HOLINESS, THE PROVISION OF REDEMPTION

In the discussion of the holiness of God it was stated that His holiness is manifested in His separateness from and opposition to sin, in the rigid requirements of righteousness and in the consistency of His moral government, but that the positive exhibition of His holiness is in His holy love providing redemption for sinful men, a redemption so complete and sufficient as to make man holy. In this discussion we will consider more closely this provision of redemption.

God is the source of redemption. A holy God could not be indifferent to man's sin, for the holy God, Who in His nature is opposed to sin and seeks to destroy it, loved man and desired to save him. This holy God in His love found a way for man's redemption even at the cost of great suffering to Himself. The holy God becomes the redeeming God.

The first consideration in this discussion will be of

The Redeemer

Who is this Redeemer? None other than God Himself, the holy God -- God who became incarnate in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. To become the Redeemer, He "who, being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God: . . . . made himself of no reputation and took on him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:6-8). Thus He became the unique character of all history, the God-man: "The Word.... made flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

The purpose of the coming of this God-man, Jesus the Christ, was that He might become a Saviour. At His birth it was announced by angels: "Unto you is born this day a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11). The angel instructed Joseph concerning Him and His name, 'Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. 2:21). John the Baptist introduced Him, at the very beginning of His public ministry, in these words: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). In writing of this great Redeemer and of the purpose of His incarnation the writer to the Hebrews said: "We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Heb. 2:9).

In the work of redemption the holiness of God is manifested as the grace of God. Grace is always a voluntary and loving act of God for the unworthy, the undeserving, the sinful. The knowledge of this glorious fact made the Apostle Paul exclaim, "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (II Cor. 8:9). This grace brought the Lamb of God into the world to provide redemption for all men. As the Lamb of God, Jesus was not a mere tool or instrument used by God to provide redemption; there was no sham or make-believe about the sufferings of Christ on Calvary, for Jesus gave Himself voluntarily to the whole work of redemption. He willingly became the sacrifice for sin, "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." He spoke frequently of His death, that He had a cup to drink and a baptism with which to be baptized, that His blood was to be shed for many for the remission of sins, that the whole purpose of God was His own purpose. "I delight to do thy will, O God," was the dominating spirit of His life. His work as the Lamb of God was all a voluntary and loving sacrifice as is emphasized by His own statement, "No man taketh it [my life] from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10:18).

The holy love of God was the source and power of all His life. He came because "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). His life was the constant exhibition of holy love in contact with mankind. His love for man took Him through the agonies of Gethsemane, gave Him patience under false accusations and in the cruel and brutal treatment accorded Him at His trials. That love took Him to Calvary, it bound Him to the cross, it made Him taste death for every man. Down through the ages Christian people have been made conscious of this redeeming love and have rendered praises "unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood" (Rev. 1:5). Because of this great sacrifice the best known and most appreciated statements of scriptures are those which speak of His love and grace, and the favorite hymns and songs of the Church are those which tell of His mighty saving power and of His infinite grace and love.

The deep fact of this redeeming work is that as the Lamb of God, the holy God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself and that what Jesus did in sacrifice, God did. In the sacrifice of the Lamb of God the heart of the holy God is laid bare in sacrificial love; He loved and should save men even if He had to endure the cruel and shameful death of the cross to provide man's salvation. The entire work of the Lamb of God on the cross was not for Himself, but for others; "He by the grace of God tasted death for every man." It is through His sacrifice and that alone that atonement is made for sin, that God is propitious, that He is able to be gracious and forgive the sinner. In this - act of redeeming love the entire sin problem has been settled and great saving benefits are brought to all men who accept Him as Saviour and Lord of life.

The Redeemer is the holy God manifesting His holiness in this great loving sacrifice.

Let us now consider

The Provision

In a previous message it was emphasized that God expects and demands of man that he be holy -- "Be ye holy"; also it was stated that holiness in man meant the entire devotement of the life to God, the cleansing of the moral nature from all sin and impurities, and the perfection of the moral relationship with God, or spiritual wholeness. The tragic fact about man is that by nature he is not holy and that there are no means either within himself or within the realm of human society by which he can make himself holy. Therefore if man is to become holy it must be done through the work of some agency out and beyond the realm of the human; it must be the work of God -- God must purify the heart of man and bring man into a full devotement to God. The provision for such purification has been made by Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection; through the sacrifice of Christ man can be made holy.

The holiness of God as manifested by the grace of God in the death and resurrection of Jesus provides redemption for sinful and unholy man. Everything about this provision of redemption through God's grace is consistent with the holiness of God in all of its aspects; with the glory of the perfection of His moral characteristics, His separateness from and opposition to sin and His seeking to destroy it, and with the majesty of holiness revealed in righteousness and in the consistency of His moral government. He is the holy God manifesting His holy love in providing redemption for mankind. The song writer expressed it thus:

"... Thy love unknown Has broken every barrier down."

A holy God in redemption broke down every barrier that stood between Himself and an unholy people, it solved every problem that in any manner would keep Him from being consistent with His holiness and at the same time making sinful men holy.

This provision of redemption through Christ is complete and brings a full solution for man's sin problem, a problem which is twofold in its nature, for man is both a sinner in practice and is unholy and sinful in his nature. Holiness in man comprehends the deliverance of the sinner from his sinful practices, the forgiveness of his sins, the removal of his guilt and the establishment of a spiritual relation to God as His child; and, further it includes the purifying of the heart of this child of God, the removal of the unholy state of his nature, and the perfection of his moral relationship with God. Both of these facts are comprehended in the provision of redemption by the Lamb of God.

Let us note then, the

Benefits Provided For The Sinner

The announcement of scripture is that "the Lamb of God. . . . taketh away the sin of the world." In this term "the sin of the world" must be comprehended the whole corrupt mass of man's sin: man's moral corruption, his multiplied iniquities, the blackness of his guilt and the whole penalty of his sin, and also the poisoned or polluted state of man's heart, the impurities and stain of his sin. Whatever may be comprehended in this term "the sin of the world" -- and let us not read into it anything less than God put there -- we must recognize that "the Lamb of God taketh away the sin of the world."

Christ has dealt with the whole problem of man's sin. The Lamb of God, this holy, redeeming God, made the whole burden of man's sins His own; thus it is said of Him: "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body upon the tree" (I Peter 2:24). He became responsible for man's sinful condition, his guilt and his alienation from God, and thus the Apostle Peter further declares, "Christ suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18). He was essentially man and sustained such a relation to sinful man as to pay the penalty for man's sin "that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Heb. 2:9).

The marvelous benefits in redemption provided for the sinner may be summed up in these scriptural statements: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:14). "Being justified by his blood" (Rom. 5:9). He has "washed us from our sins in his own blood" (Rev. 1:5). "Ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Eph. 2:13). Glorious provisions of atonement made by the holy God, the Lamb of God for the sinner! Man's sins have been borne, the penalty has been paid; redemption, forgiveness of sins, justification, sins washed away, straying man brought back to God -- ALL these are provisions made for the sinner through the blood of the Lamb of God.

But as wonderful and glorious as are these benefits they do not embrace fully God's work of holiness in man, nor do they comprehend the full scope of the provision of redemption for man in this world. There is a deeper benefit of the atonement stressed in the Scriptures, a provision for the cleansing of the Christian's heart from all impurities, or for his entire sanctification.

These facts must not be overlooked in considering the provision of redemption made for man; that a person may be forgiven through the blood of Christ but that of itself does not mean his entire sanctification; that he may be washed from his sins through the blood, but that does not include the full cleansing of his heart from the pollution of sin; that he may be brought nigh to God through the blood and enjoy the privileges of a child of God, but that does not include spiritual wholeness or the perfection of his moral relationship with God; that he may be justified by the blood and not be holy in the full scriptural sense of that word.

Let us consider then the

Deeper Benefits Provided In Redemption

The emphasis of the provision in the atonement for purity or entire sanctification for the Christian is as definite as the provision made for the forgiveness for the sinner. Let us note a few of the statements of scripture emphasizing this deeper benefit: ". . . . Our Saviour, Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people (a people for his own possession -- R.V.)" (Titus 2:14). "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:25-27). "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living and true God" (Heb. 9:14). "Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate" (Heb. 13:12).

These scriptures stress a deeper benefit and emphasize a deeper experience than that emphasized in the former scriptures used relative to the benefit provided in the atonement for sinners. These scriptures state primarily the provision for cleansing, for entire sanctification, for the purifying of the heart, for making holy the child of God.

There are scriptures which give another emphasis to this deeper benefit of redemption, scriptures that teach that Jesus in His death dealt as definitely with the nature of sin, the old principle of sin, in the heart of the child of God, as He did with the actual sins of the sinner. Let us note several of these scriptures: "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Rom. ........... God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (Rom. 8:3).

There is a marked contrast between the terms used here to indicate the deeper benefits of the provision of redemption and those terms used in stressing the benefits for the sinner. For the sinner, the words used were "justify," "forgiveness," "brought nigh to God," but concerning this deeper benefit the words used are "crucified," "destroyed," "condemned," all of which emphasize the destruction of the sin principle or nature remaining in the heart of a justified believer or a child of God. These latter terms specifically state that phase of the provision of redemption made for removing from the nature of the child of God those inner conditions which keep him from being holy in the scriptural sense of that word.

The terms used in these scriptures, namely "the old man," "the body of sin," "sin in the flesh," and other terms such as "carnal," "the carnal mind," "the flesh," and the like designate sin in the nature, the impure or unholy condition remaining in the heart of a person after being born again. Whatever may be the interpretation given to these terms, we must recognize that the destruction of that state is provided in redemption: "the old man is [was R.V.] crucified with him [Christ], that the body of sin might be destroyed"; and, "God . . . . condemned sin in the flesh." Here is emphasized a wonderful and complete provision of redemption to meet the deepest needs of man and to make him holy.

What does this provision of redemption mean to us, removed as we are in geographical distance far removed from the place of His sufferings and in point of time from the date of that glorious event? If that question implied all that such an event could mean the provision would be of little help to us, but we are not dealing with a mere event, we are not considering only a provision of redemption -- we are thinking of a Person, the Lamb of God, our Redeemer and Saviour. It is true that centuries ago that Person died and in His death He made a full atonement for sin and a complete provision for redemption; but it is also true that He lives today. Hear His own words: "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore" (Rev. 1:18). We are not thinking of a dead Christ, we are coming to a living Redeemer, a mighty Saviour. The writer to the Hebrews stressed this fact when he declared: "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25). He lives today! He is now the glorious Redeemer! He is now the mighty Deliverer! Today He can make effective in the lives of men and women who seek and believe on Him, all that He provided for them in His life and by His death and resurrection.

Thank God! He lives! He is able to save to the uttermost! He forgives the penitent and believing sinner. He makes holy the believing child of God.

Let us note another aspect of this provision of redemption:

The Finished Redemption

There is something permanent, substantial and abiding about this work of Jesus in His provision for redemption. The sin of the world -- the actual transgressions of the life and the impurities of the nature of all people, of all generations, of all races -- was fully dealt with when He died on the cross. His suffering, His blood-shedding provided a complete redemption for all people. It removed every barrier that stood between sinful man and a holy God, and between an unholy man and his full devotement to God.

There never will be another Calvary, there never need be. There never will be another such sacrifice for sin, no more such suffering. Why? Because when Jesus died, the entire sin problem was settled, settled finally and eternally. Every sinner of any age or of any time is included in the scope of the provision of that redemption provided by Jesus in His death. Every penitent sinner may find forgiveness in that provision, every unsaved person is offered salvation through that sacrifice, every heart alienated from Christ may be "born again" through this work of Jesus on the cross.

Down through the ages sinners by the millions have turned to Christ, have repented of their sins and believed on Him, and they have been saved. Why? Because when Jesus died their forgiveness, their salvation was provided. Their faith in Christ and His work of redemption has brought to their lives definite spiritual results -- salvation. These results will obtain as long as the world stands.

Likewise every child of God, all those who have been forgiven, or born again, but who struggle with "sin in the flesh" or with "the old man," are sanctified in that provision of redemption. Thousands upon thousands of earnest, obedient Christians have made a full consecration of their lives to God, have sought Him to cleanse their hearts, have believed in Him for their entire sanctification, and they have entered into the experience of heart purity or holiness. Why? Because when Jesus suffered outside the gate, He suffered that He might sanctify the people with His own blood.

Every sinner is forgiven; every Christian is entirely sanctified provisionally in this glorious work of redemption made by Jesus Christ on the cross.

The provision of redemption is as complete as the requirement of God. The requirement for man is, "Be ye holy" -- the provision emphasizes that Jesus died to make men holy.

Holiness, The Central Purpose

This provision for holiness -- the entire devotement of the life to God, the cleansing of the believer's heart, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the state of spiritual wholeness -- was no accident in God's plan. It was not an afterthought with Him; this provision for holiness is the central purpose of redemption. He forgives the sinner that He might sanctify wholly the child of God. He brings the alienated heart into a spiritual relationship with Him, that later He might perfect that moral relationship. This fact is basic in the whole work of redemption. Jesus realized this when He said: "For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified" (John 17:19). Also the writer to the Hebrews recognized it when he wrote: "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified" (Heb. 10:10, 14). Commenting on these verses Dr. Whedon says, "He has once, fully and forever, potentially and conditionally, perfected all; but the full reality takes effect only in those who are sanctified through faith in Him."

Jesus suffered and died on the cross outside the city of. Jerusalem; this is an undeniable fact of history. Jesus suffered outside the gate that He might sanctify the people with His own blood (Heb. 13:12); this is an undeniable fact of redemption. A gracious fact of a finished redemption -- a holy God in holy love suffered to make man holy! A provision of redemption so vast and so complete in its scope as to include all mankind! A solution provided for the sin problem so mighty and wonderful that through that redemption man may be made holy!

Folks may doubt it if. they will; but the fact remains: He is able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by Him. Men may reject it, but the provision remains unchanged; God has condemned sin in the flesh through the sacrifice of Christ. Men may spurn it and live on in their inner struggles with the impurities of sin in their nature, but that does not alter the fact; His provision of redemption is sufficient to make men holy. There are not enough devils in hell, there are not enough skeptics on earth, there are not enough opposers of holiness in the church to diminish in any way the power of God to make man holy, or to rob Christ, who suffered outside the gate, of His Power, His "might" to sanctify the people with His own blood.

Does God require man to be holy? Does He seek in man a devotedness to Him, a purity of heart, a fullness of His Holy Spirit, and a spiritual wholeness such as the Bible stresses as holiness in man? He does! To enable man to meet this requirement God has made adequate provision! The Lamb of God taketh away the sin of the world! Jesus suffered that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, that He might make man holy!

How shall we illustrate this truth? No incident of our lives, no picture of our own making can compare with the fact of Calvary. It is its own best illustration. Nothing can make a stronger appeal to men or portray to them the great fact of God's holy love being manifested toward them more than His own statement, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). No words of man can add to the great act of infinite love revealed at Calvary where, "Christ . . . suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18). No statement of ours can expand that exultant, triumphant declaration of the inspired Apostle John when he said: "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (I John 1:7). The many saints who testify that the very God of peace sanctifies them wholly and whose lives bear the fruit of holiness are God's living examples and illustrations of the glorious fact of redemption, that through the blood of Jesus Christ men and women are made holy and live consistent Christian lives in this world of sin.