Message 1 - By Keith Surface
Penalty
Paid, or
Pardon and Deliverance?
Introduction
This message was written by Brother Keith Surface, associate pastor
of Calvary Outreach’s Tabernacle in the Woods church, and deserves our serious
consideration. JDG
Has
Your Penalty Been Paid?
Are you aware that
sin has a penalty? The Bible states that the wages of sin is death.
So does this mean that when you physically die, you have paid for your sins? Of
course not! If that were so, every one of us would eventually be our own
redeemer simply because we died. We know that physical death is a reality we
shall all face if Jesus does not return in our generation: But what about after
we die? Is that the end or is there something else that awaits us? Actually
there is something else. It is called the Day of Judgment. There, the
righteous shall be rewarded, but all sinners and unbelievers will receive the
wages of their sinful ways. We would all be wise to find out exactly what those
wages are now, before we get to our payday.
It is clear that the
wages of sin is really eternal damnation. The book of Revelation tells us of
a SECOND DEATH called the lake of fire where sinners will spend
eternity. Now if the lake of fire is the penalty for sin, then how long
will it last? One moment? One week? One year? How long? Will
the sinner just burn to ashes, or will they be released after a certain term is
served?
Jesus warned of
eternal damnation and He said there was a fire that would never be quenched.
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah also spoke of this unquenchable fire. In the
New Testament Jude wrote of the vengeance of eternal fire and John had
visions of those who had no rest from their torment, neither day or
night. These statements seem to speak of more than just the agony of
damnation, but also the duration of it. The penalty for sin is more than just a
horrible agonizing damnation; it is also eternal damnation (Revelation 14:11).
Paul, the Apostle,
warned that those who did not know God would receive everlasting destruction
from the presence of God. Banishment from Gods presence is forever. The
condemned man will never again stand before God. This, alone, could qualify as
the ultimate punishment. Just as after King David sinned he pleaded with God
not to take His Holy Spirit from him, even so for us, eternal banishment from
Gods presence is more than the soul can bear.
The
Price Paid
We can have no doubt
that Jesus Christ paid an enormous price for our salvation; but was that price
the payment of a penalty? In order to answer this question there are two
important points we need to consider:
1. The death Jesus
suffered for us was a physical death.
2. His sufferings
ended when He gave up the ghost (died).
Although there are
many descriptions in the scriptures of Jesus’ physical sufferings, nowhere are
they spoken of as being spiritual. The stripes, the wounds, the bruises, and
the nails were all inflicted upon His body. Consider how the prophets and
apostles specified that the sufferings were in Jesus fleshly body.
- a body thou hast prepared me
- being put to death in the flesh
- in the body of His flesh, through death
- we are sanctified through the offering of His
body
- who bare our sins in His own body on the tree
- as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh
It was the suffering
of Jesus in His fleshly body that is the key to our redemption. There is no
record that Jesus suffered spiritually, or that He will suffer eternally.
When He said, It is finished, and died at Calvary, our redemption was
accomplished and His sufferings were over. Luke tells us that, immediately
before He died, Jesus cried, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. God,
His Father, had promised not to leave his soul in Hell or let His body see
corruption. The word Hell, as used in this passage, does not speak of a place
of damnation; it is used to speak of the grave, or the place of the dead. Peter
was speaking of this place when he wrote that Jesus went and preached to the
spirits in prison. He did not go as one suffering, but as the bearer of good
news. Jesus was the victor, the conqueror, and on the third day He was
resurrected from the dead to abide forever in His Fathers presence.
Based
upon the evidence so far, we come to these simple deductions:
1. For a penalty
to be paid, the punishment suffered must meet or exceed the punishment
due. A condemned man cannot fulfill a true twenty-year sentence in one
day. This would be unjust.
2. If physical death
is not the penalty for sin, then Jesus death on the cross was not payment of
sins penalty because a physical death cannot satisfy the demands of eternal
damnation.
3. If our penalty
was to be cast into the lake of fire, then Jesus, in order to pay that penalty,
would have had to be cast into the flames of damnation? Some do preach that
Jesus burned in Hell, but they do so without any scriptural basis. Yet if Jesus
died to pay our penalty this would have had to be the case. Rest assured, Jesus
did not burn in Hell. Instead, on the same day that He died, He went to
paradise.
4. The sinners
damnation is eternal. If Jesus took that upon Himself, He would have had to
suffer eternally in order to bear our punishment? Since the sinner can never be
released from his damnation, how could Jesus be raised from the dead if His
death was to pay our penalty? The certain proof that Jesus did not take
our penalty is the fact that HE AROSE FROM THE DEAD on the third day. He is not
eternally damned, nor is He forever destroyed from the presence of God. Rather
He is alive and sits at the right hand of the Father. If Jesus went to the
cross to pay a penalty for sin He would never have come out of the tomb.
5. God promised to
pardon those who forsook their way and returned unto Him. Webster’s Dictionary
defines a pardon as the excusing of an offense without exacting a penalty.
Forgive and pardon are synonymous terms. However, pardon and payment of
penalty are opposing terms. If we were pardoned, our penalty was not paid; if
our penalty was paid, then we were not pardoned. Paul wrote that God
tolerates sins that are in our past and forbears (holds back punishment)
because of our faith in Christ Jesus. In other words, we have been
pardoned.
In the scriptures,
you will find many occasions where they speak of Jesus dying for our sins. This
is defined by some as Him taking our penalty; but that is not true. It simply
means that our sins are the reason Jesus chose to lay down His life. For our
sins does not mean for our penalty. Jesus died to make us free from sin. His
body was the vehicle God used to carry our sin to the cross and fulfill the
sentence of death (the condemnation) that was upon it. Since He bore our sin in
His body, the death of His body, became the death of our sinful man. Calvary is
where God fulfilled the promise He had made to Daniel to finish the
transgression and make an end of sins. Jesus went to the cross to destroy sin,
its power, and its presence. There is not a single scripture that says Jesus
was taking our punishment or penalty. Its just not there. There are,
however, many things that Jesus did accomplish on the cross which are clearly
stated in the word of God.
1. He put away sin. Hebrews
9:26
2. He sanctified the people. Hebrews 13:12
3. He crucified our old man. Romans. 6:6
4. He made many righteous. Romans.
5:19
5. He redeemed us from all iniquity. Titus 2:14
6. He destroyed the Devil. Hebrews 2:14
7. He destroyed the body of sin. Romans 6:6
8. He took away the sin of the world. John 1:29
Why
Is This Important?
1. Because a fallacy
believed, will always blind the mind to the truth, of those who believe it. If
you believe that Calvary was about paying a penalty, you will always be
hindered from looking beyond and seeing the true purpose of the cross.
2. When the gospel
is preached as a penalty paid message, the conclusion many come to is that sin
has no penalty. The doctrines of unconditional eternal security are based,
partly, upon the mistaken belief that all of sins penalties (past, present, and
future) are paid. Therefore if sin has no penalty, then the sins of
Christians have no effect on their eternal destiny. This error has deceived
many and led them to wrongly assume that God will receive the unrighteous into
His Kingdom.
But the wages of sin
is still death. Either we are delivered from our sin through faith in Jesus
Christ and His gospel, or we await the judgment of eternal damnation. The issue
is Life or Death. The decision... is yours.
Message
1 - By Keith Surface - Penalty Paid, or Pardon and Deliverance?
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