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Not so much a ‘handout’ but a ‘handup’

Posted by Mathew | 28 February 08

Some time back I was involved in a discussion about Jesus’ redemptive work. My chief point was essentially that there is nothing that we can do in order to please God by our own efforts. We are so decrepit and sinful by nature and by choice that we cannot help but sin and, therefore, can never hope to reach the purity of God’s standard. Enter Jesus into human history - God’s plan to set the record straight: acknowledge your sin, trust in Jesus (and let him take our punishment in our place) and obtain redemption.

The person I was discussing this with surprised me with his response. He said, in more or less these words: if the only way to be accepted by God is to let Jesus be punished for what I have done, then I’ll take the punishment. Don’t punish Jesus - he’s innocent. If I’ve done the crime, I deserve the time, was this fellow’s motto.

People, please! This is precisely the point of Christianity!

This type of response, of course, falls into the category of pride. Religious pride, even. For it is the proud man who, having gotten himself into financial debt, or having fallen down a pit, or who has an alcoholic or drug addiction, doesn’t want the indignity/embarrassment of being helped out of his circumstance, especially when he needs it. This is religious pride for we try to obtain the unobtainable by the things that we do or say, or don’t do or say.

The issue with our eternal destination, however, is that if we don’t accept the help offered by God through Jesus, our punishment is not time-bound … it is everlasting.

There’s a number of things to consider about the above, which the responder in my discussion may not have been aware. Chiefly, these are: God’s justice, God’s grace and God’s love.

God’s justice
Justice is that rule that says if a wrong has been made, a price must be paid. It can be called restitution, something that must be paid back. In Old Testament terms, this is the ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ line of thinking.

The thing about justice is that God demands it - 100% of the time. There is nothing that can go unpunished. The notion of justice is central to God’s character for without it He would cease to be God. God is absolute Holiness.

Scripture calls us to ‘be Holy for I (God) am Holy’ (1 Pe 1:16), which is an impossibility for us as sinful human beings. (Which is interesting for God to say as, and I don’t assume, He knows this full well. But this is where the other attributes of His character come into play.)

So, we are inherently faulty and deserve punishment, despite what we do or don’t do.

God’s grace
The favourite acronym for grace is God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. This means that despite the fact that justice must be served for our sin, God has made provision for someone else to take our place: Jesus Christ. This is the act of justification; that is, we are justified before God based on what Jesus has done for us (died for our sin in our place), not what we have done. Only God is perfect and holy; Jesus, being God in the flesh, is likewise perfect and holy. When Jesus dies for our sake, he takes our sin upon himself and tells God on that day of Judgment: hey, it’s ok. He’s with me. Never mind his record; I’ve wiped it clean.

God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense: we are made righteousness by virtue of our faith in Jesus and in what he has accomplished for us through his death, burial and resurrection.

God’s love
You know the verse. You even know the reference: John 3:16. The very fact that God loves us, despite our sins, is the very reason that God’s justice and God’s grace can co-exist.

For without God’s love, His justice would see us all roasting in Hell and His grace would never have occurred - God would have consigned us over to our fate (death) for our sins.

And if we only have grace, there can never be justice (for everyone would be pardoned despite their crimes); and if we only have justice, there can be no grace (for everyone will get what they deserve).

God’s love ensures that both justice and grace link arm in arm. In fact, we could say that the definition of God’s love is that it encompasses both justice and grace!

Conclusion
And so here’s the pinch: Christianity is not for the proud, for those who decline ‘handouts’ when they are most in need because they want to recover in their own strength. Scripture makes it clear that we don’t posses that strength.

Jesus said: It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners. (Mark 2:17)

Pride is a sickness. It’s the type of disease that fools you into believing that you need no one else to help you through your troubles or that tricks you into thinking that you are better than the sinner next door. Satan’s pride had him cast out of heaven; if you maintain your own pride, rest assured it will prevent you from gaining entry into that heaven.

If you are sick, don’t you go to a doctor to make you well?

Follow the logic, then, and look to Jesus to wash you clean of your iniquities and make you justified and righteous by his blood.

More than a handout, God has given us a hand-up.

And you and I need it.

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