There are many layers to the Gospel story. Today, I'm going to focus on two of them. At first glance, they’ll seem to be things you’re already familiar with. But many Christians…maybe most Christians…get these at least partially wrong.
The more we get them wrong, the more we limit Jesus’ work in and through us. If we get them too wrong, we’re in danger of not even being Saved. I can’t tell you where God draws that line, but wherever He draws that line, I want to be very far away from it.
If we get these Gospel truths right, any person can live in a restored relationship with God...a real, vibrant, personal, living relationship, like what Adam first had in the Garden of Eden. That's what Jesus died to give each of us.
I call these "The Gospel's Two Anchors". Without BOTH of them, no one will pass Judgement Day.
Without our input or help, Jesus took care of the First Anchor. But we are responsible for the Second Anchor.
JESUS' PAYMENT, THE FIRST ANCHOR
You may be thinking, Hey, I know Jesus paid for my sins on the Cross. Well, I’m glad you know that, but let me ask a question: If you really believed Jesus paid for your sins, why do you feel like you have to do something extra, something additional to pay for your sin debt?
That’s a huge flaw in many Christian's approach to God. It’s a potentially fatal flaw.
We couldn't pay the price of our sin, our sin debt, but He wanted us anyway. That's why Jesus paid the sin debt for us. He took it upon Himself and paid it in full all by Himself, without any input or help or contribution from people.
Let's see what Scripture says about what Jesus paid when He died on the cross. Then we'll think about how we often miss the fullness of what it means for us.
About 700 years before Jesus came to this earth as an infant, Isaiah the prophet wrote this about Him:
He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds, we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
In John 1:29, the Apostle John wrote
The next day, John (the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'
In 1 John 2:2 NIV, John the Apostle wrote
"He (Jesus) is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."
The author of Hebrews, in verse 9:26, wrote
…but he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
It's clear in Scripture that Jesus paid the full price for ALL of humanity's sin debt...past, present and future...and not just for those who accept Him. If you’ve been taught otherwise, you’ve been taught a lie. Jesus paid just as much for the sins of those who reject Him as He did for those who accept Him.
For many Christians, that's a pretty radical thought.
His payment included ALL of your sin debt and my sin debt. Here's the shocker: Jesus' payment also fully covered Adolph Hitler's sin debt, Joseph Stalin's sin debt, Genghis Khan's sin debt...I could keep going for a very long time and not be close to listing all the evil and sin debt accrued throughout mankind's history.
Jesus paid just as much for the sin debt of the worst characters in history as He did for your sin debt and my sin debt. If that's hard to swallow, review the verses I read a minute ago.
It's shocking to think about, but there's really no other way to interpret what the Bible teaches. What I'm saying is Bible truth. In the eyes of God's righteous demand for perfect justice, Jesus paid for ALL of humanity’s sin debt.
So, does that mean that everyone goes to heaven?
No, it doesn't, not even close. I’ll explain that in a moment when we get to Repentance, the Second Anchor.
Every person, no matter how wonderful they may appear to our eyes, is carrying sin and a sin debt beyond the possibility of self-repair. Jesus' payment is the only thing that gives anyone the possibility of right standing with God.
God's plan to bring as many people as possible into heaven's eternity has two parts.
1. The part we couldn't do for ourselves -- paying sin's awful, overwhelming debt -- was done by Jesus.
2. The part God can't do for us -- using our free will to turn and put our lives on His path -- we must each do for ourselves.
This is of vital importance, so take your time reading these next three statements. Let them sink in.
- If you think you need to add your goodness to what Jesus paid, you're saying He didn't pay enough.
- If you're counting on Your goodness to get you over the top, you've already lost.
- Every Believer's trust must be in Jesus' payment and nothing else.
Trying to approach God based on your own good works has the opposite effect. Thinking your effort gets you right with God is exactly what will keep you from being right with Him.
Face it. When it comes to being freed from sin debt, you bring nothing to the table with which to pay it. Absolutely nothing. Zero, zilch, nada.
On our behalf, Jesus brought His everything to that table. His payment for sin's awful, overwhelming debt was complete. There's not even a speck of sin debt left for any person to pay.
Getting this wrong, even a little bit, limits your faith and keeps you from walking in the fullness God wants for you. So don't shortchange Jesus' payment. This is a huge truth that most Christians don't fully grasp; Satan certainly doesn't want you to understand it.
So, what’s next? This is it:
REPENTANCE, THE SECOND ANCHOR
Even though Jesus made the full payment for humanity's sin debt, God still has to honor each person's Free Will. When Jesus made the full payment for sin. He did it to give you a choice. It's a choice you wouldn't have without His payment.
Because of His payment for sin, you are free to choose to be transformed in your spirit, soul and body into a person who is fit for God's presence in heaven.
Using your free will to make that choice is the essence of repentance.
- He made the payment; you make the choice.
- Choosing to repent walks you through the door that Jesus' payment opened.
- Without repentance, Jesus' payment doesn't help.
Repentance doesn't add to or pay a single iota for your sin; the payment for your sin debt was already made in full by Jesus' death.
Repentance takes advantage of Jesus' full payment only when you surrender your life to His ownership and transformation.
First, let's think about what repentance means.
"Metanoeo" is the Greek word most frequently translated as "repentance" in English Bibles. "Metanoeo" goes far beyond regret or remorse. It means to turn around, changing your mind and purpose, turning in surrender to God. It doesn't mean you've gone very far down that path, just that you've chosen it.
There's a different Greek word – "metamellomai" – for regret without surrender. That's the Greek word used to describe Judas' frame of mind after he betrayed Jesus and committed suicide (Matthew 27:3-5).
The Greek word metamellomai might be used to describe a misbehaving child who is sorry he got caught rather than being truly sorry for what he did. The child doesn't really want to change his behavior; he just wants to not get caught next time.
· One person may have true repentance, choosing a change of mind and purpose, wanting to turn from sin’s path to Jesus’ path.
· Another person may feel simple regret, like the child who got caught but doesn't really want to change.
- Jesus paid what He paid for humanity's sin debt whether anyone accepts it or not. There's nothing anyone can do that adds to or takes away from what Jesus paid.
- Even the deepest, most perfect true repentance doesn't add a smidgen to what Jesus paid. It doesn't need to.
- Adding to Jesus' payment isn't the purpose of repentance.
- What God wants to know is that you've chosen to be on His path to total transformation through Jesus.
- He knows full well that you can't get down that path very far on your own. He knows you can’t fix yourself by trying harder or joining the white-knuckle crowd.
- He just wants to know that you've chosen the journey.
Choosing Jesus’ transformation sets you up for an unrestricted love relationship with God. Simply put, that's what He wants.
Paul wrote in Philippians 3:12 (Amplified Bible)
Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christ-like] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own.
If you reject being transformed, Jesus' payment for your sins does you no good. It's just as if it never happened, except that it did.
If you reject being transformed, you are responsible to pay your own sin debt in Hell's Lake of Fire.
Repentance is the Second Anchor that allows the First Anchor to work in your life.
There are two layers of repentance. The first one we'll talk about is the starting point that lays the groundwork for follow-up point-by-point repentance.
We'll talk about follow-up point-by-point repentance in a couple of minutes.
The Second Anchor's Foundation: Overall Blanket Repentance
This is the repentance that gets you born again.
Whatever words are used, God looks at the heart. To Him, the essential essence of repentance...the foundation and starting point...goes something like this:
"Lord Jesus, I want the forgiveness and transformation you bought and paid for. I choose to turn my life around and give it to you. I want to fully become the person you have in mind, but I need your help. I surrender to you. Here I am. Work in me. Change whatever You want."
In that moment, several things happen.
- His immediate response is to give you a new, born-from-above spirit that is joined to the Holy Spirit. That event is called being Born Again. It's not some external cultural change. It's a real event that transforms your personal spirit.
- Your personal sin debt is marked Paid In Full. He’s already paid it for you on the cross, but through repentance you’ve now accepted His payment for yourself.
- In that same moment, the Holy Spirit enlists you in Christ's Body of Believers, transferring your citizenship from Satan's Kingdom to Jesus' Kingdom (Colossians 1:13). If you died in the next moment, you'd go straight to heaven.
The occupants of Heaven immediately respond with great rejoicing. (Luke 15:7) and your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Welcome to eternity with Jesus in heaven!
When you repent, you've done the first and biggest thing God wants you to do with Jesus' payment.
- Jesus died on the Cross to give you a chance to repent.
- Without His payment for sin (the Gospel's First Anchor), the door to heaven is closed and repentance does nothing.
- Blanket repentance is the foundation that chooses the path of transformation that Jesus' payment makes possible. It requires you to exercise your free will.
For your own sake, I think it's good to regularly reaffirm your Foundational, overall blanket repentance. It doesn't get you born-again again because your spirit doesn't need to be born-again again. It just helps to keep you fresh and clean on God's path as He works change in your soul because, let's face it, all of our souls still need a lot of work.
After your spirit is born-again, genuine change...change in your soul from the inside out...comes from the Holy Spirit's ongoing process in your soul (Romans 12:2). The Bible calls that process "sanctification".
For that process to work, you'll need as much of Him as you can get because relying on your personal effort won't get you very far.
That leads us to what I think of as the next layer of repentance.
Point-by-Point Repentance
Once you've chosen Foundational, blanket repentance and have a born-again, born-from-above spirit, the Holy Spirit will from time-to-time point out and prompt you to confess and repent from specific sin issues.
What I'm calling Point-by-Point Repentance covers a long list of ungodly actions and attitudes. It includes anything and everything in your soul that displeases God. This list starts with the obvious Biggies: murder, hatred, violence, lying, theft, adultery, and sexual perversion. But it also runs the gamut through pride, arrogance, unforgiveness, and a boatload of other less obvious things that are incompatible with being in heaven.
Left unrecognized and unrepented, all of these things open you up one way or another to demonic activity (1 Peter 5:8).
Recognizing, confessing and repenting from them plays a key role in closing those doors. God wants you free from those things (1 John 1:9).
TAKEAWAY
In "The Gospel's Two Anchors", we've talked about the fullness of Jesus' payment and how we should respond to it. Here's some things I really want you to grasp and remember.
Jesus paid the full penalty for all of humanity's sin. His payment is for everyone's sin, even for those who refuse to repent. But for those who refuse to repent, His payment for their sin doesn't do them any good.
Works-based religion is a subtle lie that Jesus' payment alone isn't enough. Works-based religion holds that our righteous efforts must be added to what He paid. But that's not what the Bible teaches.
I'm paraphrasing here. Jesus never said "You have to stop sinning before I help you."
Repentance puts you on the path Jesus paid for. It tells God that you've chosen to be on Jesus' path to total spirit, soul and body transformation.
- Whether I've had a good day or a bad day, my approach to the Throne is always on the same basis: I trust in Jesus' payment alone.
- When I see something in me requiring repentance, I take care of it, but that's for the sake of closing those doors and keeping my heart tender towards Him. My repentance doesn't add in any way to what Jesus paid. I never have to be born-again again.
- After I confess and repent, I don't get any cleaner by waiting a few days before approaching the Throne in prayer.
I made these three points earlier, but they're worth repeating:
- If you're counting on your goodness to get you over the top, you've already lost.
- If you think you need to add your goodness to what Jesus paid, you're saying He didn't pay enough.
- Every Believer's trust must be in Jesus' payment and nothing else.
As a born-again Believer, I can always approach the throne with boldness based on what Jesus did, nothing else.
When I recognize that there is an issue clouding my conscience and holding me back, I confess it and repent, choosing once again to get out of the ditch and back on His path.
(Side note: Over the years, I've become quite familiar with the ditch.)
But once that's done, I can then and there approach the Throne with boldness. It's not some lack in Jesus' payment that's holding me back; rather, my own conscience breeds unbelief that then robs me of boldness before the Throne.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
If you're anything like me...and I'm guessing you are...there are an array of personal issues that the Lord wants to deal with. Some issues we see right away, others we don't.
My spirit is already born again. It doesn't have to be born-again again, but my mind, my will and my emotions...my soul...still need work. Lots of work.
Because I'm a born-again follower of Jesus, God works to change me, not condemn me. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will show me flaws that I've been slow to recognize, maybe flaws that I didn’t really want to recognize. They may have been hiding around the edges of my self-awareness for a long time. Others may see these flaws long before I do.
When you recognize something in you that needs to be cleaned up, confess it, close those doors and choose to return to God's path of transformation. Keep short accounts with God. Don't come under condemnation.
Becoming born-again was a single, instantaneous event in your spirit. Sanctification is the follow-on process in your soul of transforming your mind, will and emotions from the inside out.
In the sanctification stage, point-by-point confession and repentance closes doors to the enemy and opens doors for the Lord to do a deeper work.
It will help to review my earlier posts: "TheThree Salvations" and "Sanctification, the Middle Stage ofSalvation".
My trust is exclusively in what He paid. If my repentance was ever perfect, I'd never have to repeat it. But it often has to be renewed because I'm still far from perfected.
I haven't arrived, but I'm for sure on my way. When an issue raises its ugly head, being quick to repent really helps.
I've struggled for years feeling as though I can't confidently approach the Throne until I've had a series of really good days. It's wonderful to have a stretch of really good days, but my good days can never be the basis for approaching the Throne.
Sometimes I’ve had bad stretches that created obstacles in my heart. They hardened my heart in subtle ways. Those bad stretches become filters, self-created restrictions in my approach to God.
A hardened heart and sin go hand in glove. Together, they magnify unbelief and distance from God, opening the door ever wider for the enemy to operate in a Christian's life (1 Peter 2:11; 2 Peter 1:9; 2 Timothy 2:26).
Because of those things, I always remember that:
- My issues never diminish what Jesus paid.
- My confidence and trust is never in my ability to make myself holy.
- My confidence and trust must always be in what Jesus paid, the goodness of His heart, and the ultimate victory of His plans for Himself and His body of Believers.
We have been bought at a high price! (1 Corinthians 6:20).
- Repentance is choosing to be on His path.
- It means that I've started, not that I've gotten very far.
- It definitely doesn't mean that I've arrived.
Don't act so surprised. You know what I'm talking about.
The Apostle Paul must have been a great Repenter. But even he said in Philippians 3:12
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
2 Corinthians 4:2, Amplified Bible Classic Edition, tells us that Paul also wrote
We have renounced disgraceful ways (secret thoughts, feelings, desires and underhandedness, the methods and arts that men hide through shame)...
There's a funny thing about repentance. It's an act of the will, a deliberate choice to be on Jesus' path.
But because the will is just one part of the soul, it often has to wrestle with leftover soulish emotions and things in the mind that don't want to be on His path.
Romans 8:7, Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
...the mind of the flesh [with its carnal thoughts and purposes] is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God’s Law; indeed it cannot.
I know about that struggle first-hand. There have been times when I've had to forcefully choose His path through a deliberate act of my will even though other parts of my soul didn't want to go there.
- He accepts my choice as true turning and true repentance, even if other parts of my soul are screaming "No, don't do it!"
- In those moments, God understands my internal struggle.
- He also hears my deliberate, spoken-out-loud choice to be on His path.
He'll do the same for you.
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