Do we really need to be saved?
Feb 6, 2010
Case for Grace - part nineteen in a study of the book of Romans
Mike Gaudet
People need to be saved when . . .
. . . they have come under the control of someone whose power exceeds their own.
. . . they have lost the freedom to implement their own will and decisions.
. . . they can only gain their freedom by the intervention of a third party.
Do we really need to be saved?
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:1-4
First century Jews experienced political captivity on a daily basis.
Israelites did not have the freedom to do what they wanted to do. They wanted to honor the law of Israel. They had to honor the law of Rome. They were slaves to Rome.
We experience spiritual captivity on a daily basis.
We do not have the freedom to do what we want to do. Paul gave words to the captivity we all experience. “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.” Romans 7:22-23 We want to honor the law of God. We have to honor the law of sin. We are slaves to sin.
This is difficult for us to believe. We like to think that we are in control of our own destiny. The thought of being slaves to sin feels a bit extreme. However, we cannot really understand what God accomplished at the cross without beginning at this point.
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” John 8:34 According to Jesus, anyone who sins is a “slave to sin.” When we think of “sin” we usually think of sinful acts. In this passage, though, “sin” is more like a king who enforces obedience to the “law of sin.”
Sin is the master.
We are the slaves.
God is our Savior.
There are two ways to “save a slave.”
One way is to pay a ransom to the slave’s master. Someone with sufficient resources could “pay off” the master. The master would then be willing to let the slave go free.
Another way to free a slave is to overpower the slave’s master and take the slave against the master’s will.
How did God save us? Which approach did He use?
When God saved the Israelites from being slaves in Egypt, He conquered the Egyptians and took the Israelites from them. He did not pay a ransom to the Egyptian government!
God delivered us from being sin’s slaves the same way he delivered the Israelites from being Egypt’s slaves.
It is common for Jesus’ death to be compared to the paying of a ransom. Since the “wages of sin is death” God is often compared to a loving liberator who sends His Son to die in order to pay the ransom price demanded by sin. This view does justice to God’s goodness, but not to His greatness. God’s goodness led Him to free us from slavery to sin. His greatness led Him to free us by overpowering sin, not negotiating with it.
What difference does this make? It’s possible to believe that our sinful acts forced God to send His Son. There are many who take this view. Granted, it does evoke our gratitude, but leaves us with the sense that we forced God’s hand. When we adopt the view that God rescued us from captivity, it lines up better with how God has functioned historical . . .as a powerful, heroic rescuer.
God sent His Son to free us from serving sin.
God sent His Spirit to free us to serve Him.
God sent His Spirit “in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.” God’s Spirit increases our ability to respond to God’s will.
The Holy Spirit is God’s “change agent.” Through the influence of His Spirit, God changes our behaviors by changing our beliefs . The Holy Spirit transforms our outward actions by transforming our inward thoughts and attitudes about God and His will for us.
The Spirit increases our responsiveness to God by decreasing our fear of God. “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:15-16
Slavery is based on fear. A slave behaves because he or she is afraid not to. God’s Spirit “testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” in order to free us from being “a slave again to fear.”
God does not use “fear” and the threat of “condemnation” to motivate us to obey Him.
That is what God saved us from!