Lesson - 06
Christ Has Paid Our Penalty

We have all sinned,
and the penalty of death had to
be paid for God to be just.

Christ has paid that penalty.

Romans 5:6-10
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Such wonderful love
for Christ to have paid our penalty.

I Peter 3:18
18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

Yes, Christ is the just, who had to die for us the unjust, so that it would be possible for us to be brought back to God. Because of the death and suffering of Christ for us, God can now be just in saving us.

The only way that man can be saved
is through Christ. There is no other way.

John 14:6-7
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

The is no salvation in any other name.

Acts 4:12
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

We cannot be saved by relying on Mohammed, Buddha, Judaism, Hindu gods or any other way. Neither can we devise our own system of "Christianity" as is being done today and expect it to save us.

Christ’s death was in God’s
eternal plan to redeem man.

Christ went through much suffering for our sins. It is beyond our imagination what he endured. Christ was born on this earth for the purpose of dying for our sins. There are many Old Testament prophesies that foretell the inevitable death of Christ. For example, please read for yourself, Psalms chapter 22 and Isaiah chapter 53. Christ’s death was no accident, because it was in God’s eternal plan to redeem man.

Christ in his omniscience,
fully knew what was soon going to happen.

Matthew 20:17-19
17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,
18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Christ went there willingly to die for us.

Christ was both divine and human. The human part of Christ dreaded his death on the cross as much as we would if we were on death row. He knew that it was going to happen. When Christ was in the garden of Gethsemane with his apostles the night before his crucifixion.

Luke 22:41-44
41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Yes, Christ was dreading the
horrible death that he was about to endure.

I Peter 2:21-24
21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Jesus has personally paid the price for our sins,
so that we can be made righteous before God.

When a person is made righteous, by obeying God’s plan to save man, God will then save him.

The human side of Christ knows how we feel. He had the same feelings, the same sorrows, the same fears, and He experienced pain just like we do. He fully knows what it is to live a human life. On the Day of Judgment, no one will be able to point a finger at Christ and say, "You just don't know what it is to live as a human." Yes He does. The dread, the fear, the sorrow, the mocking, the spitting, the pain of scourging, and the crucifixion were all dreaded by our Lord. It hurt Him as much as it would us. He was the innocent dying for us, the guilty.

Crucifixion on a cross is the most cruel form of torture that has ever been devised by man. There is nothing worse. Our Lord hung there in pain and agony for six long hours in a slow death, enduring punishment, so that God could be just in saving us. What wonderful love beyond description that God has for us.