Acts and Apologetics: 7. The Redemption Solution

All of us live in a "good news and bad news" tension. Following good news,  there is often bad news, and vice versa. Now it may not happen immediately, but the opposite will occur in due time. 

As we just discussed, the problem of sin is the problem of the ages. Sin separates us from our dependency upon God. Sin breaks the Creator-creature relationship.

And remember that it's not just what we do, the real roots of sin are in the mind and in the intellect. As our thoughts go, so do our behaviors and attitudes. Those who choose to ignore or push God to the side, along with sin, can continue sinning all day long. And since their mindset is nihilistic (there is nothing and whatever we see and experience came out of chaos as opposed to a Created, purposeful creation), they believe they have nothing to worry about. 

The Truths of Sin and Redemption.

For the believing Christian, we have the hope and reality of Redemption. As we have heard the Gospel of God revealed through general revelation in the world around us, and through Special Revelation, Holy Scripture, we see God continually reaching out to His creation desiring to restore that original relationship. First, we hear, then through the power of the  Holy Spirit, we can believe. And just because we have chosen to believe and accept God's invitation, God redeems and saves us. Do you understand the power of that?

The truth of the Gospel is that no matter how bad my sin is - and if you believe or think that I'm a no-good, good for nothing, well, you don't even know the half of it. And by the way, you better look at your life too. God's standard is perfection and none of us, not one is perfect. We  - that means me and you, regardless of who you are - are sinful, putrid messes and enemies of God. To make matters worse, there's nothing we can do about it on our own or by our own power.

How does that make you feel? Lousy? Don't worry, there truly is good news. God's Good News. God's Gospel.

For the Christian, it's bad news - by sin, we are fallen and separated from God -  followed by good news (Gospel means good news) - by God's power, not our own, we are redeemed and restored to a dependent  Creator-creature relationship. Whatever we need, want, desire, and hope for, we rely on God alone. In fact, when we are at our lowest, when we are at our weakest, God is most able to do and provide. We humans have virtually no power as compared to God being all-powerful.

For the unbelieving man or woman, they are in a bad news - bad news scenario. They are separated from God as soon as they can think and process ideas. They purposefully and continually push God away: His creation, His Words (through the written Word or through the spoken word of believers), and especially the Holy Spirit (as we progress further in the study, I'll share with you a quote from Jean-Paul Sartre). 

That's why the apostle Paul states in Romans 12:2 that the redemption and transformation process begins with the renewing of our minds, thereby enabling us to know God and His purposes and will for our lives. Quoting that Scripture: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve  what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will." 

Without redemption, the individual is lost forever.

But there is really good news for anybody reading this who has never understood how much God loves you. You see, as awful and sinful as you and I are, God loves us even more! He loves us so much that He sent His Son, His only Son to die and pay the penalty for sin in your place. How great is that?

Here's how it works...

In order to be Restored, we are Redeemed by Regeneration. Jesus Himself has told us that we must be "born again". That famous verse that you hear and see all over the place is John 3:16 and following through to verse 18.

Here it is: “For  God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does  not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the  name of God’s one and only Son."

By believing we live. When we refuse to believe, by faith alone, we die. A  couple of verses before that, Jesus says that it is only by the Spirit  from above that can we be born again, "Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." John 3:6. 

Furthermore, when we are regenerated, we become "new creations", "Therefore,  if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through  Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." 2 Cor. 5:17 - 19. We are made new and are now reconciled to God.

I don't know about you, but I think this is really Good News! In fact, it's GREAT News. In double fact, it even gets better than that if you believe it...

Our entire being is made new and restored to the way God intended. We are restored to His likeness. Ephesians 4:23 - 24 states that we are "made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." 

Paul further writes in Colossians 3:9 - 10, "since  you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its  Creator." 

As we allow the Spirit of God to transform us as it were, from the inside out, we desire to bear fruit for Him. We want God to be glorified by work in and through presenting good works to the world around us. The trials and tribulations of this life may become difficult (even unto death or persecution), but because the  Creator-creature relationship has been restored, we are confident in our dependence on God.

This is tremendous News! If you don't believe what I've just told you, well, just open a Bible and read these verses in their full context. You'll see for yourself. 

Being dependent on Someone, especially God, is a very good thing. There is nothing wrong with being dependent on the Creator of the Universe. And because He loves you as much as He does, He's willing to chase you down and die for you and then live for you.

The finished work of Jesus at the cross not only took away all of the sins of the entire world for all time, past and future but also provided the gateway to approach God. Jesus as fully God and fully man was the only One who could provide the sacrifice that would satisfy and restore the broken relationship. Sinful man is now able to approach the throne of Grace to receive mercy. The writer of the book of Hebrews states in chapter 4 verse 16, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may  receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." 

Yes, we can confidently approach God for grace and mercy at any time. He is willing and He is able to save you from anything, even yourself.

But Redemption is just the beginning. The sanctification process is a  life-long process. Since we are still flesh and blood, we still struggle with our sinful nature. Will we continue to sin? Of course, but the indwelling of the Spirit of God also continues to not only prick our consciences but to redirect our paths back toward God and His holiness.  We want to do what is right and holy, but often we simply can't.  Even Paul struggled and called himself "wretched" and so we cling even tighter to God our Creator. We've looked at Romans 7:23 - 8:11, in part   before, but it's worth revisiting as we close; it reads, 

"For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.  

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead  is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life  to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."

That's really good news! Those are also great passages to read and re-read again and again. Reading God's Word is like a "mental shower" in this world of continual sight and sound. We need to be cleansed from the inside out. Living this life is a regular, daily struggle. Many do not want you to succeed.

Yet as the world around us watches our struggle, they are sometimes amazed.

Today the idea of "spirituality" or being a "spiritual person" provides us with both a problem as well as an opportunity. The problem is that many have an idea of who  God is, but it's not the God of the Bible. Their idea can be this  "unseen Force of the universe" but it is not the Tri-unity of Father,  Son, and Holy Spirit that we know and love. 

And here is the opportunity: to be able to testify as to what God has done in our personal lives. We can go beyond "knowing about God" and explain (present an apologia) the relationship that we have, and that is available to them, to the Living God who made them. Just as we read of "spiritual people" in Acts chapter 8 - Simon the sorcerer and the Ethiopian eunuch, they needed to hear of the Truth of the Gospel.  They needed to have someone who knew God and His Word, reveal and help explain it. Go and read those amazing stories. Simple, everyday people,  like you and me who are obedient in sharing God's Word and God's Truth with others who are seeking and need an encouraging human word, powered by the Holy Spirit. 

We are not to remain silent. We are to be prepared and be bold in our witness, presenting the Truth and Hope that resides in each of our lives.