Living Consistent With a New Idenity: Putting Off the Old

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: July 30, 2006

Living Consistent With A New Identity: Putting Off the Old
by Dan Trygg

" …in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit…" Ephesians 4:22-24


Last week I referred to four steps that Paul delineates to help us bring the reality of Jesus into our lives:

(1.) The first of these was to choose to see yourself as a new person, based upon what Jesus has done on your behalf. Paul repeatedly stated the fact of our union with Christ in a variety of different applications or examples (Rom. 5:12-19; 6:3-11; 7:1-6; I Cor. 15:20-23,42-49; II Cor. 5:14-17; Gal. 2:20; 5:24,25; Col. 2:8-15; 3:11), so that the reality would begin to sink home in our thinking. Somehow we were incorporated into Him, so that when He died, we died; and when He was raised, we too received resurrection life, the basis for the born-again, "new person". The death of our old self was so real and complete that, in effect, the apostle says, "Take it to the bank." In his own words, "Consider (add-it-up, having-looked-at-all-the-facts,-now-draw-the-conclusion) yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus". We are commanded to see ourselves in light of the truth-claims Paul explains to us. This is a choice. It may not feel like we are different, but we are to choose to think of ourselves as a new, clean person. More than just forgiven and cleansed, we are an entirely new creature (II Cor. 5:17).

(2.) The second step was "to put away from you according to your previous life-patterns the old/former person..." (Eph. 4:22). The way to "put away", or "put distance from", the old self is by not giving in to old behavior patterns. You really are no longer that old person anymore, so stop doing what you used to do.
The verb here is an example of a Greek middle voice. The voice of the verb communicates the direction of the action. In English, our verbs have either an active voice, where the subject is acting upon another object (e.g., "John hit the ball.") or passive, where the subject is the recipient of the action (e.g., "John was hit by the ball."). The ancient Greeks had a third option, referred to as the middle voice, where the subject is doing the action, but the action in some way also affects him or her. The subject is either intensely involved in the action, has a self-interest in the act, or the action somehow directly limits or impinges upon his or her life. To attempt to communicate this idea, grammarians translate this nuance by the phrase "for him/herself". Following our example, a middle voice verb would be translated as "John (for himself) hit the ball." This would then mean that John was intensely involved in hitting the ball. This was not just another turn at bat. He was really putting himself into this. Or, to use another example, in Hebrews 8:10, where God says, "This is the covenant that I will make...", the word translated as "make" is in the middle voice. It could legitimately be translated, "...I will (for Myself) make...". This means that God is saying that either He is intensely involved in making this covenant, or that He has a self-interest in the outcome, or that He is voluntarily binding Himself by its terms (i.e., making the covenant will limit, bind, and restrict Him in some way). Now, in Greek you could use either format, active or middle voice, depending on whether or not you wanted to communicate an insight into the personal involvement of the subject in the action. In our example from Hebrews, in the previous verse (8:9), the description of making a covenant is in the active voice, focusing on only the outside action. By using the middle voice in vs. 10, the writer reveals something of God's inner awareness of His choice.

The way this all relates to Eph. 4:22 is that Paul is really saying, "to (for yourselves) put-away/put-distant the old person according to the former habitual-behavior". By using the middle voice here, Paul recognizes that:

(a.) This is a voluntary action on our part. God does not see this command in terms of behavior only. He expresses it in terms that acknowledge our inner process. He desires that we do this with our eyes open.

(b.) Moreover, God wants us to choose to put aside these behaviors willingly, "for ourselves". Some teachers emphasize the death to self so much that they totally miss that there is always an element of self-interest to be found in obeying God. God has designed things so that, at least at some level, there will be a reward for righteousness. He is never shy about appealing to that as a motivation for trust and obedience. He does not just bribe us, or manipulate us, but He does assure us that His way is the better way. He desires us to choose to do what we do from willing hearts. How can we do that if we do not believe that it is the best thing for us to do?

(c.) Our choices will limit and affect us in some way. We do not stop doing habitual, familiar behaviors without a sense of loss, without a struggle to no longer continue in old patterns, or without an uncomfortable sense of disorientation because we are not accustomed to living life differently. We have to overcome inertia of the soul, the tendency to keep moving through life in the same direction we have.

(d.) This will require intense involvement on our part. This is not a simple decision about something ''out there", i.e., something outside of ourselves, remote, distant, or disconnected. This choice goes against everything we are familiar with, everything we have learned that has become our inner road-map. If we relax, if we go back into "default mode", we will probably drift right back into "old-person-behavior". To turn the tide, to redirect the flow, to change directions will require some intense concentration, effort and vigilance on our part.

There is another important aspect of the word choice that Paul was guided to use here. The kind of action described is a point-of-time, single decision. This means that we make this decision in-the-moment, at-the-moment it comes to our awareness, for-the-moment. Paul is describing an episode, an incident which we face, where we must choose to "put away" the old behavior. It is important also to note what the verb form is not implying.

(a.) It is not saying that we are to continually "put away" the old person. Even if we could maintain an ever-present, habitual mindset of putting off the old person, it would be the wrong focus. The important conscious awareness to cultivate is to abide in Jesus. We cannot do that and be thinking about putting away the patterns of the old self at the same time. So, the focus of our continual action is to be on the positive (e.g., abiding in Jesus, walking in the Spirit, thinking of the things above), while the need to zero in on this decision to "put off the old" is described as an episodic choice, …in-the-moment, at-the-moment, for-the-moment.

(b.) It is not saying that we are able to make a single choice that will have ongoing results. In other words, it does not indicate that we can put off the old self, and its behaviors, by a single, once-for-all decision. Apparently, that is no more within our power to do than is it possible to be continually putting off the old person. We can make a commitment in-the-moment. That is a turning away from the old self with its practices. This opens up new possibilities, which we can then focus on. If we mess up, we make another in-the-moment choice to "put off the old" and refocus on the new. We can’t make, and keep, a once-for-all commitment. That’s just not possible for us, right now. So, don’t be surprised or discouraged if you stumble or fall. What Paul is saying is choose to get up and get back on the right track.

In Romans 6:12-14, Paul utilizes a different word-picture for this same part of the process of learning to walk in our new identity. Instead of commanding us to "put off" the practices of the old self as a single, in-the-moment act, he speaks in terms of not ongoingly allowing sin to rule in our lives. Sin has been on a roll in our lives. We are to no longer permit it. He doesn’t tell us what to do, specifically, but the implication is to break up the sin pattern. (This is where the at-the-moment, in-the-moment, for-the-moment choice to "put off" would seem to fit.) What he does say is that we are to no longer be presenting our members (your body, mind, mouth, tongue, etc.) as tools to express sin any more. The verb tense here describes ongoing, repeated action, …a repeated withholding of our availability to express sin. We belong to God now. We have been bought with a price. Our allegiance, responsibility, and accountability are to Him. When confronted with a temptation to serve sin, we are to repeatedly refuse to participate. Instead of "put off the practices of the old self", here Paul exhorts us to not get involved with them at all.

We are to see ourselves as "employed" in service to God, and therefore unavailable to express or fulfill the notions of the old life. This is an interesting picture, isn't it? It seems we will partner with, or serve, either God or sin, since both have an active agenda for our lives. To do nothing would still be to-not-serve-God, and thus it would be to miss-the-mark, or to sin. So here we are, workers with our toolboxes, people with our innate gifts, talents, abilities, time, energy, and resources. We either will actively serve God, or our actions will expend our life energy to serve something other than His will.

In the Ephesians word picture, it is like God is calling us off the job that we were employed in, saying, "Stop! Don't work here. Bring your tools and work for Me." -- The emphasis is leaving the old construction site, the old activity, the old employment. It is a momentary choice. As often as we might find ourselves at this old construction site, we are to choose to pack up and leave. In this word picture in Romans 6, the emphasis is on refusing to go to the old site. It is like the old boss and crew stop by and want us to work for them today. Our responsibility is to consistently, repeatedly refuse to go with them. This is a mindset of repeatedly resisting temptation when it comes. "No, thank you. I am working for God, now. I don't have time to do both. I have fully committed my tools, time, and abilities to serve Him."

Implementing Jesus

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: July 23, 2006

Implementing Jesus
by Dan Trygg

"But y'all did not experientially-learn the Christ in this way..." (Eph. 4:20)

Ephesians 4:20 is set in contrast to vss. 17-19. In those verses Paul warned the believers to no longer live the way that Gentiles (unbelievers) live, ...in vain, empty thinking, ...in separation from the life of God because of ignorance and hard-heartedness, ...by stuffing their pain, and medicating themselves with an unending pleasure-search. After describing what to avoid, he reminds the Ephesians that they "did not experientially-learn the Christ in this manner". It is important to see that, first of all, he is not talking about simply intellectually coming to a belief in Jesus, i.e., hearing the gospel and assenting to the idea that Christ came to die for our sins. The word translated as "learn" (Gk. - manthano), or more literally "experientially-learn" is a verb meaning "to learn by doing or experiencing, to discover by investigation, to find out by inquiry, to acquire a skill or ability by virtue of use, practice, or training". It is the same linguistic root from which the word "disciple" is derived. A disciple is an active follower, a pursuer, an implementer. The first contrast between the vain, empty thinking of unbelief versus the life of faith is the active, experiential, "choosing-oriented" nature of discipleship. You could endlessly think and intellectually learn information without ever "experientially-learning", "personally discovering", or implementing anything (cf. Jn. 6:45). Paul is not talking theology, he is focusing in on personally, practically finding out who Jesus is for us in daily life.

Furthermore, he plainly states that we did not, and will not, discover Jesus in this practical, personal, applicable way by approaching life by the old methodology. The phrase, "in this manner", or "in this way", refers to the ineffective, ignorant, atheistic, avoidance-oriented approach to life which characterized the old "pattern of life". Paul is contrasting two very distinctive modus operandi, i.e., ways of dealing with life.

"if indeed you heard Him and were taught in/by Him, according as it is truth/reality in the Jesus" (4:21)
Paul seems to be saying, "If you really did correctly hear Jesus, and if you were accurately taught the truth concerning Him, you would know what I mean when I say that it is not in accordance with that 'former manner of life'." His use of the past tense draws our attention back to the choice we made in becoming a disciple of Jesus. What was the original proposition which we were confronted with? Was it not the reality that we had made a mess out of our lives, or that we could see that we were sinners, and needed to give ourselves to God to be led by Him? Jesus' expression of this in Mt. 16:24-26 could be translated in it this way, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him/her deny/disown/disregard himself, and take up his/her cross and follow Me. For whoever might wish to save his/her life/soul/self shall lose/ruin/destroy it; but whoever might-lose/bring-to-nothing/put-to-death/be-deprived-of his/her life/soul/self for My sake will find/discover it. For what will a person be profited, if he/she gains the whole world, and forfeits/loses his/her life/soul/self? Or what will a person give in exchange for his/her soul/self/life?"

What is the point of this teaching? Is it not that our lives are valuable? Instinctively, naturally, we know that, …and somewhere deep inside we want to be all that we can be. We want to preserve, fulfill and keep safe who we are. The rub is, according to Jesus, that anyone who attempts to do this on his or her own will spoil themselves. Their lives, their individual strengths, qualities and unique abilities will not come to fruition. They will waste themselves, and somehow in the process they will even lose or destroy who they really are. For all the talk about death to self that occurs in religious circles, isn't it interesting that annihilation of self is not at all what Jesus has in mind? In fact, the goal of the process Jesus is advocating is that we will ultimately find our "self/soul" and "guard/keep/protect it unto/into age-type (eternal) life" (Jn. 12:25). The point is, however, that we cannot effectively manage our own lives. We do not have the perspective, -- either about life, eternity, or even our own selves --, to begin to successfully "live life to the full". Bottom line, Jesus says that the only way to ultimate self-discovery, self-preservation and self-fulfillment is through giving God the authority to direct all of our affairs. We must disregard our selfish interests, our self-directed lives, "in this world" in order to discover and preserve our true selves. At some point, that is the proposition all of us must face who will follow Jesus. We must give Him the right to call the shots for us. We must voluntarily give our selves to Him to develop, direct and dispense. In the giving away of our lives, we begin to find a new, better life, ...a life that will be abundant, rich, and full.
"...to (for yourselves) put away from (at a point in time) y'all {according to the former habit-pattern/ conduct}
the old person, the (one) [presently, ongoingly] being corrupted/ruined/destroyed/led-astray/seduced
according to the strong-desires of the deception, (4:22)

Paul moves on to delineating what learning the "truth in Jesus" for my Christian walk entails. There are three parts to this process which he describes here in Ephesians. In Romans 6, however, he includes another step, which precedes these. Before getting to that, however, he lays down the "together-with" foundation, i.e., how we were united with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection (vss.1-11). He writes, "…do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life" (vss. 3,4). This becomes the basis of our deliverance and freedom from the power of the sin that is resident with us, "the former person (old man) was crucified with Him in order that the body of the sin might be 'idled down'/ disengaged/made ineffective, in order that we might no longer serve-as-slaves to the sin" (vs. 6).

[Neither Eph. 4 nor Rom. 6 teach that sin's presence in our lives has ceased to be. In both passages, it is spoken of as still being present with us, even though it is no longer who we are. The Eph. passage says that the "old man", or former self, is still being corrupted, or ruined by deceitful strong-desires. Rom. 6 teaches that it was crucified with Christ. Whatever that means, it obviously does not mean it has ceased to exist. It has been "nailed to the cross", so to speak, but it can still have some kind of influence on us, if we allow it to. It is still present with us, but its co-crucifixion with Jesus somehow has made it possible for the "body of sin" to be disengaged, or rendered ineffective.]

In Rom. 6:7, the apostle emphasizes the importance of dying in order to be finally freed from the bond of sin. This teaching of co-crucifixion, co-burial and co-resurrection is clearly repeatedly in the NT (Rom. 6-8, Gal. 2:19-21; 5:24; 6:14-16; Gal. 2:19,20; Eph. 4:21-24; Col. 2:6-14,20-24; 3:1-17). The idea of the "identity change" produced by this union with Christ is basic to understanding and applying "the truth that is in Jesus" in Ephesians 4.

This brings us to the first of the four principles mentioned above:

(1.) Reckon yourselves to be dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. The word translated as "reckon" literally means "add it up (for yourselves)", "draw the conclusion (for yourselves)", "(for yourselves) consider yourselves". We are commanded to make a mental shift in regard to our self-perception. This is a choice. God commands us to "(for yourselves) look upon yourselves as corpses toward sin on the one hand, but on the other hand living (ones) toward God by/in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 6:11; cf. Col. 3:5).

(2.) "Put off the old person". If that is not clear enough for you, Paul makes it more specific, "according to the former habitual pattern of life" In other words, you put off the old person by putting away its former practices, i.e., don’t give yourself to do as you used to do. In Colossians 3, Paul uses the same word to "put aside" former attitudes and behaviors (vss.5-8), while using a different word picture for putting off the old person (vs. 10). The word used is to "unclothe yourself from, strip off, undress yourself from" the old person. Note the connection of the next phrase, "with its evil practices". To put off the old person is an identity shift that also requires you to put aside old behaviors.

(3.) Be renewed in the spirit of your minds. If you are a new person, with a new identity and new Holy Spirit power resident within you, then you need learn how to view and live life differently. The Greek words convey both the notion of restoration as well as building thought patterns and obtaining a perception of reality which is entirely new and fresh, something which did not exist before (Eph. 4:23; Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:10). This does not happen overnight, and requires conscious effort on our part. We must have new information to think differently, and we also must take control of our thought life to stop old thought patterns and assert new ways of thinking. Thus, this step requires not only learning new information, but also the choice to think differently. The NT repeatedly speaks of studying God’s word, of watching the example of others, of the value obtaining input from others, and of directing your thoughts in profitable ways as practical steps to bring about change (II Tim. 3:16,17; II Thess. 3:7; Eph. 4:15,16; Phil. 4:6-9).

(4.) Put on/clothe-yourselves-with the new person. What does this mean? Paul gives us a clue by saying that this new person "has been created in righteousness and true holiness". In other words, there is a new life, a new identity resident within us. It is the result of new life which is born from above (Jn. 3:3-6). Although we may not always see or feel it (I Jn. 3:1,2), this new life is our new self, our new identity. It is Christ’s life in us, instead of our old self-life (Gal. 2:20). We need to consciously "put it on", because we are not used to living from that new inner self. Note that Paul says that this life "has been created in righteousness and true holiness". Instead of being sinful, it is righteous. As long as we abide in the power of Christ in us, as long as we operate from this new inner nature, it will be natural for us to live righteously. It will come from within. Just as a tree bears fruit according to its nature, Jesus said that a good person will produce good behavior. Learning to tune in to that new nature, and the leading of the Spirit within, requires conscious choice and devoted discipline. God will teach us, if we will walk with Him.

The Torn Veil, A New and Living Way of Access

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: July 9, 2006

The Torn Veil, A New and Living Way of Access
by Dan Trygg

"And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32 And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. 33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. 34 You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place." Ex. 26:31-34

"And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split." Matthew 27:50,51

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." Hebrews 10:19-25

It would be easy for us to skim past the significance of the rending of the veil in the temple, which took place as Jesus died. Since most of us have not been steeped in an understanding of the OT temple, we do not have a frame of reference to grasp what was happening. Matthew, Mark and Luke all mention this event, however, because it was an extremely powerful testimony of God’s direct response to Christ’s finished work upon the cross. It was a powerful word picture used in early church teaching to demonstrate the effectiveness of Jesus’ death to reconcile humanity to God, and to unite all people into a new brotherhood in Him.

What was this veil? What was it for? In the building of the Tabernacle, God commanded Moses to make a veil or curtain to hang between the Holy Place, where only the priests could go, and the Holy of Holies, where God’s abiding presence was (Ex. 26:31-35). It was made of blue, purple and scarlet material and fine twined linen. It was to be woven together by skilled craftsmen, and was to have the images of cherubim woven into it. Its purpose was to separate the Holy of Holies, where the ark of the covenant and the manifest presence of God were, from the eyes and activity of those in either the Holy Place or from those who were common people outside of the Holy Place. God’s holy presence was to remain undisturbed. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies. That was only once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). The Tabernacle in the wilderness was a large, elaborate tent compound designed to give a series of buffer zones between this holy God, and the people of Israel, so that the holy presence of God could travel and dwell in the midst of His people (Ex. 25:8).

The veil stood for the unapproachableness of God. He was absolutely holy, pure and righteous. Evil cannot abide in His presence (Psa. 5:4). Those who attempted to approach Him, or the holy objects, without following the proper precautions and instructions of God, perished. On several occasions, fire came out from the sanctuary and consumed them (Lev. 10:1-3; Num. 16:1-7,16-18,35-40; I Sam. 6:19,20; II Sam. 6:1-7).
In the Temple of Jesus’ time, this curtain was intricately woven of seventy-two twisted braids of twenty-four threads each. It was sixty feet long and thirty feet tall. Because of the size, it had to be quite thick to support the weight. (Up to four inches thick, by some accounts.) As you can imagine, a curtain such as this would be very sturdy, and yet have significant ability to flex and give. To rip it in half would take a tremendous force. If it were to tear, you would expect it to tear horizontally, because of the weight, not vertically.

During Jesus’ crucifixion, darkness came over the land, as He was bearing the sin of the world. As He finished His sin-bearing work, when He cried out and gave up His Spirit to the Father, the veil in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51; Mk. 15:38; Lk. 23:45). Both Josephus (War VI. 299), a Jewish historian of the first century, and the Jewish Talmud (Mishna, Mid. ii. 1; iv.7), a collection of rabbinical teachings, mention an earthquake in the Temple. The Talmud even says that this occurred 40 years before the destruction of the Temple, which would have been the same time as Jesus’ death. It does not say what damage was done, but hints at some great disaster.

What is the significance of this event? There are two main lessons drawn from this event by the writers of the NT. The first and foremost is that the way into the presence of God has been opened up to us. God Himself tore the veil so that we would see that entrance into the Holy of Holies has been granted to all of us. The Jewish leaders misunderstood this event as a disaster, as a virtual defilement of the Holy of Holies, and hastened to cover up the opening, and repair the curtain. They missed the point. God was indicating that, because of Jesus’ death on our behalf, our sin has been removed. We are now welcome to come into the presence of our Holy God. In Hebrews 4:14-5:10, the author describes how Jesus was designated by God to be a high priest for us. In 6:19,20, the writer mentions how our hope of salvation is like an anchor for our souls, a hope which is safe-and-sure, confirmed-and-reliable, a hope that is entering into the inner place of the veil, where Christ went in as a forerunner on our behalf, becoming a high priest forever. This is a very interesting picture, since the former practice was to tie a rope around the high priest’s ankle, so his body could be pulled out if he perished before the Lord on his annual visit to the Holy of Holies. Here, we have the exact opposite picture. Christ has gone into the Holy of Holies and has planted an anchor there, one which we are tied to. He is called our "forerunner". The reference is to a spy or scout, who would lead the way. He has gone before us to lead us also into this inner place. The rope of promise is not to pull us out of the inner place, but to lead us in.

Jesus’ priestly ministry was not in the earthly Tabernacle or Temple, which were but shadows of the true heavenly dwelling place of God. Now, God was establishing a new and greater covenant than the Israelites had known under Moses (Heb. 9:1-10:18). Instead of making a temporary atonement through animal sacrifices in an earthly sanctuary, Jesus came into the very dwelling place of God in heaven and offered His own blood to cleanse us once and for all. By this act, we have been sanctified and perfected in God’s sight once and for all time (vss. 10,14). There is no additional offering that need be made to be acceptable to God, and to open the way into the inner place behind the veil.

Look at Hebrews 10:19-21. It is very powerful. "Therefore, brothers and sisters, having confidence to enter into the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by a new (lit., freshly-killed) and living path-way inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is of His flesh, and (having) a great priest over the house of God…" Jesus opened up to us another pathway into the very Holy of Holies, a way that was purchased by His death and made sure by His resurrection. The blood of Jesus continues to speak as though it were an eternally present offering (Heb. 12:24), a freshly killed sacrifice. The only way into the presence of the Holy One is by the cleansing blood of Jesus. Note, however, this entrance is not by virtue of a dead sacrifice, but one that was "freshly-killed and yet living". The way in through the curtain is through Christ. He is the Great Priest, who has gone before us into the Holy of Holies, has satisfied the Divine wrath by the payment of His own life, has redeemed us out of condemnation and bondage to sin to live for God (sanctified us), and has perfected us by the power of His resurrection life which dwells within those who have trusted in Him. By the outworking of that new nature, which comes from His resurrection power living in us, all that is corrupt will fall away, when He returns to claim us for Himself, and we will shine like the sun in the power and glory of new life (Matt. 13:43). As the apostle John said, "Whenever He will appear, we will be like Him…" (I Jn. 3:2). Then, we will be able to see Him and dwell with Him. We will be comfortable in His presence, because we will be pure and holy, like Him.

Following the argument in Hebrews 10 a few more verses (22-25), we see that there are three possibilities which open up to us that were not there before Christ. They are translated in English with the phrase "let us", which is meant to convey the excitement of a possibility made available which we, by all means, should make use of. They are not commands, however, but new options which Christ has made available to us. They are:

(1.) We might now draw near to God. We are able to come with sincere hearts, fully assured, knowing that we have been sprinkled clean before God by the blood of Jesus. We are clean inside and out, and can freely enter into God’s presence, …so, let’s go there!

(2.) We might now be holding fast the confession of hope without wavering, because God is faithful. Jesus established and purchased a better covenant, based upon better promises, and a better provision. We don’t have to doubt or be wobbly in our faith. We can be confident that we are acceptable to God in Christ, …so, be strong in faith!

(3.) We might now consider one another for the purpose of sharpening up, stimulating or agitating each other to love and good deeds, not abandoning our gathering together, but encouraging one another, …so, get involved in building one another up! This third point might seem kind of a strange conclusion to draw from the idea of Jesus’ dealing with our sin and bringing us through the veil into the Holy of Holies, but Paul refers to this same notion in Ephesians 2:11-22. Christ not only reconciled us to God, but also to each other. In the Temple in Jerusalem, there was a dividing wall that separated the Gentiles from the Jews. By tearing open the curtain, and bringing people of every race and background directly into the Holy of Holies, God had removed all that divides us from each other. He has, in fact, made us a new people, members of His household. He cut through all the ordinances and religious traditions and brought us all before Daddy’s throne, where we are all on equal footing. He established peace, and gave us all the same access to the Father. Together we are being built into a spiritual house. God dwells in us. The verb in vs. 22 is usually translated passively, but it could also be understood as something we are to be actively doing. "In Him y’all are jointly building yourselves up into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." We do that when we speak the truth to one another in love, each exercising his or her gifts to build up one another (Eph. 4:15,16), stimulating one another to grow.

The Suffering and Death of Jesus For Us

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: July 2, 2006

The Suffering and Death of Jesus For Us
by Dan Trygg

"Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him." Isaiah 53:1-6


"I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting." Isaiah 50:6

"…His appearance was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men." Isaiah 52:14b

Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, begins to capture the incredible torment that Jesus went through, physically, for us. Even though God had spoken very descriptively through Isaiah the prophet about the extent and nature of His sufferings, we cannot fully grasp what He went through for us. He was repeatedly struck in the face, endured humiliation and became the butt of their humor as they mocked and beat him. They spit in His face, and in mock tenderness reached to stroke His beard, only to pull out handfuls of it in scorn. They whipped Him, reducing His muscled back, sides and legs to a shredded, bleeding pulp. The entire Roman cohort (600 men) gathered to pay their scorn and mock the King of the Jews, one-by-one adding his share to the humiliation and the beating of His face and body. They wove together a wreath of thorns and jammed it on His head. As they mocked Him, they beat Him about the head with the cane reed they used as a mock scepter. We know that Jesus was sentenced by Pilate by 6 a.m., and was put on the cross by 9:00 a.m. (Jn. 19:14 [Roman time]; Mk. 15:25 [Jewish time]). What happened in those intervening hours must have been horrific. If Isaiah’s prophecy was borne out, that His appearance was marred more than any man, then He must have been virtually unrecognizable. The repeated beatings, the swelling, then being beaten again by numerous people, left Him a pulverized swollen, black and blue, bleeding and oozing mess.

Jesus began the journey from the governor’s palace to the place of execution. He started out carrying His own cross, as was customary for condemned criminals. Normally, the scourging took place at the execution site, right before being nailed to the cross, so that the victim would still be fit enough to carry his cross. In Jesus’ case, however, Pilate had given the order for Him to be scourged earlier, hoping to satisfy the crowd and intending to release Him. By this time, some three hours later, He was so weakened by the whipping, beatings and torture that He collapsed under the load. The Romans forced a passerby, Simon from Cyrene (modern-day Libya) to carry His cross the remainder of the way. The total distance was probably about 500 yards, or less, through the winding streets of the city. Although the exact site is unknown today, we do know that it was near a main road coming in from the country. The most likely spots would have been to the West or North of the city.

Many of our romanticized depictions of this event fall away when we remember the Roman purpose for this torturous death. The intent was to make a spectacle, an example, of the condemned. Therefore, the crosses were placed quite near the busy roadway, and the condemned were probably fairly close to the ground, only suspended one or two feet above the ground, not elevated high up, as is often portrayed. The closer to the eye of the passerby, the better. The Romans wanted the torturous death struggle of the victims to be clearly seen, and vividly emblazoned on the mind of those who had to walk by. Each person was stripped totally naked. No loincloth was given to preserve any sense of modesty. Again, the point was to totally humiliate, debase, and remove any dignity that the condemned person may have had. When Jesus and Simon had arrived at the designated spot, Jesus would have been stripped, placed upon the cross, tied to the beams with rope, and nailed through the hands into the crossbeam, and through the ankles or feet to the vertical beam. Often the feet rested upon a small shelf, to allow the victim to partially support himself, and thus extend the suffering.

Crucifixion was considered the most horrific and painful way to die in the ancient world. It was universally feared by all. The "genius" of this execution method lay in the fact that, as the person weakened, and began to slouch, it was impossible to exhale. Because the arms would keep the chest expanded, unless the victim stood or pulled himself up, he could not get fresh air. Of course, any such movement would aggravate the already swollen and painful impalings. The agony of this form of execution was prolonged and extremely painful. The swelling of the wounds, the lack of fluids, produced traumatic fever and an excruciating, pounding headache. The unnatural placement of the body, coupled with the inability to move, caused severe, agonizing cramping of the muscles. In addition, the sun, insects and even birds would further increase the level of torture upon the exposed flesh. The victim was left in this exposed, helpless condition until eventually the resources of his body gave out and he suffocated to death. As he struggled to breathe, with each breath came excruciating pain and cramping, as he had to push and pull himself erect enough to exhale and inhale. This became more and more extreme, as the body failed. The panic of suffocation, the desperate struggle to get another breath, added to and extended the torture, until the victim slumped into complete body failure and death. It was not uncommon for victims to last for two or three days upon the cross.

While all of this was beginning to overtake Jesus, the physical struggle was not the most significant pain and torment He endured while upon that cross. There was another dimension which Jesus was experiencing which would not have been visible to the eyes of the onlookers. Isaiah prophetically told us that He would bear our sorrows and griefs. He was punished for our transgressions. Peter tells us that He bore our sins in His body while on that cross (I Pet. 2:24). II Corinthians 5:21 tells us that somehow He, who was sinless, became the very embodiment of sin for us. He bore the chastening which we deserved, so that we might have reconciliation with God, instead of His wrath. This makes little sense to us in modern-day, individualistic America. God had introduced the background of substitutionary atonement way back in the garden of Eden. The skin coverings for Adam and Eve’s nakedness required the death of animals. The entire sacrificial system depended upon the notion that an animal could serve as a substitute for the guilt of the worshipper. The problem with animal sacrifices, however, is that their lives were not of equal value in exchange for the life of the one offering the sacrifice. The notion of substitution was clear, but the means was inadequate. Jesus, however, was a voluntary sacrifice of infinite worth. If He could take sin upon Himself, and actually pay for it through His death, then it would be more than temporarily covered. It would be removed forever (Heb. 9:11-10:22).

The agony of soul, which had been momentarily revealed in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:38; Lk. 22:44), was where the real struggle with death that Jesus endured lay. In order to set humanity free from the penalty and power of sin, He had to pay the full price for our sin while on that cross. Somehow He had to experience, and endure, an intensity of punishment that would more than offset the wrath of God which was accumulated by the sin of every person who ever lived on this planet. Isaiah tells us that "by oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?" (Isa. 53:7,8). He took the death stroke which really belonged to others. He paid the price for them, so they would not have to experience God’s wrath, if they would only accept this provision from above. Like the serpent on the pole, which God provided to Israel in the wilderness, to escape the death of snakebite, in Jesus God was providing another source of healing and deliverance hung upon another pole, so that those who look to and trustfully yield in Him may receive life (Num. 21:4-9; Jn. 3:14,15).

The soul-struggle, and the cost of sin, are revealed by two telling comments of Jesus from the cross. The first is the cry of agony, "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken Me?". More than just a quote from the 22nd psalm, it was Jesus’ experience at that moment, as the wrath of God was poured out upon Him and He experienced the horror of total abandonment by the Father. Soon after, however, He cried out, "It is finished!" (Jn. 19:30) The word uttered was actually the word written upon contracts and bills which had been fulfilled, "Paid in full!" So, while the mockery of His enemies continued (Matt. 27:39-44), and His physical body was struggling to survive, and He was experiencing all the horrors and torture of that form of execution, He was also taking upon Himself the sin of the world, and the full wrath of the Father was poured out upon Him to the very end, so that He could say, "There, it is done. Paid in full."

This spiritual battle was also reflected in the natural world by the darkness which came upon the land from noon until 3:00 p.m., followed by the earthquake upon His death (Matt. 27:45-54). Just as the natural world was affected by Adam’s sin, subjected to futility and death (Rom. 8:19-22), so through the death of Christ it was being redeemed. The victory was also evidenced by the way in which Jesus died. He did not die of crucifixion. He gave up His spirit. He Himself had told the disciples that no one could take His life from Him (Jn. 10:17,18). He had the power to give it up at will, but no one could take it from Him. Thus, we see that He cried out, "Father, into your hands I commit My Spirit!", and He breathed out His life (Lk. 23:46; Jn. 19:30). The events surrounding His death, and the manner in which He died, were strange enough that the attending guards became frightened and exclaimed, "Surely this was the Son of God" (Matt. 27:54).