Jesus died for all

By now, anyone who reads Fortner’s devotionals along with my devotional posts will know that I cannot accept some of what he says. I agree that salvation is by grace through faith and that everyone who believes is drawn to that faith by God. I believe we cannot save ourselves because we will not. Sin ruined our ability to say yes to Him and that is why He must save us.

I agree also that God is sovereign, and in sovereignty gave the first people the ability to choose. They did not yield to what He said, bringing sin into the world and with it, the loss of choice. All humanity is born sinful (resisting God) and without the ability to save ourselves or even call out to Him for mercy. Sin keeps us from God, so God reaches out to us. However, He will not force salvation on anyone who says no to His existence, or refuses to acknowledge their sinfulness.

I also believe that when God reveals truth to us, we must respond. He reveals that He exists. Saying yes brings more revelation from Him, gradually leading people to the Cross and to faith in Christ. I also believe that no one can take any step toward God without God’s grace enabling them. Without Him, people cannot save themselves. The good news from the Bible is that Jesus died for the sins of the world, and whosoever will may come to Him.

However, Fortner says Jesus died only for those who believe. He uses many verses to verify this, yet omits those verses that do not. This seems like attempts to align opposing ideas (God’s sovereignty vs. the will of man) by picking sides. We have no ability to save ourselves, but Fortner also says if Jesus died for all, then all would be saved and since that does not happen, then Jesus did not die for all, but only those who believe.

Today’s devotional adds another thought that surprises me. I’ve never heard this before . . . 

“If Christ died only for a specific people, how can I know that he bore my sin and died for me? I know that Christ died for sinners and I know that I am a sinner. I know that he died for every sinner who believes on him and that all who believe on him will be saved, because God said so. Now as a guilty sinner I do with all my heart trust the Lord Jesus Christ as my only and all-sufficient Savior. Since I trust him, I know that he died for me. Will you trust him too? If you can, then he died for you.”

Is this reasoning backwards? ‘Since I trust him, I know that he died for me . . . . If I can trust Him, then He died for me.’ Isn’t it biblical to say that “Since He died for me, therefore I trust Him”?

Faith is not about itself, but its object. It is about trusting Jesus; who He is and what He has done. He died for my sin — my ability to believe it does not make it true for me and not for others. This illogical reasoning puts salvation in my court. It says that whether or not Jesus died for me a matter of my choice. But I don’t make Him Lord by my faith; He IS Lord, whether I believe it or not!

King David expresses well what God does — and how he and others respond to Him.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me! For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me! Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! (Psalm 40:1–17)

^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, You are my Lord and Savior who delivers me from sin. I know this is true, not because my faith makes it true, but because Your death on the Cross for the sin of the world is a fact. Your grace and mercy are available to me and to everyone. Our response is vital, yet without Your unconditional love there would be no revelation of Your grace, no great mercy made available, and nothing to respond to.

His presence, angels, and God’s keeping power

2 Kings 6:1–7:20, Mark 15:16–47, Proverbs 6:20–27

The Proverbs of Solomon offer a great deal of advice and warnings, particularly against adultery. However, much of that advice could fit any sort of sin.

For instance, he wrote, “My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, to preserve you from the evil . . . .” (Proverbs 6:20–24)

My father and mother didn’t hold Bible commands over me. Nonetheless, they gave good advice and warnings because they loved me. Not everyone gives advice that way. Advice should be objective, and without bias. A few people offer it based on their own fears and phobias rather than what is true. An elderly relative once expressed to me that I should not go out at night by myself because of all the ‘bad people’ that could hurt me. I told her that I had the protection of dozens of angels and she was speechless.

Today’s OT narrative is about those angels. The king of Syria was warring against Israel and became frustrated because the king of Israel always knew where this enemy army was camped. Finally Syria’s leader discovered that Elisha the prophet was telling Israel’s king “the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

This king decided to seize Elisha and sent a great army to surround the city where the prophet was staying. When Elisha’s servant rose early in the morning, he saw the army and was dismayed. However, the prophet said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then he prayed, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.”

The Lord opened the eyes of the servant and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. When the Syrians came down, Elisha prayed again, “Please strike this people with blindness.” God did what the prophet asked. Then Elisha took those enemy soldiers to Israel’s king who, at the prophet’s advice, fed them and sent them home. The Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel. (2 Kings 6:8–23)

As with Elisha, God promises to never forsake me also. I cannot see the angels, but I do trust Him to keep His promises to me. However, I am reminded with today’s NT reading that God did forsake one of His own, His only begotten Son. 

“It was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the Jews.’” Everyone mocked Him, even those crucified with Him.

“When the sixth hour came, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ . . . And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.” (Mark 15:25–37)

Most say that at that moment when Jesus bore all the sin of all the people for all time, God the Father could not look at that sin. Others say that the Father did not forsake the Son, only that it felt like He did. Neither explanation seems right.

Then, as I read this, I tried to imagine what it would be like to not have the presence of the Lord in my life. Thinking back, I knew. Before Christ opened my eyes and came into my heart, I was separated from God and spiritually dead, without any sense of His presence.

This makes me wonder about the Father forsaking the Son. Could it be that unless God forsook Jesus, He would not have died? Or maybe He would not be able to die. And if He didn’t die, then He could not bear the penalty of my sin, which is death, separation from God forever.

But Jesus did die. Was it because the Father forsook Him? Is it because God departed from Jesus that I have life, and that I have His presence with me all the time? Was this the reason that now I have the power and protection of legions of angels. Oh the cost, oh the cost!

Shadows, Reality, and Forgiveness

These past few days, two of our adult children have been with us on our vacation. We like to play cards and board games. These two have not seen each other for nearly three years, so with the games and their antics, laughter fills our space. I cannot imagine what a long separation would be like, never mind the one that happened between Joseph and his brothers who sold him into slavery.

That story always makes me weep. After several years apart and his brothers and father thinking he was dead, Joseph faced them without being recognized. With some strategy, he arranged that his brother Benjamin was with him in Egypt along with the others. Finally it was time for the reveal . . .

“And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. So Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come near to me, please.’ And they came near. And he said, ‘I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.’” (Genesis 45:3—8)

I wept reading this, particularly that Joseph understood the plan of God in all his suffering. He was where he was so that he could save those who put him there. This is a picture of what Jesus did. He went to the cross because of our sin; we put Him there so He could pay our penalty for sin and set us free from eternal damnation. He was where He was so that He could save sinners who put Him there.

I am deeply touched by Joseph’s understanding. He was not angry or vengeful toward his brothers. He may not have known the plan of God at the time, but as it unfolded he could see what God was doing. This happened because Joseph put his faith in God, even during his struggles and hardship.

Later Solomon wrote about the value of this trust: “As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” (Ecclesiastes 11:5–6)

I cannot fully understand the plan of God, just as I cannot understand how life comes to an unborn child. I cannot predict the outcome of those tomatoes we planted  in the spring or the devotional posts I put on this blog. I have no idea what God will use or do with anything I do, but He is faithful. He knows the end from the beginning. He just asks me to trust and obey Him.

Seeing Jesus in the life of Joseph is not far-fetched. The Bible says that the Scriptures point to Him, just as the law is but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities. However, a shadow such as those sacrifices that were continually offered every year, cannot make perfect those who drew near to God in that way. If a shadow could do it, once the worshipers were cleansed, they would no longer have any consciousness of sins. Yet the shadows are not the reality. Those sacrifices reminded the people of their sins and they knew that it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away those sins. (Hebrews 10:1–4)

Then God sent His Son, and like Joseph, He had a special role. He was not saving His people from death by famine but from death as a result of their sin. Joseph was the shadow; Jesus is the reality . . .

“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,’ then he adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’”

Joseph forgave his brothers because he loved them. Jesus forgave sin because He also loves us, but His love was not enough. The Bible says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness from God. Sin must be punished and sin’s reward is death. That is why Jesus died – and His death was enough.

“Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:14–22)

The story of Joseph makes me weep with joy. However, the Gospel story fills my heart with indescribable emotions, including gladness, humility, sorrow, relief, and even outrage at myself for putting Jesus on the Cross to die for me.

Even a glimpse

The New Testament tells of some Greeks who “came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’” (John 12:21). Were these men something like those who say they will not believe unless they can see Him? Perhaps.

Faith is hard. We who believe in God would also like a vision of Him, yet we might go through our entire lives with only the promise that we will see Him one day. The requirements of seeing are high.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

I know my own heart and have to admit that purity eludes me. Even thinking that I have it indicates that I do not. Yet as I read about those whose hearts seem to qualify, seeing God isn’t what I would imagine it to be. Daniel had a vision and it knocked him over.

So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. (Daniel 10:8)

Seeing God is far too lofty for most of us. In my desire to know Him, He allows glimpses, mostly through what He does rather than giving me a direct look at Him. Yet I am encouraged. The Bible says that God has made us a little lower than the angels and put everything in subjection to us. Even though Christians believe this is true, and even though we cannot see our heavenly Father, or….

At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:8–9)

The visible evidence of God is Jesus Christ. Our good look at God is a good look at Jesus Christ. He can be seen. He is the reward for even the desire for a pure heart. Seeing Him means seeing what He has done for us in dying for our sins. That vision of Him takes away our own strength for we realize how weak and feeble we are, but seeing Him also replaces our feebleness with His power. 

As the Greeks said, today I wish to see Jesus.