God's Will For You

This is the Ninth post from Chapter 4 of Friends With God: Living The Life Of Jesus In Us. Throughout this chapter and the previous chapter we have been exploring the false doctrine of the “Penalty For Sin”.

In this post we will continue to explore some of the scriptures that have been twisted to support this false teaching.

“The Lord Has Laid On Him The Iniquity Of Us All”

In the previous post we discussed 1Peter 2:18-25, which tells us “Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree (wooden cross), that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness. (1Peter 2:24)

In 1Peter 2:23 Peter is quoting from Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. In reading this entire chapter of Isaiah, it’s clearly a prophecy about Christ, and his life on earth.

Often quoted to justify the ‘penalty for sin’ idea, is Isaiah 53:6 ‘and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all’. Again, the conventional view of this verse is that this “iniquity” was some ‘punishment’ that all people on Earth deserved, and was subsequently laid on (imputed to) Christ instead of us. This view says that all sins of all people that have ever been committed, or will be committed in the future, were somehow imputed to Christ, and this will somehow wipe out our sins forever.

Yet there is nothing in these verses to say anything of this sort of spiritual mathematics. Just read the surrounding verses to see what it is actually talking about.

What Isaiah says is: the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. In the same way that 1Peter 2:23 is talking about Christ’s bearing up under unjust affliction done to Him by those directly involved in His torture and execution, so this verse is saying the same thing.

Power to lay down my life…

Jesus told us:

I have power to lay down my life and power to take it up again’. (John 10:18)

As discussed in this previous post, the Father and Jesus allowed the iniquity of all those people who wanted him dead to be inflicted upon him. And Jesus took it silently: -

… yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.’ (Isaiah 53:7)

This verse, like 1Peter 2:23, is talking about his manner of responding to being unjustly afflicted.

In addition, there is nothing in the context to assume that when it says ‘the iniquity of us all’ it means all the sins, of all people that have ever lived. By presuming some kind of ‘payment for the penalty of sin’, preachers contrive to see in these verses what is not actually there.

In doing so they change a clear statement of Christ’s submissive acceptance of God’s will, into an ethereal, irrational, unbiblical concept of spiritual mathematics- which ends up blaming everyone who has ever lived for his murder!

The very simple and obvious point being made by Peter and Isaiah, is the attitude that Christ had when he suffered, which is the supreme example of how we should bear with unjust sins inflicted upon us.

As God did not inflict anything on him it would be better to say the Lord has (allowed to be) laid on Him the iniquity of us all. God allowed him to be sinned against, by those who killed him.

Christ’s sacrifice was showing us the correct way to live in a world full of people who don’t have the Spirit of God. It was the supreme model of behaviour for those of us who would come after Him.

Why did Christ suffer? To leave us the gold standard that we should live up to - even to the point of death. The reason for Christ’s suffering was to set the perfect prototype, in the flesh, that we can understand and follow in action and words.

The goal of our following him is that our actions will change us to become more like him:

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Eph 4:12-13)

Our actions are measured against the fulness of Christ’s example! His sacrifice showed us how to live, and we demonstrate our belief in him by following that example, through the power of the Holy Spirit. That is God’s will for us today.

Should We Always Suffer In Silence?

While Jesus’ silent suffering was appropriate at the time, when he gave himself over to the mob, if we are to follow him in all his ways, we should consider not just the manner and example of his death, but also the previous 33 years of his life. His life’s example is more than just how and why he died.

We need to understand how he related to others during his life, including those who persecuted him since the time of his birth.

Not long after Jesus was born his parents fled to Egypt to prevent his being murdered by King Herod. (Matt 2:13-23)

Jesus could have died then, if his death was to pay the penalty for sin, but God told them to flee. For his entire life, up until he gave himself over to the mob, Jesus didn’t actually respond to persecution by suffering silently.

Jesus did not stay around and get beaten up or taken prisoner, he sensibly escaped as quickly as possible. (John 7:30, 8:20, 13:1)

While at the time of his death He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. Yet, prior to this time he often sternly rebuked and strongly refuted the wrong teachings of those who wanted to kill him, as explained in these clear verses: Luke 4:16-30, John 8:31-59, John 10:24-39, Mark 7:4-13.

God’s Timing For Jesus And Us

Jesus was certainly not ready or willing to lay down his life to the evil people of his day, until it was the appropriate time. Then, when it was God’s will that he die, he was willing to be arrested. Even so, as we see in his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, it took some time for his will to be fully reconciled to God the Father’s will. (Matt 26:36-46) Prior to that day of Passover, when he surrendered to the mob, he made sure he escaped all physical harm, as his hour had not yet come.

When is the appropriate time for you to suffer in silence, perhaps even to death? That is something that you need to determine. And that will be the time when it’s God’s will for you to suffer. Then, because it is God’s will, your suffering will serve a greater transcendent purpose. (Luke 22:53)

However, with God’s help, we must always try to escape from our tormentors to save our lives. To do anything else is to be willingly punished for doing good, which is just plain stupid. There is no point in suffering at the hands of others unless it provides a transcendent purpose which glorifies God. 

God’s Will For Us

Paul also often resisted those trying to kill him. He verbally and legally resisted the Jews who wanted him dead, by appealing to Caesar- for which he was taken to Rome. (Acts 25:8-12) Paul stood up for his rights as a Roman citizen (Acts 16:36-40, Acts 22:25-28) He was not willing to be beaten unnecessarily, unless it was God’s will.

He tried to get out of every situation, using wisdom and every available method. Yet, eventually the Romans did kill him. Again, his death occurred at the appropriate time, when it was God’s will for him to die.

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
(2Tim 4:6)

We too, should not generally be willing to be taken advantage of, or to have our lives endangered to satisfy some power-hungry despot. We must ask God to show us when it’s our time to give our lives, in an appropriate manner, for the greatest good.

We too have rights in our societies, and we should use them to avoid being dealt unfairly with by others. Yes, God is in charge, but we also have to use our brains to protect ourselves and others when we can:

Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. (Prov 31:8-9)

The Apostles confronted the leaders on many occasions and prayed:

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness” (Act 4:29)

God Expects Us To Be Bold and Courageous

We must be bold and confront all unrighteousness, rather than being weak and timid and say nothing. To keep quiet is cowardly and foolish, and it does nothing to exalt the glory of God.

The wicked flee when no man pursues; but the righteous are bold as a lion. (Prov 28:1)

We see great courage and boldness in the first Christian martyr after Jesus, Stephen, who defended himself with a powerful sermon. (Acts 7:1-60). This verbal confrontation he had with the Jewish leaders directly led to his death.

Following his death a great persecution of the entire church started, which resulted in Christians going throughout the Roman world, and ultimately to the gospel going to the gentiles. (Acts 8:1)

Ultimately Stephen’s death led to the glory of God.

We are given these examples to know how we are to respond to those who deal with us unjustly. We are to confront them, and escape from them, and stand up for our rights if we can. But if we are to be killed unjustly, then we must take it patiently, and it too will lead to God’s way of life being known through the world.

Jesus knew he was eventually going to be required to die an unnatural death, as an example for those that would follow him. There have been many Christian martyrs who have had to follow his example, and in the process, like Paul, were able to fill up the sufferings of Christ. (Col 1:24, Heb 11:36-40)

Without Jesus’ dying in the way he did, such martyrs would not have understood how they were expected to behave. Fortunately, we in this age, are most often required to live out our full lifespan.

Yet, old age can also be a very difficult trial in itself, particularly when combined with illness, poverty and loneliness. And old age is another area where we are required to fill up the sufferings of Christ, by showing the correct example of how to live our final years with dignity and faith in God.

We Are The Light Of The World

As discussed in the previous post, our life is to fill up the things lacking of the afflictions of Christ in our flesh. (Col 1:23-25)

How can anything be lacking of the afflictions of Christ?

Jesus was a healthy man who died young. He was not a woman. Nor did he live to old age. He never married, or had physical children of his own. He was never disabled, unemployed, or put up with the toxic chemicals of this modern age.

We are all in circumstances different from the actual life of Christ, however we are to align ourselves to the example he set in his life, by being guided by what he said and being directed by the Holy Spirit. In doing so we demonstrate to others how to live as Christ lived.

We then become the light of the world, as Jesus was also the light of the world. (Matt 5:14-15, John 8:12, 9:5) 

"You are the light that shines for the world to see.
You are like a city built on a hill that cannot be hidden.
People don't hide a lamp under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand.
Then the light shines for everyone in the house.
In the same way, you should be a light for other people.
Live so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.
(Matt 5:14-16)

During our lifetime, we are to be reflecting and emulating the complete life of Christ, as is appropriate in our circumstances. This may or may not involve being murdered by unjust men, but if it does, then we have the martyrdom of Christ to guide us, and to emulate in our own circumstances.

The false concept of Christ’s “paying a penalty for sin” distorts what Peter tells us. It changes the fact that we are responsible for having the correct attitude toward unwarranted aggression, into an excuse for Jesus’ taking on responsibility for the results of all of our sins.

The reality is that we are responsible for our actions, be they sin, which we must deal with through repentance, or righteous living by following in faith the way of Christ.

When we take on responsibility for our sins, and willingly turn away from them to follow Christ, then God not only forgives us, but also provides the gift of eternal life to overcome our mortality. There is no need for any supposed “penalty for our sins”, for once our sins are forgiven then there is no reason to apply any penalty.

Our role is to turn from our sins through repentance. Christ can’t do that for us. That is why he said that we should repent. That is our responsibility. He showed us how to live our lives. That was his role.

We then agree to turn from our sins by emulating his behaviour. This may include the requirement to “lay down our life for our friends”, if necessary, but only at the appropriate time chosen by God. Then it is the Will of God for us to die.