When Jean and I lived in China, we attended a church which allowed both foreigners and Chinese nationals to attend. Each week the church service included a Bible message followed by small group discussions about the message. One week, Lucy, a Chinese friend, visited that church and heard for the first time in her life that Christ died for her. She responded: “If Jesus did that for me, what should I do for him?” I told her that her response was the perfect question! Two weeks later Lucy announced that she had decided to follow God. She really understood the gospel!
I fear that those of us who have grown up hearing that Christ died for us may lose the wonder that so grabbed Lucy’s attention. And with the loss of wonder, we may lose the desire to live a changed life. Christianity easily becomes about me and not about him!
Salvation is not just a “get out of hell free” card. It is so much more. The basic human problem can be described in two ways: too much sin and too little righteousness. Sin is what makes us offensive to God—and harmful to ourselves and to each other! Righteousness, doing the right thing for the right reason, is what makes us acceptable to God. Having too much sin and too little righteousness are the flip sides of the same coin. And we cannot solve either problem by ourselves.
Last week we said there are three foundation blocks of salvation: grace, faith and a Savior. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 tells us how these three fit together to complete our salvation.
First, in 2 Cor 5:14-15, we read that Christ loves us. His love led him to make the ultimate sacrifice: his own death. He died for us. This amazing love and sacrifice compels us, transforms us from living for ourselves into living for him. The proper response to Jesus’ sacrifice is our gratitude. The best expression of our gratitude is living for him. That is what our Chinese friend Lucy understood!
But there is more. Just as amazing as Christ dying for us—as wonderful as that is—is this: He died for us and we died with Him. If the only truth was that Christ died for me, then the penalty for my sin would be paid, but I would still be the same old sinner I was before. Christianity would be no more than a “get out of hell free” card. But there is much more to salvation: my old self died with Christ!
This is a mystery which I don’t fully understand, but it is real. I am united with Christ, I am in Christ and he is in me. Therefore, I died with Christ and I rose with Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 reveals more about this mystery: when anyone is in Christ he or she becomes a new creation! The old has gone, the new has come. We are reborn. The wonder of salvation is not just that we are forgiven and we are redeemed, but that we are made new! Someday God will renew the whole world— there will be a new heaven and a new earth—but now, for those who are in Christ, that renewal has already begun! The Kingdom of God is being built—one changed-life at a time.
I love to listen to Christian testimonies: real life stories of how God transforms sinners into saints. Perhaps we should say sinners become saints-in-process—those whose lives are set apart for God. Just as God is changing the world one life at a time, Christians are changing the world, one loving deed at a time. As I study world history, I am amazed at how often works of charity around the world were started by Christians who wanted to serve Christ by serving others. His love controls us!
2 Corinthians 5:19 says that in Christ God is reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting their sins against them. After we have been reconciled to God, we are entrusted with passing that transforming message along. We have the ministry of reconciliation. We are ambassadors for Christ. We implore the world, “Be reconciled to God.”
How is such reconciliation possible? 2 Corinthians 5 ends with an amazing description of salvation: God made Him who knew no sin to be sin [my sin, your sin], so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
The human problem is too much sin and too little righteousness. In Christ we get to swap—the best deal ever. We give him our sin, and he gives us his righteousness! When he died, he took my sin upon himself. Through faith I receive the gift of his righteousness. Now God sees me as righteous. Now, for the first time, I have the real hope of becoming like Christ!
Jesus took my sin and gave me his righteousness. If Jesus did that for me, what should I do for him?
Greg Giles is a published author, who, along with his wife Jean, has embraced the call to serve and teach around the globe. Their life together has included missionary work in Liberia, Bangladesh, teaching in China, and raising a family in Bemidji, Minnesota. Between global travels and local commitments, including serving as superintendent of Corn Bible Academy and their current part-time roles at Corn Heritage Village, the Gileses have found “home” in many places; yet, they now happily reside in retirement in Cordell. Please visit his website at reflections-on-wisdom.com.