Nothing good in the flesh, except to Calvary’s cross to cling: Easter musings.

In the year 2013, when I was in London to study for a Master’s degree, I remember my encounter one day with a Muslim friend who was also from Ghana.

The Lord in His providence, used this friend to help provide a very comforting arrival treat for me (given that I knew no one in London, and on the night of my arrival, it was a trial and error adventure, in locating my way to the hostel where I was going to stay) and also helped me to feel settled in.

During my period of stay, we talked on a whole range of issues, but one issue which has lingered on in my mind because of its importance is “faith”.

I remember asking him about his view of sin, eternity and such related topics. His view on eternity, based on his religion was that one would go to heaven/ paradise based on his deeds; and that, “there are two angels who will assess one’s deeds: the angel of light, and the angel of darkness for good and bad deeds respectively.”

He went on to explain that if one’s good deeds outweighed their bad deeds, then the angel of light will usher him into paradise. If the contrary happened, then he would be hell-bound.

I immediately realized the reason for his devoutness viz a viz observing the various rites and duties of his religion (and I am sure that you can attest to this fact too).

His absolute devotion to these religious duties is motivated by his belief that he is building some “religious credentials” that will save him when he is ushered into eternity.

Many other religions also have similar perspective on after life and eternity. So I have always asked myself this question, what then is the difference between those who view themselves as Christians, yet their hope for eternal life is solely based on their deeds: acts of obedience, kindness, going to church, singing, observing various ordinances etc.

Which the Bible appropriately terms “works”, and these other religions? My motivation for writing this article is to draw the line of distinct between the Christian faith and these other religions, and to present the only one truth at a time when we are celebrating Easter.

One of the beautiful characteristics of the Bible is its consistency. The Bible from Genesis to Revelation presents a salvation story which is by the free grace of God alone, received through faith, and obtained in Christ alone.

We read that God created a very excellent and perfect world free from sin (Gen 1:31) and for His glory. He made man in His own image to have dominion over His creation (Gen 1:26).

The story continues that God designed a beautiful garden where he put the first man (Adam) “to dress and to keep it” and commanded him not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for in the day he would disobey, he would die (Gen 2:17).

Adam (the first man created perfectly without sin) disobeyed God and did eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil after receiving from his wife who was deceived by the serpent.

Theologians call this the FALL, as the disastrous consequences of Adam’s sin extended to all of God’s creation. This is the reason we see earthquakes, diseases, wars etc. around us.

Adam died as penalty for his disobedience and so is the status of everyone who is born of a man and woman when we first come into this world (Ephesians 2:1, 3, Psalm 51:5).

This death was spiritual; meaning even though he existed physically, his soul had no relationship with God whom hitherto to the fall, had daily fellowshipped with him in the garden.

Something happened in the garden which continues to plague mankind to date, and which may help in part to explain the many religions the world has seen.
Adam and Eve, upon realizing that they were naked (saw how wretched, awful, horrendous they were) after their sin, made fig leaves together and aprons to cover their nakedness.

But as the Bible makes clear, that was not enough to cover their sins before a holy God! God made coats of skin (obviously from the slaughter of an animal, “blood was shed”) to clothe them (Gen 3:21).

This action by God was an act of grace, and a fore-shadow of a full salvation to come through the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15).

I must emphasize that, as a result of Adam’s sin, and its extension to all human race and God’s creation, we are sinful by nature, which also informs our sinful actions and choices.

Sin, therefore is any act of disobedience to God’s commandments/ laws or any act which violates God’s holy nature. For those “Christians” and other religions who trust that their deeds will “earn” them salvation, their understanding of sin in relation to God’s holiness is perhaps woefully deficient, and that is why they think they will be made right with God by their deeds.

Often, such people are ready to renounce (or tell you I do not engage in) certain obvious, outwards sins such as murder, fornication/adultery, thievery, drunkenness etc.

They mostly do not view other sins termed “respectable sins” by Jerry Bridges, such as jealously, lust for a woman, gossip, covetousness and materialism, hatred, critical spirit etc. as serious and offensive to God’s holy nature.

It’s no wonder that Christ spent a great deal of time to pointing this out to the Pharisees who held similar views of such sins, and why they were sinful.

The Prophet Isaiah, whom I am very sure his contemporaries would have extolled as holy, and righteous cursed his lips, yes, he cursed his lips, when he encountered the holy God in the year in which King Uzziah died (Isaiah 6).

Later in the same book, (Isaiah 64:6) we are told that, “but we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags” before a holy God. Because our hearts are tainted with sin, even our kindest acts are unacceptable before a holy God, for we see that most times, such “righteous deeds” are ill-motivated by greed, desire for personal glorification and not that of God etc.

I mentioned earlier that God pronounced death as the penalty for sin. This death is spiritual, experienced as a separation between the soul of man and God.

The final expression of this spiritual death is in hell fire when the soul departs the mortal remains. Jesus described hell as a place where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth, and in fact, mentioned it more during His earthly ministry than heaven.

Hell is the place where the full fury, and the righteous wrath of God is expressed. Some sects will tell you that God is too loving to be associated with the magnitude of horror and destruction in hell fire.

What they fail to understand is that God is a holy God, whose righteous character makes Him incapable of compromising on sin.

He must judge every sin, yes, even the so called “respectable sins”. If we cannot be made right with God by our righteous deeds because of our sinful nature as the Bible clearly states, then it leaves anyone trusting in his “works” for salvation, helpless and hopeless for eternity and a cry for a mediator between a holy God and a sinful man becomes our need (Job 9).

The story had been gloomy since day one of the fall, but God in His grace had made a provision to salvage us from this eternal damnation through a mediator we so longed for.

God’s provision which saves from the consequences of eternal condemnation is rooted in the gospel, also known as the good news.

It is good news because it brings with it, the solution to the core of our human problems – sin. More exciting is the fact that the package was entirely accomplished by God single-handedly, with no human contribution.

Now, the good news, and in fact, the whole of the Bible is centred on a Man, who was not just a man but also God. He is called Jesus Christ.

He is the only begotten Son of God who came into the world to redeem man from his sins and all of creation. But why did God have to come in the flesh to carry out the greatest event in world history? As remarked by Anslem, “the debt was so great, that while man alone owed it, only God could pay it”.

The Bible makes it clear that without the shedding of blood, there’s no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22). It is the reason we see, the first shedding of blood, when God in His grace clothed Adam and Eve in their nakedness.
The same God who pronounced death as penalty for sin declares in His word that only by the shedding of blood could this penalty be remedied.

However, as we see in the Old Testament, religious activities such as the sacrifice of the blood of rams and bulls were not enough to purge the sins of the world once and for all; for which reason they had to repeat every year.

And since all had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), no man’s blood could atone for sin. More importantly, because the sin was committed by man, a man had to pay for the penalty, but not just any man, but a God-Man.

He was fully God (to satisfy God’s holy standards) and fully man (to be a representative of all men). He is the only one mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5-6) that which Job longed for (Job 9).

This is the reason Christ had to come in the flesh as man to pay for sin’s penalty. Critics of the Christian faith have attacked it as a blood-stained faith. However, that is the truth we all have to accept, and for me, I am proud to be associated with a blood-stained faith. Jesus Christ was the Lamb who was slain even before the foundations of this world (Revelation 13:8).

Back to the salvation story, His birth was unique, He lived a perfectly righteous life during His ministry on earth, and however, because men loved darkness and not light, they were opposed to Him. Ultimately, He was crucified by wicked men according to the will of the Father, who poured out His wrath on Him in a compressed space of time on that fateful Friday, as the Passover Lamb to which all who will turn in repentant faith to trust in Him alone will be saved.

While a description of the thorns, pains and suffering He bore in His physical body have been described; it does not come close to the weight of the holy wrath of God poured on Him.

On the cross, God’s righteous justice was fully satisfied. Christ in His final moments remarked “it is finished”.

He had fully paid for sin’s penalty with His precious blood. It has been noted that “at the Cross of Calvary, God’s love and justice kissed”.

To prove that the payment of sin’s penalty had been fully accepted, He resurrected on the third, overcoming the power of death. But does Christ payment of sin’s penalty free the whole world of sin? No! Something must happen to make this applicable.

Jesus Christ paid the price in full, so that all that is required of men, is to repent (make a change in their mindset, adwen sakyere) first, of how their sins are offensive to a holy God, and also repent of their view of the means of salvation (one must renounce self-righteousness) to fully trust (place their faith) in the work He did on the cross for us.

One cannot partially trust Calvary’s cross and “add” their “works” to it, for by that, it will be a declaration that Christ’s death was not enough. As Paul reminds us in Galatians 2:21, “…for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain”.

The beautiful part to end this story is, once we turn and place our faith in Him and His work on the cross for us alone, the Bible tells us that we are immediately justified by God (immediately declared not guilty before God’s holy court, though we have violated His righteous laws) (Romans 4:1-25).
This is the great good news!! This is the reason for Easter! And once we are saved, we are given the power by the Holy Spirit who comes to indwell us to live holy lives.

I will end by calling on you to ponder and make a response to this message if you have not trusted Christ for salvation.

I will not require you to say a prayer after me, but make an introspection and speak to God yourself, of your need of His salvation. Trust Him, He will answer you and show Himself mightily to you and transform your life to be like His Son by the transforming power of the gospel.

While I will not attempt to manipulate you at this point, I will however warn you, that you will not have a way of escape if you neglect this so great a salvation purchased by blood of Christ. I love you in Christ and desire to see you saved! Shalom!!!