WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ON THE CROSS [4045a]

It says that one died for all therefore all died. It also says that we were crucified with Him. When He died, we died. When He was crucified, we were crucified. It is also apparent that all not “in” Jesus are dead under the law. Whichever way you look at it, we are spoken of as being dead and not alive in any form, whether physical or spiritual.

Therefore it is no surprise that what Jesus is doing is to reveal to us this state of death of the natural born man of flesh and blood. And “sin” is blamed, and all but Jesus are accounted as sinners who are “dead” under the “law of sin and death”.

It remains then for the grace of God to be revealed in providing some way out of death and into life, since our natural state is that only of death.

The death of Jesus did nothing* to change anything in itself. Jesus was a man just like us, so that His death could represent our death also, and make us one like Him and Him one like us. EXCEPT that His death was temporary because He contained the nature of God within Himself, so that once His body was dead, His spirit could by the power of God having given birth to newness of bodily life by that righteous spirit, rise to resurrection life in new bodily form.

So where does that leave us? Having already been declared dead in ourselves, God reaches out to us to say that if we recognise our own death state, and are prepared to leave it behind, that death being righteous because there being nothing of life worthy in us; then our death is forgiven by His mercy towards us and overlooked if we cleave to Him in recognition of His love as now provided through His Son, who in the new form of the Spirit is made available to us through His love being desirous of us to captivate us through our empathy with His empathy for us in revelation of the love that He is.

This above statement of account operates in reality by our spontaneous heart recognition of the pain and suffering we ourselves encounter in life and are concerned about, and then see in Him on the cross as being that which we deserve but which has been taken by Him on our account, for us. The revealing of sin having been dealt with in this way shows that we also must be sensitive to the pain of sin and especially our own sin.

This is why it can say that “those who are His have crucified the (our) flesh [with its passions and desires]”. Our empathy performs this crucifixion of self along with Him, as we “own our sin” which we now can do because He has paid for it for us. Truth demands we then operate outside of this former death which loses its power over us to conform us to itself and instead, we are released from the power of it and the structure of laws within our minds that confined us only to logical and defensive mechanisms: and now leaves us to follow His Spirit by way of its (His) immediate presence without regard for legalistic processes of rationalisation.

We gain a new ‘mindset’ unlike the former one which was forced to accommodate compromise and servitude to the sinful mindset, but which now places us in ‘servitude’ to Jesus the Prince of righteousness instead. His cross defined His and God’s love. We now allow love to control us in its outworking towards others, without regard for ourselves other than that we follow Him above all else.

So our sins fell on Him only in the broader picture of His love for us and our sinful condition falling on His conscience in conjunction with His own fleshly deficiencies which He ‘repaired’ by His own righteousness in the lead up to His death.

It is our recognition of and conformity to this truth that allows life enduing change to occur in us.

One web article on this subject is (https://credomag.com/article/what-really-happened-on-the-cross-part-1/#SnippetTab) 

[Just as Paul in Romans 7 revealed the fallen state of man, so too on the cross does Jesus reveal the identification with, and the healing of, this condition] [The cross was forgiveness for all but it has to be received to be effective] [We must be participant by our compliance as inherent in our belief] [As we trust in Him, our identity shifts from one of ourselves to that of Himself].

• The death of Jesus, though it ‘did nothing of itself’, ushered in the new covenant whereby a new commandment was given and various “laws” of grace appeared which superceded those of the old covenant.

CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT JESUS DEATH [4045]

It says that one died for all therefore all died. It also says that we were crucified with Him. When He died, we died. When He was crucified, we were crucified. It is also apparent that all not “in” Jesus are dead under the law. Whichever way you look at it, we are spoken of as being dead and not alive in any form, whether physical or spiritual.

Therefore it is no surprise that what Jesus is doing is to reveal to us this state of death of the natural born man of flesh and blood. And “sin” is blamed, and all but Jesus are accounted as sinners who are “dead” under the “law of sin and death”.

It remains then for the grace of God to be revealed in providing some way out of death and into life, since our natural state is that only of death.

The death of Jesus did nothing to change anything in itself. Jesus was a man just like us, so that His death could represent our death also, and make us one like Him and Him one like us. EXCEPT that His death was temporary because He contained the nature of God within Himself, so that once His body was dead, His spirit could by the power of God having given birth to newness of bodily life by that righteous spirit, rise to resurrection life in new bodily form.

So where does that leave us? Having already been declared dead in ourselves, God reaches out to us to say that if we recognise our own death state, and are prepared to leave it behind, that death being righteous because there being nothing of life worthy in us; then our death is forgiven by His mercy towards us and overlooked if we cleave to Him in recognition of His love as now provided through His Son, who in the new form of the Spirit is made available to us through His love being desirous of us to captivate us through our empathy with His empathy for us in revelation of the love that He is.

This above statement of account operates in reality by our spontaneous heart recognition of the pain and suffering we ourselves encounter in life and are concerned about, and then see in Him on the cross as being that which we deserve but which has been taken by Him on our account, for us. The revealing of sin having been dealt with in this way shows that we also must be sensitive to the pain of sin and especially our own sin.

This is why it can say that “those who are His have crucified the (our) flesh [with its passions and desires]”. Our empathy performs this crucifixion of self along with Him, as we “own our sin” which we now can do because He has paid for it for us. Truth demands we then operate outside of this former death which loses its power over us to conform us to itself and instead, we are released from the power of it and the structure of laws within our minds that confined us only to logical and defensive mechanisms: and now leaves us to follow His Spirit by way of its (His) immediate presence without regard for legalistic processes of rationalisation.

We gain a new ‘mindset’ unlike the former one which was forced to accommodate compromise and servitude to the sinful mindset, but which now places us in ‘servitude’ to Jesus the Prince of righteousness instead. His cross defined His and God’s love. We now allow love to control us in its outworking towards others, without regard for ourselves other than that we follow Him above all else.

So our sins fell on Him only in the broader picture of His love for us and our sinful condition falling on His conscience in conjunction with His own fleshly deficiencies which He ‘repaired’ by His own righteousness in the lead up to His death.

It is our recognition of and conformity to this truth that allows life enduing change to occur in us.

One web article on this subject is (https://credomag.com/article/what-really-happened-on-the-cross-part-1/#SnippetTab) 

[Just as Paul in Romans 7 revealed the fallen state of man, so too on the cross does Jesus reveal the identification with, and the healing of, this condition] [The cross was forgiveness for all but it has to be received to be effective] [We must be participant by our compliance as inherent in our belief].

DENYING THE LOVE – PRIDE [3084]

Forgiveness, the nature of it and parental love for children. NOBODY WANTS A GOD OF LOVE because love will destroy PRIDE, the source of sin, which means the false SELF of sin will be destroyed, and the IDENTITY of it which we are tied to (“bound” to).

JESUS CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO EXIST* (LIVE) Because if Jesus exists (lives) then LOVE exists and loves, and pride and ego are destroyed by it. [And so then most of the world with it].

Jesus cannot be allowed to live, therefore Israel who gave birth to this Christ, also cannot be allowed to exist (live). Otherwise the destruction of false self and those of its worldly kingdoms will ensue. [Paul gave a list of progressive advances, culminating in love; but surely this is not revelationary love?][but is similar to line upon line, precept on precept?].

Parental love – do we really accept it for what it is? [“if we love only those who love us…”]. Yet do we recognise the true love of our parents for us?] As parents, we love. But as children, were we capable; did we; recognise and accept that love AS LOVE? No, because emotion enters into it, and as viable people of the world we were not taught to ‘position’ emotion correctly in our lives, because that can only truly be done within an environment of Christian faith.

Yet we did see the benefits of this Christian culture as it ‘spilled over’ into the general society around us and of which we were part. Our parents loved us to their deaths without seeing a deep response from us in the nature of the truth of love – and God likewise loves us, but fully, without seeing a result for the most part.

PRIDE BRINGS ABOUT DEATH – How do I know that? more than two thirds of people will die in their pride? Because scripture says most will die in their sin. [“broad is the way that leads to destruction”][‘unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sin’]. And pride is spoken of in scripture supposedly as being the origin of a sinful self nature, as it “took opportunity” through the catalytic stimulus (provocation) of the “commandment” without which sin nature would not have “formed”. [In like manner does Christ “form” in us].  [The nature of temptation works through the querying of truth to provide an alternative to life (death). I.E. ‘Is there a way around this truth that will destroy* me? – if I let it’ (says the autonomous thought)]. 

The Israel of God gave birth to two natures by Abraham. The one of the slave woman and the one by the free woman. And so it continues to the present day. ENMITY between two “seeds’, represented by Jesus and Barabbas, as Israel and her opponents.

[*Christ must (had to) be crucified for (the process of) reconciliation with love to occur, and we also must be crucified with Him][Is the opposite number of pride, humility? there is false love and false humility].[* see the “demoniac” response to Jesus]

When we fear GOD we are actually fearing LOVE, because love is destructive to our autonomous self. (PRIDE).

BY HIS CRUCIFIXION, YOU ALSO WERE CRUCIFIED [3082]

When Christ was crucified, so were you. The judgement that came down on Him came down on you also, [that which you were already “under”] so you were freed from sin and its consequences because you have also died your fleshly death, in Him, by God’s will.

But scripture says that the things they heard did them no good, because they did not combine it with faith. So knowledge of anything, particularly the things of scripture as related to salvation, will not then alter your destiny from the death He has apportioned you as payment for your sin, because it will be like an inactivated cheque or credit docket not “cashed in”, unless you then combine it with faith that it is of value and so CLAIM that value as in being released from death and being eligible for life: being also in that sense a “ticket” that Jesus bought you to eternal life through Him having freed you from the power of sin over you, through releasing you from law by His loving and forgiving nature as shown forth in His Son on the cross, by fulfilling that law, including the one of sin and death, FOR you.

So having been freed from the power of death by faith, you then also by that same faith rise to the life he holds for you in Himself for you to partake of, even “spiritual” eternal life in the here and now.

Faith requires that the judgement on sin that Jesus exposed through and in His own body, is taken seriously by us as being “punishment ” on Him in order to release us from it, so we could then in faith proceed to take up the life we had been deprived of through not having faith in God’s nature to the effect that we could not partake of His nature seeing as how we had been estranged from both it and Him. [love]

The Christ who bought us back from slavery to sin also bought us the right to eternal life, as He also demonstrated to us to show us the way back to God and His glory. Therefore when we took Him seriously we also took the matter of judgement upon our sin, and upon our fleshly sinful ‘fallen’ nature, seriously. To the one who showed us empathy we can also now show empathy by accepting the “crucifixion” of our own bodily nature as being in like nature as His. And what follows then is that we accept resurrection in like fashion with Him, but being premature to our actual physical death, this is on the spiritual level and not the physical. When we are [spiritually]resurrected with Him we are lifted up with Him to be where He now is, and we are then safeguarded against harm from the “Second Death”. [when we will be physically resurrected to be with Him].

All this is encompassed in the one word “believe”. If you truly believe, then you are His and He is yours. The sentence he passed on all mankind, because it was also taken by Jesus upon Himself, means we are freed from the death already incurred by Him, to be released into the life resulting from Him, by the same Spirit of life that he became. Through faith.

“If you believe in your HEART and confess with your mouth you will be saved”.

[“He Himself is our forgiveness”][“One died for all, therefore, all died”.][Those who are His HAVE CRUCIFIED THE FLESH  – by empathy with the crucifixion of HIS flesh][empathy resulting in love][we love because we recognise our transgression against love][“we love because HE first loved us”]

GOD PUT MANKIND ON THE CROSS [3075]

By proxy? Because man was unwilling and unable to account to himself his own sins; God took matters into His own hands and did it for him. By crucifying His own Son Jesus, he effectively crucified the whole of the creation and particularly, man.

So this “sacrifice” for sin having been made, it only remained for man to either acknowledge or deny its veracity and its voracity.

This then brought the issue down to whether or not man was willing, had the desire, to allow his sins to be removed.

But the death because of sin has been dealt with – the penalty (death) due to sin has been removed, has shown to be removed because the sin has been removed. It lies with us to accept or deny it.

Paul says “I have been crucified with Christ” This was his personal apprehension of the truth, that the testimony of God has become his testimony. That his truth is in agreeance with God’s truth. We deny this truth of our purchased crucifixion at our peril. If Christ BOUGHT us, then He did so within the confines of this “already done” structure.

Then Paul says that he has been risen with Christ Eph.2:5. Again he agrees with this truth of his position achieved by the action of Christ on the cross. AS he agrees with it, so too does it become at one with him, becomes part and parcel of HIS truth also.

So the reality of our redemption as performed by God becomes without question, unquestionable – and as we agree, it also becomes our personal possession.

How can we reconcile this matter of where God seems to have placed us compared to where we see ourselves? If GOD has placed us “in Christ” then our only alternative is to disagree with Him about this – to withdraw from our elevation with Jesus where God Himself has placed us, and to instead, by our will, disqualify ourselves from the salvation He has wrought, in Jesus, for us.

Effectively then, we have ALL been placed “in Christ” and the only available ‘move’ is to withdraw ourselves from this position of life that has been freely given us. Salvation then becomes a matter of us disqualifying ourselves from it instead of embracing it.

On that basis, salvation IS universal, is universally given, but only by man’s own “freewill” can it be removed from us. We continue on our suicidal mission towards our destiny of death, OR we embrace the salvation in which we have already been placed. Every new born child of man then is one who has been given the gift of eternal life, except they don’t know it yet till they hear the gospel. Then by their rejection of that life as espoused and enabled by Jesus, they then confirm the death they have already embraced in this life so-called, of the spiritually dead.

NOW Eph.2:5 “…even when we were dead in our transgressions, MADE US ALIVE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST… 6 “And RAISED US UP WITH HIM, AND SEATED US WITH HIM IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES”.

“ONE DIED FOR ALL, THEREFORE ALL DIED” Justification achieved here.

So then, any possible difference between OUR perception of ourselves and HIS perception of us then becomes a contest between HIS truth and OUR truth??

What then is the perceived value of the sacrifice? Is Paul saying that the value lies in the RECEPTION of it? Or in the PERCEPTION of it? IS IT ALREADY DONE OR DOES IT RELY ON, FOR EXAMPLE, OUR FAITH TO COMPLETE IT??

If the end result depends on our faith, doesn’t this then mean that “our faith” is only the belief that we are adding to God’s statement that it is indeed, TRUE? That what He has done in truth is to make available a salvation which only then requires the statement and conviction of its truth? Therefore it already stands as a truth and reality APART FROM our belief that this is so?

And the REALITY must include the whole story of death, crucifixion and resurrection, with the elevation WITH HIM to “the heavenlies”.

POSITIONALLY “seated with Him”? OR ACTUALLY seated with Him? This is what is being considered.

THE GLORY OF THE LORD HAS ALREADY CONSUMED YOUR SIN [3074]

And as you allow it, continues to do so.

THE GIFT OF LOVE IS THE GIFT OF THE NATURE OF GOD [3071]

FINAL EXPLORATORY REVELATION SERIES. Post 2. [This current series of posts is hopefully progressing towards a ‘final revelation’.] This gift of love is not just saying that if you give gifts to one another, that you are acting out of the nature of God*, but that when God gave us His Son, He gave us the nature of His love as a gift that He might affect us with the gratitude deserving of such a wondrous thing. And then, out of the recognition of, and response to, this gift; we also will be empowered to use the gift towards others. [The gift of life]

When God gave Jesus to mankind, He gave them, as a gift, His very own nature which is love and restoration of life. The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost was this very nature of God, through the Son, bringing His own life to us in such a way as to infuse us with it, to infuse us with the nature of the Son of God so we might become sons also.

This gift of His Son is available only to those who are capable of recognising the love involved in this action of the cross, of the sacrifice of self for the good of others, for all. Through BELIEF. This recognition of love then rebirths in us the same nature of this love, through empathy and yes, guilt and through remorse.

None of this though, would have been empowered without the resurrection from the dead which the Son of God attained through the power (love) of His Father God.

[“If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts* to your children, how much more will God give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”][The gift of love comes through the authority (power) of love][The gift of love is the gift of life][Love and life are synonymous][Believe with the HEART][feel the love].

[The qualities of love are to be seen in “the fruit of the Spirit” as listed in…][and in “Love is…”]

THOSE WHO ARE HIS HAVE CRUCIFIED THE FLESH [3028]

So conversely those who have NOT crucified the (their) flesh, are NOT HIS. (“Depart from me, I never knew you”).

So this sounds like it is a condition of being a Christian that you have to “crucify your flesh” which sounds like a terribly legalistic obligation; one which is little different to obeying a commandment, and just as difficult.

But this crucifying of the flesh is not something you necessarily consciously DO but is something you BELIEVE. I.E. the crucifying of THE flesh is something that Jesus DID and which we then appropriate and bring into our reality by believing it to be TRUE.

This of course also means or requires our acceptance of the understanding that He did it FOR US, for our benefit, which is why this understanding and acceptance must be HEART based; understood WITH THE HEART rather than with the mind alone, which can never fully of itself, understand LOVE.

When and as our heart understands and BELIEVES in His sacrifice as enacted ON OUR BEHALF and FOR US – being that we of ourselves could never ‘do’ or ‘achieve’ “IT”. Then our will which was previously enslaved to the processes and ‘mind’ of the ‘flesh’ is set free to embrace this as truth; then OUR WILL becomes in conformance with HIS will and accepts His sacrifice of His flesh as also being that of our own.

Love effectively CRUCIFIES FLESH, we don’t have to, nor can we, “DO IT” otherwise there would be no point nor reason for Him to “do it” unless of itself it achieved a pathway for us also to “do it” and that pathway is to BELIEVE it to be the truth and the reality of it all.

OUR FLESH HAS BEEN CRUCIFIED FOR US, COMING INTO FORCE WHEN AND AS WE believe it. UNLESS WE DON’T WANT TO.

[People will be condemned for the sin they have been uncondemned from, (for the condemnation of death they live in) but refused to leave][The nature of God (love) has freed them and Jesus IS that nature. But they refuse to believe][They refuse to rise to life][“One died for all, therefore, all died”].

[“Those who are His have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”. These are the fleshly passions and desires of Romans 7:5 and which are exhibited (and in control) throughout the whole of chapter 7.]

FREE YOURSELVES FROM THIS WICKED GENERATION [2071]

In order to be free from this dying generation, one has to be free from oneself as being part of it. Start with self. In Paul’s example (Romans 7) was he being accused by the law or by his flesh? Was it the good that accused him or was it his self nature as sin controlled it (him) and manipulated him into the corruptive ways of self, ego and autonomy of being?

Much of this centres around his “I”, his perceived identity of himself as the conflict emerges between what HE wants to do as against what his natural (flesh) nature wants him to do. Which way is better? What can be achieved? (or denied) is running through his mind.

His body holds Him (“I”) hostage through the law which condemns him. Where does HE stand on this? Does he condemn himself? His spirit wants to rise to righteousness (as depicted by law) but his mind shuts down his spirit because righteousness (law) demands it so.

Where is his identity? Is it not a matter of where he himself places it? As against these other forces [voices]which are TELLING HIM where to place it? [Flesh and law (both the bad flesh and the good law) are accusingly saying one thing, that he is condemned; and he is not yet aware of the Christ sacrifice [Rom.7:24] which will tell him another]

He longs for freedom, his spirit wants life, his knowledge (by law) is of death, his mind is captive to its judgement, because he sees [and wants] the righteousness, but it is this which keeps him locked into death, by the righteous judgement which he himself exercises ON himself through self judgement based on agreeance with the law.

Who or what was his accuser? And how can this be resolved?

WE WILL NOT COME INTO JUDGEMENT [2007]

When we accept the judgement on us as exhibited in Christ, we also become participant in it through being participant in and with identification with Christ. His sacrifice is recreated in us because we are agreeing with His terms and conditions of that sacrificial entry into Him and His kingdom. It is said that those who are his have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. This says that we have recreated in us that same putting to death of the flesh as He has done. This is because once He has become empathetic with us, we become empathetic with Him.

This is the meaning of the law written on the heart, that the emotional effect of His sacrifice has inscribed it indelibly in our heart, that it cost Him dearly to provide this freedom from judgement and condemnation. That our conscience has been deeply affected.

To become at one with Christ is to become at one with Him in His sacrifice. It is said that one died for all, therefore all died. Now we see that as a positional situation, which it is, but it has to also become our position of reality, just as it is His. Empathetically we do die with Him, and empathetically we do rise with Him.

So that very belief or faith in Him has the effect of crucifixion of our own flesh, and the rising to life with Him of our spirit with His Spirit. Our spirits agree with the judgement and the outcome of it. Paul was in agreement with the judgement of the law on him, but it was ON him not IN him. It could not become IN him until there was means of satisfaction of the law available to release him from its implications of death-worthiness, which was when he came to know Christ, which he formerly did NOT.

When we accept that He has taken the judgement on sin, we must also accept that responsibility for having been the cause of it, making us the party privy to the position of the one being released from obligation to it. This gives us the obligation to avoid it in future.

So to be the beneficiaries of His legacy we must be the recipients of the obligation also. We must make real within us that sacrifice which He has offered in order to be participant in its benefits. We do that by belief in His love and mercy upon us and for us, so that it (He) might be IN us.

To accept His judgement on sin is to divorce ourselves from it, otherwise we are not participant in his sacrifice for it. To be the beneficiaries of His judgement means we must receive it into ourselves as in “if we indeed suffer with Him”. But as we by faith accept this freedom, the beneficial effects of the sacrifice in us and for us will become obvious.

[For the sacrifice to be effective, it must be effective.][Nevertheless it remains potentially effective (remains true) until faith makes it effective]