THE CROSS FOR JESUS AND FOR US (17 OF 19)
Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-4
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The Cross for Jesus and for Us (17 of 19)
Series: Cross Examination
Wyman Richardson
Hebrews 12:1-4
Read Hebrews 12:1-4
Many Protestants in North America, and perhaps especially in the southern United States, are part of the revivalist tradition that stresses the need for a personal decision for Christ. As such, we invite people to come to the cross, to bow our hearts and minds and, indeed, all that we have and are to the lordship of Jesus Christ, to repent of our sins and to receive Him as Lord and Savior. I am part of this tradition and gladly so. I firmly believe that it is right and good to ask people to accept Christ, and insofar as the decision for Christ is not understood to be a magic mantra or some sort of verbal talisman, I believe it is God-honoring and absolutely necessary.
We should call men and women and boys and girls to come to the foot of the cross and be saved.
But what we cannot do - what we must never, under any circumstances, do - is explain and present the cross in such a way that it is seen as a necessary factor in our salvation but an otherwise unnecessary factor in the Christian life. Put another way, the cross should be seen by Christians as not only vital to their justification but likewise to their sanctification. Put yet another way, the cross should not be spoken of ever and only in the past tense. To be sure, the event of the cross, what happened on the cross, was singular and happened in the past. But the reality of that singular act should be before the eyes of believers every day, every moment. The cross should have an abiding influence on and in the Church. This dynamic is spoken of by the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 12:1-4.
The cross, for Jesus, was the path of pain that ended in eternal joy.
At the heart of this text is a theological statement about Christ's obedient embrace of the cross.
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cro ...
Series: Cross Examination
Wyman Richardson
Hebrews 12:1-4
Read Hebrews 12:1-4
Many Protestants in North America, and perhaps especially in the southern United States, are part of the revivalist tradition that stresses the need for a personal decision for Christ. As such, we invite people to come to the cross, to bow our hearts and minds and, indeed, all that we have and are to the lordship of Jesus Christ, to repent of our sins and to receive Him as Lord and Savior. I am part of this tradition and gladly so. I firmly believe that it is right and good to ask people to accept Christ, and insofar as the decision for Christ is not understood to be a magic mantra or some sort of verbal talisman, I believe it is God-honoring and absolutely necessary.
We should call men and women and boys and girls to come to the foot of the cross and be saved.
But what we cannot do - what we must never, under any circumstances, do - is explain and present the cross in such a way that it is seen as a necessary factor in our salvation but an otherwise unnecessary factor in the Christian life. Put another way, the cross should be seen by Christians as not only vital to their justification but likewise to their sanctification. Put yet another way, the cross should not be spoken of ever and only in the past tense. To be sure, the event of the cross, what happened on the cross, was singular and happened in the past. But the reality of that singular act should be before the eyes of believers every day, every moment. The cross should have an abiding influence on and in the Church. This dynamic is spoken of by the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 12:1-4.
The cross, for Jesus, was the path of pain that ended in eternal joy.
At the heart of this text is a theological statement about Christ's obedient embrace of the cross.
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cro ...
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