high places, that they may not fail in integrity, but keep close to principle."—Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1108.

 As Ellen White said, this incident should be a solemn warning to us.  We too can fail in integrity and violate the principles laid out by the Gospel.  Even so, Peter should still be an example to us in that he was humble.  The fact that Peter died a martyr for Christ tells us that Peter repented.   In that sense we should be like Peter after conversion. 

 

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Raul Diaz
www.wolfsoath.com

Revealing the Gospel in Galatians pt. 4

Justification by Faith Alone (2:11-21)