Calvary Baptist Church

Calvary Baptist Church, Grenada, MS

Holding to the truths embraced by Baptist for centuries.

“But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14a)

What brings you genuine satisfaction in life? Is it your success in your work or business? Is it the pleasure that you get from engaging in or observing certain activities? Is it your bank account or the financial security that you think you have? Is it the power or control that you think you have over the lives of others? Is it the acceptance that you have among family, friends, neighbors and the public? Is it your intellectual powers and knowledge? Is it the great works of charity that you do? Is it the great spiritual grace that you think you have? Or is it your great physical strength or good looks? Power, popularity, prosperity, physical appearance, intellectual prowess, personal pleasure, these are the things in which the world glories. Now Paul did not glory in any of these things. When the apostle Paul uses the word glory, he speaks of something which is worthy of praise, something which has worth, value, and meaning. The apostle Paul says there’s only one thing that brings him genuine satisfaction in life and true meaning and purpose for life, and that is the cross of Christ. Now when Paul speaks of the cross of Christ he must of necessity speak of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ because a dead Savior would have been no Savior at all. The cross speaks then of the complete redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ was “delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). As one writer put it:

When we speak of the cross we must also recognize that it is not the cross apart from Christ that saves. The cross as an emblem has no saving power or meaning in itself. Many people whose lives show that they have little understanding of what the cross of Christ was all about wear a cross. On the other hand, we must also recognize that Christ apart from the cross would not be a Savior. While His life lived in perfect obedience to the Father qualified Him to be our redeemer, it was His death, burial, and resurrection as our substitute that made Him our Savior. Therefore, I will glory in the cross because of the person of the cross; I will glory in the cross because of the purpose of the cross; I will glory in the cross because of the power of the cross; finally, I will glory in the cross because of the provisions of the cross.

First, I will glory in the cross because of the person of the cross. Who was the person on the cross? What makes Him special and unique? There were many other people crucified during the reign of the Romans. He is special and unique because He is the Lord of Glory, the Son of God. Jesus Christ was different from any person who has been born. He did not have His beginning in His birth in Bethlehem’s manger. Micah tells us “His goings forth hath been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2b). John tells us that the Word (Christ) was from the beginning with God and is God (John 1:1-2). Before He was ever born in this world He was already enthroned in heaven. Isaiah writes:

We know this is the Lord Jesus Christ because when John quotes from this chapter he says “These things said Isaiah when he saw his glory and spoke of Him” (John 12:41). Earthly kings may come and go, but the King of Kings abides forever.

The thrice holy One who received the praise and adoration of the hosts of heaven left heaven’s glory to come to this world to be born in a manager and submit Himself to the will of His Father. Isaiah described him as “a child born, a son given,…the everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6-7). As the everlasting Father he inhabits eternity. He has always existed and he always will exist. The great marvel is that the one of whom angels sang at His birth, announced His resurrection and ascension, and accompanied Him back to glory would become one of us in the first place. He is the child born (his humanity), and the Son given (his deity). He is fully God and fully man. When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who say you that I am?” Peter answered “Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God” (Matt. 16:15-16). Peter says that Jesus is that Messiah whom God promised to send as a Savior, and the one for whom the Jewish people had been looking for centuries. He says that this Christ or Messiah is none other than the Son of God, the Lord of Glory, the second Person of the Trinity.

Not only was He the Lord of Glory, but He also was the Lord of Creation, the Creator of the universe, the One to whom each of us owes our life and breath. John writes “All things were created by him and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). Paul says:

Paul says this Jesus Who bears the same exact nature as the Father and the Spirit, and in unison with them, fully created all things, is Lord over His creation and is the reason that life exists and is maintained on this earth. Evolution has played no part in our origin, tells us nothing about where we began and why we are here, and plays no part in our preservation. The same Christ who voluntarily laid down his life for us created us for his pleasure and his glory. He is the Lord of Creation.

Not only is he the Lord of Glory, the Lord of Creation, but he is also the Lord of History. Hebrews 1:3 says God hath spoken unto us in these last days “by his Son by whom also he made the worlds”. The word world literally means the “ages”.

This means that history is His Story. Paul says, “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever” (Rom. 11:36). History has no meaning or purpose apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is uniquely the Son of Man, the second Adam; He is one of us, and yet without sin. He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He is the One the Father sent in the fullness of time to redeem us from the curse of the law (Gal. 4:5). He is the one who after his resurrection ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. In Revelation 5 He is the one who already is enthroned and worshiped in heaven; the one who takes the little book, the title deed to the earth, the one who is worthy to open the book and redeem the world; the one who is seen as the mighty conqueror and vanquisher of Satan. Even now, He raises up kings and kingdoms and He brings down kings and kingdoms in judgment. All history is moving to the day when all things will be put under His feet, and every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father, (Phil. 2: 9-11) and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters that cover the sea (Hab. 2:14). He who once wore a crown of thorns now wears a crown of glory that we one day will share in that glory. When He comes again, on His head will be many crowns (Rev. 19:12). He who one day as the Lamb of God was slain will one day as the Lion of Judah reign over this world. Jesus Christ will one day come in clouds of glory, and He shall reign forever and forever. He is the Lord of History.

Not only is He the Lord of Glory, the Lord of Creation, the Lord of History, but he also is the Lord of Redemption. The Scriptures declare, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). How does forgiveness of sins come? It comes through Christ’s shed blood, through the cross of Christ. Our sins demanded the wrath of a holy God, but in the grace of God that wrath which should have fallen on me and you fell on God’s own Son. No one else could have done for us what Christ did for us. Hebrews 9:26 declares: “But now once in the end of the world, he appeared to put away sin, by the sacrifice of himself.” He delivered us from the guilt and the penalty of sin; He broke the power of sin in us, and one day He will subdue all our iniquities (Micah 7:19) and deliver us from even the presence of sin. Peter proclaimed “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The writer of Hebrews declares that when He had by Himself purged our sins He sat down at the right hand of God (1:3). He is Lord of Redemption. I will glory in the cross because of the person of the cross. He is the Lord of Glory, the Lord of Creation, the Lord of History, and the Lord of Redemption!

I will glory in the cross because of the purpose of the cross. Why did Jesus Christ go to the cross? What did he do on the cross? There are several things that are revealed in the cross of Christ that help us to understand its purpose. First, the cross of Christ reveals to us that the soul of man is very precious. Mark 8:36 says “For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and yet lose his own soul?” A person may appear to be quite successful. He or she may be a professional with the highest credentials in their field. They may make a lot of money, be very poplar with people, have a lot of power, but if they are not saved and they lose their souls, their life will have been tragic and misguided. God shows the great value He places on a soul by sending His own Son to lay down His life to purchase and save our souls.

Second, the cross reveals to us that the most important thing in life is our relationship to God, and Jesus is the only way to that relationship. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father except by me.” Paul says “that I might know him and the power of his resurrection”. Again, he says “I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” One may not accomplish much in this life, nor be recognized by men, nor have much financial success in life; but if that person knows Jesus Christ, he has received the most important thing a person could have, a relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Third, the cross reveals to us the exceeding sinfulness of sin because sin is first and foremost directed against God. David, after his great sin of adultery with Bathsheba and complicity in the murder of her husband, declares “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight…”. Sin at its root is rebellion against God and his law. It is doing our own thing and living our lives for self instead of the glory of God. Isaiah proclaims “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.” John says “Sin is the transgression of the law.” Man says, “I must do my own thing. I will not be bound by God’s law. I am not accountable to anyone.” The cross reveals that sin and rebellion have their pay day, and either our sin will be punished in our substitute or it will be punished in us. The cross reveals the certainty that sin will be punished.

Fourth, the cross likewise reveals the absolute holiness of God. He is absolutely pure and so holy that he cannot look upon sin. He burns with anger because of sin. He must punish the sinner and judge sin wherever he finds it. God is longsuffering, but God cannot overlook sin. The punishment must be paid. He cannot accept sinful man into his presence without his sin being put away and the Scriptures declare “who can say I have made myself pure from my sin”. The cross reveals the holiness of God. Sin was not merely overlooked; it was fully punished in our substitute the Lord Jesus Christ there on the cross.

Fifth, the cross reveals the wisdom of God. How could a holy God ever have a relationship with sinful man? How can sinful man ever find acceptance with a holy and righteous God? The cross shows how a holy God can be just (true to his holiness) and still be the justifier of sinners (declare them accepted ). By sending his own Son who was sinless to die as our substitute, to die in our place, and bear the penalty for our sin, God in grace can clothe the believing sinner in the perfect righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). Paul declares the cross to be the wisdom of God and the power of God. The death of Christ was planned and foreordained before this world was ever created or man had ever sinned. Christ agreed to voluntarily lay aside his glory in heaven and come to this world to be our redeemer. Through Christ, God can be true to his holiness and still save sinful men. Christ bore our sins in His own body there on the cross. In bearing our sin Christ suffered physically and mentally, but His greatest sufferings were His spiritual sufferings as the Father bruised Him and made His soul an offering for sin. God demonstrated His acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice by raising Him from the dead, receiving Him back into heaven, and seating Him at His own right hand, the place of honor and power. The cross of Christ reveals the wisdom and power of God.

Sixth, the cross reveals to us the love and grace of God for sinners. Would I know how great God’s love for sinners is? I need only look at the cross of Christ. The Bible says “For 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) The Son who was the Father’s daily delight and of Whom the Father declared that He, Jesus, was His beloved Son, was sent to die on a cruel cross that we might live forever in a beautiful paradise with Him. Christ was forsaken for a moment that we might be accepted forever. We did not deserve to be saved or accepted of God. We had sinned and transgressed God’s law. We had offended God’s holiness and failed to give him the worship and love that should have rightfully been His. We had failed to do what we knew to be right. God could have sent each of us to Hell and it would have been no more than we deserved. But what did God do? Romans says, “But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” And again he says, “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” The Apostle John declares, “In this was manifest the love of God toward us because God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins”(1 John 4:9-10). The purpose of God is clear. If we were to be saved from our sins, a sinless One, one of us, must die for us. This purpose is clearly revealed in Scripture. Matthew says, “Thou shall call his name Jesus because he shall save his people from their sins.” Mark proclaims, “he came to give his life a ransom for many”. Luke says, “he came to seek and to save that which was lost.” John declares, “the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep”. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and announced, “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world”. Paul proclaimed, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.” The apostle Paul describes how God did this in 2 Corinthians 5:21 when he writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” God, out of the riches of His grace and because of His great love for us, put our sin upon His own Son Who bore the penalty and punishment that should have been ours for eternity. He then credited to our account as believing sinners, the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ so that we stand before God ,viewed by Him, as just as righteousness as His holy Son. What love! What grace! What wisdom! I will glory in the cross because of the purpose of the cross.

Let us never forget that if we were to be free from the guilt and sin, and one day be delivered even from the presence and effects of sin, the penalty must be paid. Christ’s sacrifice provided the basis on which the guilty sinner can be loosened and set free. Paul says Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). The law said we were guilty and that we deserved to die. Jesus Christ in grace bore our penalty for us and blotted out the charges that were against us (Col. 2:13-14). Peter in his message on the day of Pentecost, speaking of Christ, declared “Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23). The cross was, therefore, all according to God’s fixed purpose and plan. What God’s righteousness demanded, His love and grace provided. God was in Christ reconciling us to Himself through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:18-19). Someone once wrote of the wonderful work of Christ on the cross with these words:

I will glory in the cross because of the purpose of the cross. A higher, nobler purpose has never been known!

Third, I will glory in the cross because of the power of the cross. Paul wrote “for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us who are saved it the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). The old song writer knew this when he wrote these familiar words:

There is life-giving power in the cross of Christ, there is life-changing power in the cross of Christ, and there is life-living power in the cross. To the believer Christ is all, and the cross of Christ will never lose its power.

First, there is life-giving power in the cross of Christ. Paul says the “preaching of the cross … is the power of God.” In Ephesians Paul says that by God’s grace the sinner who was dead in the realm of trespasses and sins has been made alive (Eph. 2:1). Again, Paul says the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth (Rom 1:16). The sinner before salvation is unable to comprehend spiritual truth, unable to have a relationship with God, and unable to please God. He is spiritually dead. In salvation the Holy Spirit takes the word of God and applies it to the heart of the sinner. Through the proclamation of the gospel message of how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures, the believing sinner is quickened and made alive. He is born again, regenerated, and is now capable of having a relationship with God (1 Peter 1:23-25).

Second, there is life-changing power in the cross of Christ. The Scriptures tell us that man is dead in sins, disobedient to God, deceived, depraved, and doomed (Ephesians 2:1-4). He is without ability to change himself or save himself (Jeremiah 13:23). But through the preaching of the cross of Christ under the power of the Holy Spirit, he can be made a new creature, (2 Cor. 5:17) receive a new nature which is from God (II Peter 1:3-4), be indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9), be clothed in Christ’s righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21), have his sins forgiven and separated from him as far as the east is from the west (Psalms 103:12) and be fully accepted by God in Christ (Ephesians 1:6). He now has a new nature which loves righteousness and delights itself in God. He still has the old nature which may still from time to time rear its ugly head, but the believer in Christ now has a new life with a new perspective on life and spiritual things.

Moreover, the believer now has a new motive for living, the love of Christ, the glory of Christ. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:14 “the love of Christ constraineth us.” Paul says there is a new power moving me and directing me and it is love for Christ. He describes it in Romans 12:1 as “the mercies of God”. The love of Christ constrains the believer to live not for himself, but for Him who loved him and gave himself for him. He realizes he is not his own person any more; he has been bought by the precious blood of Christ. As the believer reflects upon Christ’s love for him on the cross in bearing his sin debt and laying down his life for him, he loves Christ and wants to serve him, honor him, and obey him. He cannot honor and obey the Son without also honoring and obeying the Father and the Spirit. Sure he’s not everything he should be, but thank God he’s not what he used to be. Many testimonies could be given of the life changing transformation that came to individuals through the belief of the gospel of Jesus Christ, through the grace of God in Christ. One of these great stories concerns John Newton. John Newton was a slave trader in his early life. He was so incorrigible that even the captain of the ship found him so offensive that he threw John Newton into the sea.

In a change of mind, he harpooned Newton and drew him aboard. Newton later was saved and went on to be a great preacher in England for many years. Among the songs that he wrote was one which Christians have grown to love over the years, “Amazing Grace.” Newton wrote these words:

Truly, the believer can say like John Newton, grace is greater than all my sin. Where sin did abound, grace did much more abound through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:20).

The love of Christ also gives him the higher motive of living his life, and it is the glory of God. The Scriptures declare: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17). In verse 23 of that same chapter we find, “And whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men.” No longer are we to have our own agenda living life for selfish ends or purposes, but we are to live it in a way which brings glory and praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. No longer are we to view the daily tasks of life as something to be rushed through until we can get to our time, and do something fun to please the flesh, but we are to do that job or task before us with the zeal that we are doing it for Christ himself. Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whatever you do, do all for the glory of Christ.” There truly is life-changing power in the cross of Christ.

Not only is there life giving power in the cross of Christ and life changing power in the cross of Christ, but there is life living power of the cross. The way some people would have us believe is that we are saved by the cross of Christ, but we have to live the Christian life in our own power. Paul addresses this in Galatians 3:1-3. He writes these words:

Paul says you were saved by grace based on the substitutionary death of Christ. Do you think that having been saved by God’s grace in Christ, you are now expected to live the Christian life on your own, that you are dependent on your own good works to keep you saved? No, Paul says, the same grace that saved you will give you the strength you need for living. Paul explains the close relationship between the cross and the life that the believer now lives this way: “I am crucified with Christ;

Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Here we see that the believer was identified with Christ in his death. He was crucified there on Calvary in him. The believer died to the law; he no longer has anything to do with it. His sins have been put away and he no longer is under the guilt and the penalty of sin. This does not mean he should feel at liberty to violate, break, or ignore any of God’s commandments. Rather, the believer now wants to live a holy life, not through fear of the law, but out of love for the one who died for him. He no longer seeks to earn his salvation by his own efforts; he no longer lives in condemnation, but he is passed from death into life. As to his standing he is fully accepted in Christ. The old self has been crucified and has no more claims on his life. Since this is true as to his standing, it should also be true as to his behavior.

The believer does not cease to live as an individual, but the one who is seen by God as the one who died is no longer seen as the one who lives. Paul says that it is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20). Christ did not die for me that I might go on living my life as I please, but He died for me that He might live through me. The life which I now live I am to live in reliance on or dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer is to continually yield himself to Christ and His will remembering continually that Christ loved him and gave Himself for him on the cross that he might be redeemed. Paul wrote “If you be risen with Christ, seek those things that are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above and not on things of this earth.” Christ is to be the believer’s rule of life and not the law. We don’t serve Him to gain His favor; we serve Him because we have His favor. It no longer is a matter of striving, but trusting. We live and walk by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. God in Christ has given us everything that we need for salvation and for sanctification. He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:4). Every thing that I need for living the Christian life flows from the cross of Christ. The Scriptures declare “But of him are you in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:29-30). Christ is everything to the believer. I will glory in the cross of Christ because of its life giving power, because of its life-changing power, and because of its life-living power.

Finally, I will glory in the cross because of the provisions of the cross. What did Christ accomplish on the cross? What does it mean to me? Think for a few moments about some of the great aspects of our salvation, about some of the great things that God has provided the believer because of the great work of Christ on the cross. There is redemption, peace with God, acceptance with God, forgiveness of sins, sonship and heirship, sanctification, access to God, an intercessory high priest, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, eternal security, hope for the future, and future glorification. We, as believers, are rich indeed. Much time could profitably be spent meditating on each of these items.

First, I will glory in the cross because of the redemption that I have in Christ. There are two aspects that we want to consider in relation to redemption. There is the price that was paid. Sin demanded a penalty, and Jesus as our substitute bore that penalty for us. The word redemption means “to deliver by the payment of a price.” The picture is the image of one who is sold under sin like a slave in bondage to sin, to Satan, and to self. However, the believing sinner is bought out of that slave market, loosened, and set free. The price has been paid, the precious blood of Christ has been shed for sinners, and we have been redeemed. Ephesians 1:7 assures us “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.” Our sins may have been great, but our Savior is greater. No matter how vile he or she was, the moment that person trusts Christ he is saved. Redemption is full and complete because of the shed blood of Christ.

There is also the wrath of God which has been propitiated. God is the thrice holy One, so holy that He cannot at all look favorably upon sin. He can not simply overlook the sin of the guilty ones. His holiness demands that sin be punished. Christ death on the cross satisfied the demands of a holy and righteous God as He stood in the sinners place. God is now said to be “propitiated” or “satisfied” because the penalty was paid and his law vindicated. Phillip Bliss in his great song “Free from the Law, O Happy Condition” wrote these words:

Cursed by the law, and bruised by the fall, Grace hath redeemed us once for all.

I will glory in the cross because I have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

I will glory in the cross because there is peace between God and the believing sinner because of the work of Christ on the cross. Colossians 1:20 tells us that Christ “made peace through the blood of his cross.” 1 Cor.5:18 tells us “all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.” The enmity between God and man has been removed because of the finished work of Christ on the cross in bearing our sins in his own body on the tree (1 Peter 1:24). Because the sin debt has been paid, God can be merciful to the believing sinner. Paul in Romans 5:1 says: “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God.” This means that Christ made peace for us on the cross and the moment I believe it I have peace with God. Now the peace of God can rule in my heart in the middle of the most trying circumstances as I bring my problems to Him and learn to trust and lean on him.

I will glory in the cross because the believing sinner can have acceptance with God. The Bible says the moment I receive Christ as my Lord and Savior by faith, I am justified, that is declared righteous and accepted by God Himself. This acceptance is not based on any merit or good works the sinner may have, but is wholly of grace and is based on the finished work of Christ on the cross on my behalf. Paul writes, “Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24) This acceptance can be ours through “faith in his blood” (3:25). Faith means that we believe what God has said about our sin and we trust what He has said about how Christ died for our sins there on the cross. We recognize that there was nothing in us that would have moved God to save us, but God saves us by His grace, that is totally unmerited favor, based on the fact that Christ died the innocent in the place of the guilty paying the penalty for our sins that we should have paid. Ephesians 1:6 says, “To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” God took our sin and he put it upon his own Son who paid the penalty for us (2 Cor. 5:21). In grace, God clothes the believing sinner in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ perfect obedience to the Father in everything is credited to the account of the believer so that he stands before God just as if he never sinned, just as if he fulfilled the law in every aspect. When God declares us righteous based on Christ’s sacrificial, substitutionary death, we call that “justification.” When God puts to our account the perfect righteousness of Christ the moment we believe the gospel we call that “imputation”. This means that the believer has full and complete acceptance with God in the Lord Jesus Christ. I will glory in the cross because it brings me full acceptance with God.

I will glory in the cross because the believing sinner has full forgiveness of sins. If we are honest with ourselves and God, we will admit that we are all great sinners and guilty in the sight of God. We have broken God’s commandments in deed and in spirit. The Scriptures declare that “there is none righteous no not one.” Sinners we were born, and sinners we have been all our lives. We take to sin naturally from the first. No one has to teach us or encourage us to do wrong. We have no worse evil companion than our own hearts. Jeremiah declared “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Again the Scriptures declare that “the wages of sin is death”. All the world stands “guilty before God,” and “it is appointed unto man once to die, so after this comes the judgment.” We must either be forgiven or be forever separated from God (Rom. 3:19; Heb. 9:27). Sacraments and ordinances, priests and preachers cannot bring forgiveness of sin. Only a thrice- holy God can give forgiveness of sin and He only does that on the basis of Christ’s substitutionary, sacrificial, death on the cross. The blood of Christ cleans us from all sin. Past sins, present sins, and future sins find a full forgiveness in Christ Jesus. Our sins are separated from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalms 103:12). He has “blotted them out like a thick cloud thy transgressions” (Isaiah 44:22). He has bound our sins up in a bag and cast them to the depth of the sea (Isaiah 38:17). These verses mean that God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us all our sins completely. He accepted Christ’s work on the cross as the payment of our sin penalty, and we will never be charged with sin again. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

I will glory in the cross because of the forgiveness of sins. Where sin did abound grace did much more abound (Romans 5:20b).

I will glory in the cross because I have sonship and heirship. I as a believer in Christ can sing with assurance “I am a child of the king.” We enter God’s family by being born again spiritually. We are born of the Spirit and of the Word, in particular the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:23,25). But there is much more. Paul in Galatians 4 declares that God sent His Son in the appointed time to redeem us from the curse of the law that we might “receive the adoption of sons.” The Holy Spirit is sent into our hearts to give us assurance of our sonship and to teach us that we are “no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Gal. 4:5-7). In Romans 8 we are told that we are joint heirs with Christ. This sonship or adoption means that we have all the rights and privileges of full grown adult children. To be a joint heir is to be one who shares equally with another. How God has blessed us because of the cross of Christ. We have the standing of full mature children and Christ is our elder brother administering the inheritance for the well fare of his people. Paul in Ephesians says that we are Christ’s inheritance (1:11). How special we are to him! The Scriptures also say that our inheritance is reserved in heaven for us and that nothing can ever take it away from us or cause it to lose its appeal or value (1 Peter 1:4-6). Adoption speaks of our enjoyment of the Christian life. We are full-grown children of God by faith. Because we are free from the bondage of sin, we can have fellowship with God, we can walk with Him, we can serve Him, we can suffer for Him, and we can enjoy Him. We have eternal life as a present possession and nothing can separate us from God. As John says “Now are we the children of God.” Not only privileges, but also responsibilities are ours as full-grown children. In rejoicing in the privileges, let us not forget our responsibilities as believers to be zealous of good works and faithful to hold forth the word of life. I will glory in the cross because I have sonship and heirship.

I will glory in the cross because I have access to God and I have an advocate in heaven who ever lives to make intercession for me. In the Old Testament only the High Priest could go into the Holy of Holies and that only with blood and on the Day of Atonement. Now as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ whose sins have been washed away and who is now by God’s grace clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ I have the right to come boldly before his throne to present my petitions and ask for God’s help in my time of need (Heb. 4:14). I come, not based on what I have done, but based on what Christ has done. I come, not based on who I am, but based on who Christ is, and God has promised to hear me and answer my prayer for Christ’s sake. This does not mean that God always gives me what I ask or want, but it does mean that if I ask anything according to his will, he hears me and I have the petition that I asked of him (1 John 5:13). How this should cause a deep desire in me to know His will and seek His will. Secondly, Jesus Christ Himself is praying for me that my faith fail not, and continually pleading His own shed blood on my behalf when I sin and when Satan accuses me. I have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteousness One, Who assures that no charge against me will stand.

I will glory in the cross because I am sanctified in Christ Jesus. Sanctification is the gracious work of God where the believing sinner is set apart for God himself, where he gradually learns to love righteousness and hate iniquity, and where he is fitted for service in God’s kingdom. Sanctification has three aspects. In positional sanctification, in Christ I have been set apart to God to belong to Him and to serve Him. Positional sanctification never changes. Every believer is a saint of God the moment he believes (1 Cor. 1:2). I am viewed as holy in Christ. Hebrews says, “By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified”(10:14) Practical sanctification or progressive sanctification has to do with my everyday life, how I live and obey Christ, how I love him as opposed to the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ prayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.” As we are led by the Holy Spirit and taught the truth of God, we learn to love righteousness and hate iniquity. The believer can grow in the grace and the knowledge of God. This growth may at times seem uneven or even as if the believer is regressing, however, through the process of sanctification he is being continually prepared for his eternal glory with Christ and all things work together for good to them that love the Lord, who are the called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28).

Thirdly, perfect sanctification will take place when we see the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming, and we shall be like him “for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Day by day he will perfect that which concerns me (Psalms 138:8). I am even now being changed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, while I am here I will continue to sin, but one day I will be separated from that old sin nature, and confirmed in holiness. God will subdue all my iniquities and make me like His own Son.

I will glory in the cross because of the eternal security I have because of the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus. Isn’t wonderful to know that every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will make it home to heaven? Our security doesn’t depend on what we have done, but on what Christ has done. The writer of Hebrews tells us that “by his own blood, he entered into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us” (9:12). Again, he tells us “For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” (10:14). Eternal redemption is ours the moment we believe. We have everlasting life as a present possession, and we shall never perish. There is safety and security in Christ. Just as all who were in the Ark were saved from the flood, so all who are in Christ are eternally saved from sin. Christ has washed us from our sin in his own blood (Rev. 1:5). Paul says “For I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Tim . 1:12). We are eternally secure because he is able to keep us.

I will glory in the cross because of my future resurrection and glorification. To have eternal life, means that both body and soul are fitted for eternity. The Scriptures declare that “he (Christ) shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like his glorious body” (Phil. 3:20). 1 John 3:2 says “we shall be like him.” Paul describes this process in 1 Corinthians when he writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

1 Thessalonians 4 tells us that “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” There is coming a wonderful resurrection day for the believer in Jesus Christ. The believer will be raised from the dead and given a new glorious body which shall not be subject to decay, deterioration, disease, or death. This new body will be a glorious, powerful body, fitted for eternity and body, soul, and spirit will be perfectly united to serve the Lord and to enjoy him forever. For those who are alive when the Lord returns they too will be transformed and fitted for eternity just like the dead in Christ. Oh, what a glorious day when we see Jesus in our new resurrection bodies! Oh, what a glorious day when we see departed loved ones there with Jesus! It truly will be worth it all when we see Jesus. Sin, sorrow, and sadness shall flee away. Fullness of joy will be ours every day. Satisfying worship and service will fill every day. It is all ours because of the cross of Christ. Jesus said “I am he that liveth and was dead; and am alive for ever more, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death.” Because He lives we shall live also. Galatians 1:4-5 says “Who gave himself for us that he might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of God our Father to whom be glory forever.” I will glory in the cross because of my future resurrection and glorification.

What wonderful provision God has made for us through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the question that confronts us is how will we respond to One Who has done so much for us? Is He asking too much of us to ask us to love Him? Is He asking too much of us to ask us to worship Him and be present in His house on the day He has appointed for us to come before Him? Is He asking too much of us to ask us to commit ourselves to Him, to be baptized, to unite with the church of which He is the founder and head? Is He asking too much of us to ask us to obey Him, to follow Him, to serve Him, to witness to others of Him? We must confess that having done all we are still unprofitable servants. Isaac Watts expressed what should be the feelings of everyone who has ever come into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ:

I will glory in the cross of Christ because of the person of the cross, the purpose of the cross, the power of the cross, and the provision of the cross now and throughout eternity. Unto me who am less than the least of the saints is this grace given that I should preach the unsearchable, inexhaustible, riches of Christ as seen in the cross. To Him be the glory now and forever.