Doctrine For Difficult Days

[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Satan: Who is He?

Every piece of this armor really speaks of Christ. We are in Christ in the heavenlies, and we should put on Christ down here in our earthly walk. Paul has already told us to put on Christ, the One who is the truth, and we should be diligent to put Him on in our lives.

Any testimony that does not glorify Jesus Christ should not be given. There are too many testimonies that glorify self. Jesus didn’t get very much when He got you, and He didn’t get very much when He got me. This is a day when the little fellow really does not have very much to say. We get the impression that we need to be someone great in the eyes of the world. But what we need is to have our loins girt about with truth so that we can give a testimony that glorifies Christ. Christ is the truth. Truth alone can meet error.

“Having put on the breastplate of righteousness.” Christ is the righteousness of the believer. I do think, however, that it includes the practical righteousness of the believer. Let’s be clear that the filthy rags of self-righteousness are useless as a breastplate, but I do think that underneath there should be a heart and a conscience that are right with God. Only the righteousness of Christ can enable the believer to stand before men and before God, but the heart that is to be protected should be a heart that is clean before the Lord. It is an awful condition to have sin in our lives while we are trying to carry on the battle. We can never win it that way.

“Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” Shoes are necessary for standing. They speak of the foundation. We need a good, solid foundation, and preparation is foundational. I remember in hand-to-hand combat we were taught to make sure our feet were anchored. Are your feet anchored on the Rock? Christ is your foundation in this world. We are to put on Christ. Oh, how we need Him today as we face a gainsaying world and spiritual wickedness in the darkness of this world!

Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:16-18)

The armor of the believer is a spiritual armor because we fight against a spiritual enemy. We are to stand in that armor, and that armor is Christ, the living Christ. Satan himself, in the Book of Job, describes how God protects His own. He said:

Have You not made a hedge around him [Job], around his household and around all that he has on every side? (Job 1:10)

God has provided protection for us today in the armor He supplies.

“Above all, [take] the shield of faith.” The shield covered all of the armor. The shield referred to is a large shield the size of a door. It was the shield of Greece’s heavy infantry. A soldier stood behind it and was fully protected. Christ is both the door to salvation and the door that protects the believer from the enemy without. This is the picture in John, chapter 10. Christ is both salvation and security.

Faith enables us to enter the door:

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. (John 10:9)

That is salvation. What about security? Faith places us securely in His hands. Faith also enables us to stand behind that shield which will quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Satan: Who is He?

“The fiery darts of the wicked one.” He is shooting them fast and furiously. I remember that when I was in college, I had a brilliant philosophy professor who had studied in Germany. I respected his intellect, although I did not realize at the time that he was intellectually dishonest. I looked up to him but, very frankly, he was taking my feet out from under me. I would try to answer him in class when I probably should have kept my mouth shut. But we became friends, and we used to walk together across the campus after class and discuss the questions I had raised. It became clear that his philosophies opposed the Word of truth. Discouraged, I came to the place where I went to the Lord in prayer and said, “Lord, if I can’t believe Your Word, I don’t want to go into the ministry.” Then the Lord in a very miraculous way sent me to hear a man who was the most brilliant man, I think, I have ever heard. He gave me truthful answers to my questions. Then I began to learn that when a fiery dart comes my way and I do not have the answer, I am to put up the shield of faith. And this is what I have been doing ever since. I have found that the shield of faith has batted down the fiery darts of the wicked one.

The fiery darts come fast and furiously, and they are going to continue to come. The only thing that will bat them down is the shield of faith. It is like a big door. The hoplites, the heavily armed soldiers in the Greek infantry, could move with those tremendous shields, put them out in front of them, and stand protected shoulder to shoulder while the enemy shot everything they had at them. When the enemy was out of ammunition, the hoplites would move in, certain of victory. That is the way to stand against the fiery darts of the evil one.

“And take the helmet of salvation.” The helmet protects the head, and God does appeal to the mind of man. I recognize that He appeals to the heart, but God also appeals to the intellect. Throughout the Scriptures God urges man to think, for example:

“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.”
(Isaiah 1:18)

Paul mentions this helmet in connection with salvation again in another epistle.

But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. (1Th_5:8)

All the parts of the armor mentioned so far have been for defense. Have you noticed that? Everything is for the front of the individual. There is no protection for his back; nothing is provided for retreat. Believe me, a retreating Christian is certainly open season for the enemy; the enemy can get through to him.

Now we have two weapons for offense. The first one is the Word of God, called “the sword of the Spirit.” Christ is the living Word of God. He used the Word of God to meet Satan in the hour of His temptation. Out of His mouth goes a sharp, two-edged sword in the Battle of Armageddon (see Revelation 1:16 and Revelation 19:21). He gains the victory with that sword. What is it? It is the Word of God. We need that sharp sword going out of our mouths today. The Word of God is a powerful weapon of offense. You and I are to use it.
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Satan: Who is He?

Our second weapon of offense is prayer — “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” Praying in the Holy Spirit is not turning in a grocery list to God. It means that you and I recognize our enemy and that we lay hold of God for spiritual resources. We lay hold of God for that which is spiritual, that we might be filled with all the fullness of God. Paul here distinguishes between prayer and supplication. Prayer is general; supplication is specific. All effective prayer must be in the Spirit.

If you are able to stand firm in this world today, that’s all God is asking you to do. He is not asking you to fight the devil. He is not asking you to do some great thing. He is only asking you to stand. Remember the prayer of our Lord in John 17:15, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.”

I never get through a day that I don’t get home and get in bed and say, “Thank You, Lord, for getting me by the devil’s trap again today.” My friend, Satan is setting a trap for you and me all the time, and he’s attempting to ensnare us. In this hour in which we live it is tragic to see many true believers being taken in by him in many subtle and unsuspecting ways. We ought not to be ignorant of his devices. We need to put on God’s complete armor. We need to be on the alert, because Satan is loose in the world today.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

If you think Satan will show mercy to you, you are dead wrong. If he gets you in a corner, my friend, and if you leave off the armor of God, he’ll destroy you in a minute. And he has destroyed many good men. He can ruin your testimony. He can absolutely ruin your life if you don’t wear the whole armor of God so that you might be able to stand.

I’m afraid that Christians today take life a little too lightly and easily. You know, our forefathers thought life was serious. And they thought how they lived was very important. And, my friend, they did not crack up like we’re cracking up today. What is it that’s happening in this world right now? It’s impossible to explain what is happening in every country right now, apart from this creature.

Thank God, Satan will be judged someday. God’s going to get rid of him. God’s going to destroy him. God’s going to put him in the lake of fire. But in the meantime he is at this moment your greatest enemy, and he is my greatest enemy. He will do everything in the world to wreck and to ruin us. In this world we are in his system. He is running this world today. He’s the one who is back of the nations of the world. He is the one who is bringing the misery and the heartbreak to this dark world today. And the interesting thing is, the world doesn’t even believe he exists. Boy, is he smart! I take my hat off to his ability. I respect him, and I’m afraid of him.

I want to flee to the One who can keep me. The Epistle of James admonishes us:

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

You had better submit yourself to God before you start resisting the devil! I tell you, if you’re not out and out for God today, Satan has got you. And that’s the reason he catches so many cold and indifferent church members. Why do the cults send out their people to knock on doors on Sunday morning? Because they know that careless, indifferent church members are at home. And the devil knows they are the ones he can get, and he snares them — boy, does he snare them! Satan does not necessarily ask you to go out and get drunk. He asks you to become very religious — but don’t come to Christ, and don’t trust His death on the cross for your salvation, and don’t even acknowledge that you need the Lord Jesus Christ! Just try to be a big old boy yourself — and are you in for a fall!

Oh, my friend, if we could only be wise enough to place our faith in what God says and use God’s Word to guide us through this life!

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Salvation: Part 1

When we come to the doctrine of salvation, a great many folk think that we’ve come to something very simple, something we know all about. May I say this, and I want to say it kindly, but I think it should be said: In Southern California where perhaps more gospel is preached than in any other area of the country today, there is more confusion and cloudy presentation of the gospel. One day I listened by radio to a lady preacher, and she used quite a few of the common Christian cliches that we all use, pious phrases which are acceptable to people, but in attempting to declare the gospel, this dear lady didn’t even know what it was! She was entirely confused as to the gospel and to what salvation really is. Frankly, the gospel is something on which there is a great deal of confusion. How tragic that is!

We’re going to center on some important words in this section for the simple reason that if we know the meaning of these words and can make a sharp distinction among them, then we will be able to understand something about salvation.

The thing that keeps a great many people from witnessing is not the method so much as it is not knowing what to say. That is, they do not know how to present the claims of Christ and to be clear on the gospel. Oh, my friend, this is one place we should be clear! Following you will see a list of certain words, and no two of these words mean the same thing. Yet each one of them sets before us one of the facets of our wonderful salvation:

Atonement
Substitution
Redemption
Propitiation
Reconciliation
Regeneration
Justification
Faith
Repentance
Assurance
Sanctification

Now, friend, if these words are new to you, don’t shy away from them. By the time we finish this book, you will see how simple and how wonderful they really are.
 
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Atonement

First of all, I want to deal with the word atonement. The Hebrew word for atonement is kaphar, and it only means “to cover.” That’s all in the world atonement means. I realize that there has been an attempt to simplify it by making a play on words, by calling atonement “at-one-ment.” May I say that though that concept may be there, it is not the meaning of the word at all, because the word means “to cover.” And it is strictly an Old Testament word.
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Salvation: Part 1

You do not find the word atonement anywhere in the New Testament. Now, I’m sure that somebody’s going to counter this statement and say, “Wait a minute! I remember reading it over in Romans 5:11: ‘We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement’ [KJV]. You see, it’s there.”

Well, if that is how your Bible reads, the word atonement ought not to be there. If you check the original Greek, you will see that the correct translation is the word reconciliation and not atonement at all. Atonement is a word that does not occur in the New Testament because God could not forgive sin on the basis of animal sacrifices. He merely let the people bring the sacrifices previously because they were types or prefigures, pointing to Christ; and on their part it was an act of faith, and God accepted that and covered their sin. But there was never any merit in the sacrifice per se. When you get to the last book of the Old Testament, God says through Malachi, “Away with your sacrifices; I don’t want them.” In other words, God was saying, “Do you think I’m interested in your offering up an animal? I’m not interested because you’ve missed the value of it, you’ve missed the meaning of it, you’ve missed the intention of it. I intended it to teach you something.”

We’re definitely told that the sacrifices in the Old Testament never did take away sin:

For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4)

That’s a clear-cut statement, isn’t it?

Back in the Old Testament, the blood of bulls and goats could not take away a person’s sin. Every instructed Israelite knew and understood that the little sacrifice he was bringing was pointing on to Christ.

By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man [the Lord Jesus], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. (Hebrews 10:10-12)

The Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself, and every sacrifice in the Old Testament foreshadowed Him. And that’s what Paul meant in Romans 3:25 when he wrote of Jesus:

… whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.

What does he mean by the “passing over” or remission of sins that are past? Does he mean your past sins, my past sins? No. He has no reference to that. It’s a chronological word meaning every sin committed before Christ’s death on the cross. God forgave those people who brought the sacrifices in faith, when they realized that the sacrifice was prefiguring the Lamb of God who was going to take away the sin of the world, all the way down from the sins of Abel.

Now suppose you had met Abel as he was approaching the altar to offer that little lamb, and suppose you had stepped up to him and said, “Abel, do you really believe that the blood of that little animal is taking away your sin?”

Abel happened to be a very intelligent man. Remember, he was the son of Adam, and he had a higher I.Q. than any of us. I believe people were much more intelligent in the beginning than we are today. And this brilliant man Abel would have said, “No, I don’t think the blood of the little animal takes away my sin.”

“Then why are you doing it?”
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Salvation: Part 1

“Well, God commanded me to do this temporarily, as this little animal is pointing down to the expiation, to the sacrifice that God will make in His own time. And I’m coming, merely by faith, offering this lamb — it’s only a type of that which is going to come.”

Those in the Old Testament understood that the blood of bulls and goats did not take away sin but pointed to the One who was going to take away sin. So when God forgave Abel, He forgave him on credit. When God forgave Abraham, He forgave him on credit. Sin wasn’t paid for. He said, “I’ll forgive you, Abraham, for doing this, but your sin has not been paid for.” Christ came and died on the cross, Paul said,

to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. (Romans 3:25)

You see, when Christ died on the cross, He paid for all those sins of the past. All of them were paid for when our Lord was made sin for us. So back in the Old Testament the proper word is atonement, meaning “to cover.” God merely covered them until Christ came, and He blotted them out so that today when you trust Christ your sins are washed away and remembered no more. God removes them. They’ve been paid for through the death of Christ upon the cross. So, friends, atonement is only an Old Testament word.

Unfortunately, there have been theologians who have used this term, and many do it today. Especially in these half-liberal seminaries they use this term to speak of all that Christ did, and they call it the atonement. And you’ll find that there are many theories of the atonement. Let me mention several of them which are being preached today.
 
Martyr Theory

I listened to a liberal preacher here in Southern California as he preached on the death of Christ. He told about how He died on the cross, and someone said to me, “Dr. McGee, he preaches the Cross of Christ just like anyone who is fundamental in his doctrine.” You see, this person wasn’t able to make the distinction. What the preacher was actually saying was that Christ died as a martyr. He emphasized the point that He was poor and helpless and hopeless here and that He stood for a cause. And because He stood for what was right, He was put to death — and the preacher considered that to be the value of the death of Christ. There was no mention that He died as a substitute or that His death was necessary to satisfy the holiness and justice of God. That was not mentioned. It was only that His death was an awful thing — and it was! He depicted it in all of its gory detail so that many people said, “My, isn’t he sound in the faith to talk about the death of Christ?” No, he was merely presenting Him as a martyr.

Now did Christ die a martyr’s death? Absolutely not! That’s one thing you cannot get from the Word of God. Will you notice several things: Jesus made basic doctrines very clear. For instance, He said that He was not a martyr:

No man takes it [My life] from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father. (John 10:18)

May I say, if you feel sorry for Him, don’t do it. Remember that as Jesus was being led to His crucifixion, among the great multitude following Him were women mourning and lamenting Him. He turned and said:

Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. (Luke 23:28)

The interesting thing is, He was in entire control at the time of His crucifixion. After all, He predicted it:

You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. (Matthew 26:2)

And today the Lord Jesus Christ is still in control.
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Salvation: Part 1

Now let’s continue through verse 5 and see something very interesting here:

Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.” (Matthew 26:3-5)

In verse 2 Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to die. According to the record, this is the sixth time He has told them. Six months before this, beginning at Caesarea Philippi, He announced His impending death. And now He sets the time of His death. He tells them that He will die during the Passover. But the religious rulers had other plans — notice they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.” The very ones who put Him to death said that they would not crucify Him during the Passover; He said that He would die during the Passover. When did He die? He died during the Passover. You see, Jesus, not His enemies, set the time of His execution. He is in command.

And to Judas that night, at the Last Supper, after he had been singled out as the betrayer, our Lord said, “What you do, do quickly.” So Judas rushed out of the place and went directly to the religious leaders to inform them that Jesus was going to the Garden of Gethsemane, away from the crowds. Evidently he told them something like this: “If you want to take Him, you’d better take Him tonight. He’s aware of our plot. He told me, ‘What you do, do quickly.’ He intends to leave. You’d better seize Him now.” And that night they went out and arrested Him at midnight.

Now whose bidding were they doing? They were doing our Lord’s bidding. He didn’t die a martyr. I hope you don’t have merely a sentimental feeling in your heart toward Jesus, as I’m afraid a great many people do. Jesus says, “Do not weep for Me.” He did not die for that reason. He did not die as a martyr. In fact, I’ve heard the death of Christ likened unto a blood transfusion! It was not a blood transfusion. He didn’t die for any such reason.
 
Moral Influence Theory

Another theory of atonement of which we should be aware is known as the “moral influence theory.” This idea was started by a heretic named Sosinais, and the theory is called Sosinianism. It postulates that the Lord Jesus died in order that He might have an influence. He went to the cross and died for that which was right, and for truth, in order to influence us to say, “Well, if He did that, then I’m going to do better” — reformation. It’s another type of liberalism that you still hear.

Oftentimes one of these preachers will say, “Now look here, Jesus died on a cross” — they don’t mind saying that since it is a historical fact — “and when you see Him dying there, that ought to inspire you to want to live better. It ought to influence you to improve your lifestyle.”

Oh, my friend, Jesus did not die for that reason at all. He didn’t die to inspire anybody to do anything. He died as a forsaken Man on a cross who said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He wasn’t a martyr, and there was nothing there to influence you. It was an awful, horrible thing. His death is unspeakable, and not one Gospel writer describes the crucifixion, not one. The Holy Spirit drew a veil and put it over that cross, as if to say, “That which happened here is too horrible for you to look at.”

Therefore, His brutal death is not to inspire you to do anything. He died, the just for the unjust. He died, the innocent for the guilty. He died, the sinless One for the sinners. But our Lord did not die to influence you to reform your life.
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Salvation: Part 1

Governmental Theory

Now there’s another theory that is actually called the “governmental theory.” A Dutch theologian by the name of Grotius is the one who developed it. This theory holds that Christ died to show God’s hatred of sin; that He did it to maintain the government of God. This is closer to the truth than any we’ve considered. He did die to satisfy the law of God. However, this theory becomes a brutal sort of thing. Jonathan Edwards held this theory, and this is the reason for his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” It is said that when he preached that sermon — he was a tremendous orator — the people in his audience would hold onto the edges of their seats to keep from falling into hell. He made it really vivid! And one time when he preached that sermon the fire department went by, and in that day the engines were crude, smoking things, and there was absolute panic in the church where he was preaching.

May I say to you that the governmental theory does not reveal the love of God at all. And it is not what we believe the Scriptures teach. Actually this is not a theory of the atonement, although we list it as such. Rather, it is the truth of the atonement, if you want to call it atonement. Jesus Christ died as a satisfaction to God for the sins of man. And we’re going to develop that truth as we move on because we believe that when He died on the cross there were some wonderful things that took place.
 
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Substitution

There were a number of conspicuous accomplishments of Christ on the cross; a number of wonderful works were accomplished when Jesus Christ gave Himself up for us. The first wonderful accomplishment when He died on the cross was that He became a substitute for sinners. Back in the Old Testament God had already put down these great principles for His people. In Leviticus you’ll find one of the axioms of God:

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)

The life of the flesh is in the blood. It wasn’t until the seventeenth century that William Harvey made the discovery that our blood circulates and that the life of the flesh is in the blood. And in our day we have institutions that maintain blood banks and send out pleas for donors. Why? Because the life of the flesh is in the blood. That’s a great truth — and think of Moses putting down that axiom in his day when man had to wait several thousand years to make the scientific discovery that the life of the flesh is in the blood.

God said, “I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls.” The blood of another had to be shed because it is a substitution for us. Therefore Isaiah could write:

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities,
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
(Isaiah 53:5)

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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Salvation: Part 1

When Peter quotes this, it’s obvious that the healing is not physical. Peter makes it clear that Jesus Himself bore our sins in His own body:

…who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — whose stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

“By whose stripes you were healed!” What from? Sin! Jesus died a substitutionary death on the cross. This is a truth that is so difficult to get over to the human family! Even today so many pastors do not preach that Christ died a substitute for sinners! Just think of it! They say that He died for some other reason — one of the theories we have just dealt with or another. There are others out there. I did not mention all of the theories, by any means.

But may I say to you that God was attempting to instruct His people, and He did it in many ways. The Passover was one of the ways.

Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: “On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household…. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year…. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. (Exodus 12:3, Exodus 12:5-6)

Just look at how exact that language is. Each family was to have a lamb. But when God was telling them about the killing, He didn’t say to kill them, He said to kill it, because the sacrifice spoke of One, even of Christ. The exactness carried through even in the grammar.

And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it…. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt…. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you…. (Exodus 12:7, Exodus 12:12-13)

This was the first great lesson that these people had when God took them out of slavery. They were in Egypt, a land given to idolatry and, friend, they were idolaters themselves. Israel was so tied into idolatry that when they reached Mount Sinai, from the minute they got into the wilderness and Moses was gone from them to get instructions from God, the people wanted a golden calf to worship! Why would people who had been so wonderfully delivered by God do such a thing? Well, my beloved, because they had lived in Egypt all of their lives and had been worshiping idols. They were brainwashed people. And so they wanted an idol:

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” (Exodus 32:1)

They wanted something they could see, something they could bow down before. That was the custom under which they had been brought up in Egypt.

God is instructing these people concerning the way He’s going to forgive their sins. So He says, “This night is going to mark the beginning of months, the first month of the year for you. This is the night I will take you out of the land of Egypt. Now I want it made clear to you, I’m not taking you out of the land of Egypt because you are superior to the Egyptians. You’re not.” Later, after forty years in the wilderness, Moses wrote in the Book of Deuteronomy that God had said, “I knew all the time you were a stiff-necked people. I didn’t bring you out because of any merit in you.” In Exodus 2:24 He gave Moses two reasons He came down to deliver them. He “heard their groaning,” and He was moved with compassion toward them. The second thing was, He “remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.”
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Salvation: Part 1

And, my friend, when God saves you and saves me, it’s not because He sees any good in us at all. He sees only that we are sinners, ungodly and lost. Although He sees no merit in us whatever, He remembers His covenant with His Son; that is, if the Son would die in our stead, He would save those of us who would trust Him:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

In other words, God says, “That’s the covenant I made. When you recognize your sinfulness and trust My Son to be your Savior, I will save you. On what basis? On your great need and to keep the covenant I have made with My Son.” Jesus died to be your substitute, friend.

Likewise the people of Israel had to have a substitute. God didn’t redeem them from Egyptian bondage because they had signed on the dotted line and promised to do a little bit better than they had been doing. Honestly, they did worse! They were bad in Egypt. They were terrible in the wilderness. He didn’t deliver them because they had promised to reform. Instead God said, “This night is the first month of the year for you. You can mark this down — this is the Passover feast. Tonight you are to take a lamb, kill that lamb, take it to your home, roast it, feed on it, and share it. Then I want you to take the blood of that lamb outside your home, sprinkle it on the two doorposts and on the lintel above the door.”

Then God said, “Tonight, I am coming to Egypt. And when I come to a house, I am not going to knock on the door and say, ‘I’m wondering if you would like to be delivered, and if you will promise to serve Me if I will lead you out of Egypt.’” He didn’t do that. The only basis on which God spared the firstborn of any family in the land of Egypt was this: “When I see the blood I’ll pass over!” That little lamb died, and they were delivered, teaching that when Christ died, you and I are delivered just like the people of Israel were delivered that first Passover night. The lamb prefigured Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Christ’s death is what redeemed them, and Christ’s death is what redeems you and me. He died a substitution for sinners. When He went to the cross, He took my place. He took your place. The Lord Jesus Himself put it like this:

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28)

Over in the fifth chapter of Romans is the finest exposition of the love of God in the Bible. John 3:16 is not an exposition — rather, it’s merely a declaration. But this is the exposition:

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 own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

My friend, when He died upon the cross, He was a substitute for you! And He was a substitute for me! What happened to Him at that time should have happened to us — we are guilty, He is innocent. That’s important to see.

Don’t feel sorry for Him. It was for the joy that was set before Him that He endured the Cross. He did it willingly and gladly. He doesn’t want your sympathy, He wants your faith.
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Salvation: Part 1

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

In other words, for you and me down here, Christ became sin in order that you and I might have His right in heaven! That’s the only basis on which God receives sinners.

You see, mankind thinks too much of himself. Honestly, what could you contribute to heaven? May I say to you, I would dirty up the place if I got up there, and you would too. You wouldn’t decorate heaven, and your talent is not needed up there. God doesn’t have to have you. But you and I have to have Him.

He’s saving us, my beloved, and He finds all the explanation in Himself. When Christ died, He died a substitutionary death so a holy God could reach down and save us. God gave the children of Israel a day of atonement, Yom Kippur. And again the blood of an animal sacrifice was taken into the Holy of Holies, and Israel was accepted for another year. But this Man — He didn’t offer many sacrifices. He doesn’t go in every year. Once, at the end of the age, He offered Himself. He went into the Holy of Holies for you and for me, and He is there for us at this hour.

My friend, I don’t know about you, but the only thing I’m counting on is Christ. I am not counting on Vernon McGee’s performance. Now maybe you thought I was. No, my friend, I am counting on Jesus Christ, my Lord. He is the substitution for sinners. That enables me to go to bed at night and sleep. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t care what happens — life or death. And I sometimes think, the way things are going, I’d like not to wake up here but to wake up in His presence. My hope is in Him. I am not trusting Vernon McGee for anything — not anything. Christ is my substitute.

Are you trusting Him today? Is He really a substitute for you? You don’t need to feel sentimental about His death. He died for you. And you are the fellow to feel sorry for if you have never trusted Him. Because, my friend, what happened to Him will have to happen to you if you don’t trust Him. But He died, the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, the One who is holy for the unholy. He took my place. He took your place. That’s a wonderful truth!Are you trusting Him today? Is He really a substitute for you? You don’t need to feel sentimental about His death. He died for you. And you are the fellow to feel sorry for if you have never trusted Him. Because, my friend, what happened to Him will have to happen to you if you don’t trust Him. But He died, the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, the One who is holy for the unholy. He took my place. He took your place. That’s a wonderful truth!

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Redemption

Our Lord’s death is not only a substitution for sinners, it is a redemption toward sin. The psalmist wrote:

[He] redeems your life from destruction. (Psalms 103:4)

That’s what He came to do. He came to redeem us.

Now redemption is a Latin word. It actually means “to pay a price.” Our Lord came, He said, for that purpose.

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” (John 4:34)

Then He could say in His great high priestly prayer when He turned in His report to God shortly before His crucifixion:

I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. (John 17:4)
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Salvation: Part 1

On the cross He shouted, “It is finished!” What was finished? His work of redemption was finished forever. What is redemption? Redemption means to pay a price. It means that something has been sold and is either owned by another or it is in slavery and needs to be bought and brought back to the rightful owner. We have that pictured in the Book of Ruth, which is the reason, by the way, I wrote my book on Ruth, Romance of Redemption. I graduated from a Presbyterian seminary, and it was a good one, don’t misunderstand me — some of the best scholars in America were teaching in that seminary, both liberals and conservatives. But during my years there I felt like the liberals were winning the day, because redemption was presented as a cold business transaction as though Christ paid with His blood, cash on the barrelhead, and that was it. Well, that is not it. Redemption is a love story, which is the reason the Book of Ruth is in the Bible.

Ruth was a poor widow. She was a foreigner. She was shut out, an outsider, and in her poverty she had to go out in the fields and glean. Then somebody she had not seen before came to the field one day, and he owned that field. His name was Boaz, and he fell in love with her. Immediately he wanted to redeem her according to the law of the kinsman-redeemer:

If … one of them dies and has no son, the widow … shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall … take her as his wife…. And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother…. (Deuteronomy 25:5-6)

Ruth had lost the property that had belonged to her husband, and she herself was in danger of being sold into slavery. Because Boaz loved her, he set out to pay the price to redeem her and to redeem her property according to the law in Leviticus 25:25:

If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative [kinsman-redeemer] comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.

Redemption is always toward sin. That is, you and I have been sold under sin. We today are as Romans 6:17 tells us, “slaves of sin.” And the Lord Jesus said:

Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a stave of sin. (John 8:34)

Now the Lord Jesus redeemed us, which means He paid a price. That price was His blood, in order that He might buy us, if you please, out from under the slavery of sin.

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)

He bought us to set us free. Therefore we have redemption in the blood of Christ. That was the price that was paid.

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)

Any way that you take man, he is a slave. If you put him under the Mosaic Law he can’t keep it, and he needs to be redeemed from under law. He needs to be redeemed from sin. And the Lord Jesus is the Kinsman-Redeemer. He came down here and took upon Himself our human flesh. On the cross He took our place, and He paid the price, which was His own precious blood.

Now here’s a poor man who has lost his property, but he’s got a rich uncle. He sees his rich uncle one day, and the rich uncle says, “How much will it cost to redeem it?” So he writes out the check and pays the price. It’s wonderful to have a rich uncle when you’ve lost your property!
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Salvation: Part 1

Not only that, but will you notice:

Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him. (Leviticus 25:47-48)

Suppose a man sold himself into slavery — he had lost everything, and that’s all he could do. So he sold himself to his rich neighbor and he’s a slave, expecting never to be free again. But then suppose one day he looks down the road and sees his rich uncle coming and taking out his checkbook to pay the price of his redemption!

May I say, friend, this is a fine illustration of our redemption. You and I live in a world that has been sold under sin. This creation today is groaning and travailing in pain; we have lost our property. Adam, you see, was given dominion over the earth, but he lost it. The human family has absolutely lost its inheritance. Not only that, we were sold in the slavery of sin. And when Christ came to this earth, He came to pay a price in order to redeem us, to buy us back.

There are several Greek words that are used. The agora was the ancient marketplace, and the word agorazo means “to go and buy in the marketplace.” Another word, exagorazo, means to go and buy in the marketplace with the idea that you are taking it out of the market. Some folks may have a fruit stand, so they go to the wholesale market, buy there, and then take the fruit out to their market and up the price a little so they can make a profit, you see. They don’t buy it because they love the stuff. They buy it to sell it.

Suppose a man goes down to the agora, and he sees an antique or something else that he likes very much, and he says, “I want to buy that for myself.” Suppose he sees a slave, and he wants to buy that slave, not to sell him, not to make money, but to use him. May I say, exagorazo is also used for redemption.

Now here is another word altogether: lutroo, which means “to pay the ransomed price.” In the Gospel of John we find still another word, eleutheroo, which means not only to go and buy and not expose for sale again, but to buy and set free. And that’s the reason the Lord Jesus said:

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)

He did not buy us in order to make us His slaves. And that’s one reason I don’t like the song that says something like this, “I gave My life for you — what have you done for Me?” When He saves you, He puts you under no obligation. He saves you to set you free. Then if you are free, you have the freedom to go to Him as Paul did. In effect, Paul said, “I’m free from the law. I’m now a free man! But I went to Jesus Christ and I yielded to Him, and I said, ‘I want to be Your slave.’” And Paul called himself the bondslave of Jesus Christ. Why? Because he did it voluntarily.

If you want to be a servant or slave of Christ, you will have to initiate it. When Christ saves you, He doesn’t put you under any obligation — that’s what grace is. If you are under obligation to pay Him back, then it is not grace, you see. God saves you by grace. And grace creates no debt whatsoever. When God saves you, you are free. And the glory of it is you can go in your freedom and yield to Him.
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Salvation: Part 1

My friend, you’ll never know what real joy is until you have yielded to Him. Just as we came to Him for salvation, I believe we can make this transaction: “Lord Jesus, I’m coming to yield to You. You made me free, but I want to be Your servant, Your slave forever.”

In the state of Alabama years ago, before the Civil War, a beautiful Negro girl was being exposed on the slave block for sale, and a very brutal slave owner was bidding for her. Every time he made a bid she winced. Standing at the edge of the crowd was a wealthy plantation owner who was a Christian, and he saw what was going on. So when it looked as if the brutal slave owner might get this girl, the plantation owner stepped forward and raised the bid so the other man couldn’t touch it. The plantation owner bought her, signed the necessary papers, and started to walk away, then noticed that she was following him. He turned around and asked, “Why in the world are you following me?”

She said, “Sir, you bought me.”

“Oh, you don’t understand. I didn’t buy you for a slave, I bought you to set you free.”

She stood there stunned for a few moments, then all of a sudden she just dropped to the ground and said, “I’ll serve you forever!”

A service of love, you see, is the kind of service you and I can render to Christ. He won’t have it any other way. He redeemed you to set you free. And now you can choose to yield yourself to Him. That’s redemption. Redeemed — how I love to proclaim it!
 
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Propitiation

Now we are coming to another wonderful word: propitiation, and propitiation is toward God. It occurs seven times in the Greek text of the New Testament. The reason it may not occur all seven times in your Bible is because in several places it’s not translated correctly into the same English word propitiation. For instance:

Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation [reconciliation in some English translations] for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17)

It should be propitiation here, for it is that in the Greek.

First of all, let me say that the word propitiation is absolutely void of any pagan meaning. If you have read any Greek mythology or read anything concerning the pagan religions, or if you’ve read any of the stories of the Greeks, you will recall that even Agamemnon had to make a human sacrifice to appease the gods on Mount Olympus. They were perceived to be angry, therefore a sacrifice had to be made, and that was called a propitiation. In fact, the Greeks used it like that.

Well, may I say to you that the word as used in the Scripture does not even hint of being used to appease a deity. It doesn’t convey the idea that God is angry and you’ve got to do something to win Him over. It doesn’t have that thought at all.
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[nChrist]

Doctrine For Difficult Days
by J. Vernon McGee
Salvation: Part 1

Therefore, I want to turn to several passages where this word occurs, and let’s look at them. First,

… being justified freely [that is, without a cause] by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. (Romans 3:24-25)

The word propitiation actually means “place of propitiation.” I want us to see something in Hebrews, where we’ll find again this word in the Greek text. It is not translated propitiation here but with another word, a very vivid word. I’ll move back and quote a few verses before the occurrence of this word since the writer to the Hebrews is describing the tabernacle. He says:

… behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat [here is our word propitiation]…. (Hebrews 9:3-5)

Propitiation means “to be a mercy seat.” That’s the picture. Notice again the passage in Romans for just a moment:

… whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. (Romans 3:25)

This is the tabernacle. Outside was the laver and also the brazen altar.

The Holy Place. The entrance faced east. Inside there was the golden lampstand on the left (south), and over on the right (north) the table of showbread, and then before the veil was the golden altar, which speaks of prayer.

The Golden Altar. It is interesting that the writer to the Hebrews puts the golden altar inside the Holiest of All. The Old Testament places it in front of the veil, so why did the writer to the Hebrews put it inside where the ark is? Because when we come to the New Testament the veil which represented the body of Christ is torn in two, opening the way into the presence of God, and Christ has gone up to heaven. This altar of prayer is where the priest went to pray. And that’s where our Lord is now. He is in heaven, making intercession for us. Properly, the altar of prayer belongs there now.

The Holiest of All. Behind the veil was the ark. And inside the ark there were three things — the tables of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written, a pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded. On top of the ark, which was shaped like a box, there was this very highly ornamented cover with two cherubim of gold over-shadowing it. Once a year the high priest went inside, and we are told that the Shekinah Glory was there, indicating that God dwelt there. This is where they were to meet with Him, and the high priest went there once a year and sprinkled blood on the ark’s cover between the cherubim. And this is the throne of God where the presence of the holy God is. Now it is a mercy seat. It’s where God can extend mercy to His people. That which was a throne of judgment before has become a mercy seat now.

Let’s refer again to Romans 3:25. The apostle Paul, speaking of Christ, wrote, “Whom God set forth as a propitiation [mercy seat].” Christ on the cross served as our mercy seat. We know that as He hung on the cross, blood was running down His face from that thorny crown, blood was coming from the nails in His hands and in His feet. It is John who mentions the propitiation, by the way. He and Paul are the only two writers who do that. John tells us at the time of the crucifixion:

One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. (1 John 19:34-35)
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