Three Common Errors - described briefly:
- Justification
The clearest single Bible verse clarifying justification is Galatians 2:16.
That verse has 5 phrases. The first and last phrases emphatically declare that no person and no flesh can be justified by the works of the law - any law.
Yet, every New Testament Gospel I have ever heard declares some form of justification by works.
The Catholic gospel sees believers sin and determine that people must have a part in their justification, especially regular participation in the church mass.
Reformers, such as Martin Luther, read that no person is justified by works and say that human works cannot help,
but they, and gospel teachers today, exalt Jesus' perfect works. Part of the reason they do this is their belief that ‘faith in Jesus’ justifies.
Yet, this is a mis-interpretation of part of the second and fourth phrases of Galatians 2:16. They accept that people so believing are saved by Jesus’ works.
The Bible’s Gospel is different, because those phrases say that Jesus’ faith justifies. It is not ‘faith in Jesus’ but the “faith of Jesus” that justifies.
Jesus’ faith justifies each person who believes into Christ Jesus, as in the third phrase.
Jesus’ faith, not Jesus’ works justifies the believer. The faith of Jesus, that justifies, is a noun. We believe (the verb) to be justified by Jesus‘ faith.
- The Blood of Jesus
We might ask why the Blood of Jesus is so powerful.
Believers are redeemed by his blood (Ephesians 1:7) and believers are cleansed by his blood (I John 1:7).
The commonly understood value in Jesus’ blood is an economic value … it pays for all sins by all (believing) sinners for all time.
It is said that this great price paid satisfied God that a man properly addressed the sin problem and paid the necessary price. … but God never said that anywhere to anyone. God never asked for a payment for any sin.
Instead, in the Bible’s Gospel, the blood of Jesus has value because God asked for it. In fact, in Leviticus 17:11, God gave to Israel
the life’s blood of the sacrifice upon the altar, and He never altered that.
That explains why Jesus, as our High Priest, sprinkled his own shed life’s blood on heaven’s true altar in heaven, as in Hebrews 9.
- Death has no Redeeming power ... life has redeeming power.
The life of the flesh is in the blood (Genesis 4:10) Redemption (or Atonement) (Leviticus 17:11)
is through the blood on the altar (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; I Peter 1:18-19; Hebrews 9).
We are justified, forgiven, and more on the basis of the blood redemption (Romans 3:24-26).
Death is an enemy. Death is in the world because of Adam’s sin. Death indicates our mortality.
While death is necessary, especially the death of Jesus who was made sin for us and carried our sins and conquered death for us,
death does not redeem. As much as men can exalt Jesus’ death, the Bible nowhere gives death a redeeming power.
- Satisfaction: God gave the life’s blood upon the altar for atonement (Leviticus 17:11) and He never changed that. Jesus’ blood satisfied Him.
In Leviticus 17:11, God revealed what satisfied Him - the life’s blood. In this verse God gave the blood on the altar.
God’s satisfaction with the life’s blood was never altered. It carries to Jesus’ life’s blood ... see verses above.
We know about the shed blood and its importance,
Hebrews 9 describes how Jesus’ life’s blood is better than any animal’s blood shed for sin in the Old Testament.
God never asked for a payment.
No sacrifice form Moses’ Law to Jesus’ cross was ever accepted as a payment or even as a restitution..
- Romans 6:23a: is not part of the gospel.
Paul described the gospel in Romans Chapters 3-5 and explained in 5:12 that The Sin-Death corruption came upon all because of Adam’s sin.
Very few have committed a sin having the death penalty. Romans Chapter 6 gives the believer many reasons ont to sin.
The first reason given is that it does not increase grace. Almost the last reason is that sin pays wages, and they are costly to the sinner.
Moses, in Deuteronomy, encourages making the choice to walk in the way of life and blessing.
Walking in sin is walking in the ways of death and cursing.
We were all under the death penalty at our conception, because we were all conceived with Adam’s corrupted seed.
Other errors are made, so we must stay with God’s Bible Revelation
(Book 3: Chapter 4 has more on the subject of the Bible’s Gospel.)