Soteriology - The Work of the Trinity in Salvation. 2

Note the Uniqueness of the relationship of the father to the Son, and the Son to the Holy Spirit in the Plan of Salvation. Stephen D. Swihart’s outline in Willmington p.728:

2. The Work of the Son.

The Discharge the Plan of God in the Fullness of time.

1. God’s covenant with Christ : is real

Mat 26:54  But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?"

. J. Gill “That is, should Christ make such a request to his Father, and he should grant it, and an host of angels should be sent to rescue him, and he should be rescued by them; how then should the Scriptures, which speak of Christ's being taken, and led as a lamb to the slaughter, and of his various sufferings, and the circumstances of them, have their accomplishment? "declaring", as the Arabic version supplies, or as the Ethiopic version, "which say",

that thus it must be; that the Messiah must be apprehended, and suffer, and die. The several parts of the sufferings of the Messiah are foretold in the writings of the Old Testament; the spirit of Christ, in the prophets, testified before hand of them; as that he should be reproached and despised of men, Psa_22:6, be spit upon, smote, and buffeted, Isa_1:5, be put to death, Psa_22:15, and that the death of the cross, “

Mar 14:21  For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born."

Act 4:25  who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'—

Act 4:27  for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

Act 4:28  to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

2Co 1:20  For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

Gal 3:17  This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void.

Gal 3:18  For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

Php 2:6  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

Php 2:7  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Php 2:8  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Heb 7:22  This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

2. God’s Covenant With Christ Revealed.

a. That Christ should be the Second Federal Head of the Human Race.

1Co 15:45  Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

1Co 15:46  But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.

1Co 15:47  The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

so — in accordance with the distinction just mentioned between the natural or animal-souled body and the spiritual body.

it is written — (Gen_2:7); “Man became (was made to become) a living soul,” that is, endowed with an animal soul, the living principle of his body.

the last Adam — the LAST Head of humanity, who is to be fully manifested in the last day, which is His day (Joh_6:39). He is so called in Job_19:25; see on Job_19:25 (compare Rom_5:14). In contrast to “the last,” Paul calls “man” (Gen_2:7) “the FIRST Adam.”

Answers in Genesis

[Life - giving] quickening — not only living, but making alive (Joh_5:21; Joh_6:33, Joh_6:39, Joh_6:40, Joh_6:54, Joh_6:57, Joh_6:62, Joh_6:63; Rom_8:11). As the natural or animal-souled body (1Co_15:44) is the fruit of our union with the first Adam, an animal-souled man, so the spiritual body is the fruit of our union with the second Adam, who is the quickening Spirit (2Co_3:17). As He became representative of the whole of humanity in His union of the two natures, He exhausted in His own person the sentence of death passed on all men, and giveth spiritual and everlasting life to whom He will.

b. That Christ should partake of flesh and bones.

Heb 10:5  Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;

Heb 10:6  in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.

Heb 10:7  Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'"

Heb 10:8  When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law),

Heb 10:9  then he added, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He does away with the first in order to establish the second. ESV

v.5 When he cometh into the world. Since the Levitical sacrifices could not cleanse from sin, Christ, the Redeemer from sin, said when he entered upon his mission, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not. Quoted from Psa_40:6-8. Since the sacrifices and offerings of the Jewish altar did not meet God's will.

A body hast thou prepared me for an offering. This is Christ's offering.

In burnt offerings. Burnt offerings were wholly consumed. See Lev_1:17.

Sacrifices for sin. See Lev. 4:1 to 5:13. They were so called because of their special reference to sin. In neither had God pleasure; that is, they did not fully meet his will.

Then said I, Lo, I come. The Psalmist represents Christ, who comes simply to do the will of God, completely surrendered to his will.

In the volume of the book. In the roll of the law it is written of me; that is, there I am predicted.

Then said he. He said, first, "The Levitical sacrifices do not please God;" then he said, second; Lo, I come to do thy will. This is pleasing to God. Hence he taketh away the first, the old covenant with its sacrifices, and establishes the second, the new covenant inaugurated by complete submission to the will of God.

By which will we are sanctified. By this complete submission our sins are removed from us and we are made holy. The meaning of "sanctified" here is remission of sin.

Through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. In Christ's surrender his body was offered on the cross, once for all for sin, and by that offering our sins are remitted.

Application

Christ has taught us that the highest use of the Body is to offer it up to God. Otherwise it will be a hindrance to our Christian Lives.

We are to present our bodies as Living sacrifices to God. We are to mortify the deeds of the Body through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Andrew Murray Holiest of All pps 333-334

The Mystery of Redemption is that the Holy Spirit dwells in our mortal bodies and He sanctifies us wholly the body too.

c. That Christ would function as the Son and a Servant of God the Father.

Isa 49:3  And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified."

Isa 49:4  But I said, "I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God."

Isa 49:5  And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength—

Isa 49:6  he says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

Mat 12:8  For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."

Mat 12:9  He went on from there and entered their synagogue.

Mat 12:10  And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"—so that they might accuse him.

Mat 12:11  He said to them, "Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

Mat 12:12  Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

Mat 12:13  Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.

Mat 12:14  But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

Mat 12:15  Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all

Mat 12:16  and ordered them not to make him known.

Mat 12:17  This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

Mat 12:18  "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

Mat 12:19  He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;

Mat 12:20  a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;

Joh 10:17  For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

Joh 14:28  You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

Joh 14:31  but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go.

d. That Christ would Die for the sins of the world.

Mat 1:21  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Thou shalt call his name Jesus. That is, Savior. The Hebrew form is Joshua; the full meaning is Jehovah's salvation.

Shall save his people. Not the Jewish nation, as Joseph probably supposed, but all who accept and follow him.

From their sins. Not a temporal salvation, but from the curse of sin, condemnation and banishment from God's favor and heaven.

Rom 5:6  For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

I. They were ασθενεις, without strength; in a weak, dying state: neither able to resist sin, nor do any good: utterly devoid of power to extricate themselves from the misery of their situation.

II. They were ασεβεις, ungodly; without either the worship or knowledge of the true God; they had not God in them; and, consequently, were not partakers of the Divine nature: Satan lived in, ruled, and enslaved their hearts.

III. They were ἁμαρτωλοι, sinners, Rom_5:8, aiming at happiness, but constantly missing the mark, which is the ideal meaning of the Hebrew חטא  chata, and the Greek ἁμαρτανω. See this explained, Gen_13:13. And in missing the mark, they deviated from the right way; walked in the wrong way; trespassed in thus deviating; and, by breaking the commandments of God, not only missed the mark of felicity, but exposed themselves to everlasting misery.

IV. They were εχθροι enemies, Rom_5:10, from εχθος, hatred, enmity, persons who hated God and holiness; and acted in continual hostility to both. What a gradation is here!

1. In our fall from God, our first apparent state is, that we are without strength; have lost our principle of spiritual power, by having lost the image of God, righteousness and true holiness, in which we were created.

2. We are ungodly, having lost our strength to do good; we have also lost all power to worship God aright. The mind which was made for God is no longer his residence.

3. We are sinners; feeling we have lost our centre of rest, and our happiness, we go about seeking rest, but find none: what we have lost in losing God, we seek in earthly things; and thus are continually missing the mark, and multiplying transgressions against our Maker.

4. We are enemies; sin, indulged, increases in strength; evil acts engender fixed and rooted habits; the mind, everywhere poisoned with sin, increases in averseness from good; and mere aversion produces enmity; and enmity, acts of hostility, fell cruelty, etc.: so that the enemy of God hates his Maker and his service; is cruel to his fellow creatures; “a foe to God, was ne’er true friend to man;” and even torments his own soul! Though every man brings into the world the seeds of all these evils, yet it is only by growing up in him that they acquire their perfection - nemo repente fuit turpissimus - no man becomes a profligate at once; he arrives at it by slow degrees; and the speed he makes is proportioned to his circumstances, means of gratifying sinful passions, evil education, bad company, etc., etc. These make a great diversity in the moral states of men: all have the same seeds of evil - nemo sine vitiis nascitur - all come defiled into the world; but all have not the same opportunities of cultivating these seeds. Besides, as God’s Spirit is continually convincing the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and the ministers of God are seconding its influence with their pious exhortations, as the Bible is in almost every house, and is less or more heard or read by almost every person, these evil seeds are receiving continual blasts and checks, so that, in many cases, they have not a vigorous growth. These causes make the principal moral differences that we find among men; though in evil propensities they are all radically the same.

That all the preceding characters are applied by some learned men to the Gentiles, exclusively as such, I am well aware; and that they may be all applied to them in a national point of view, there can be little doubt. But there are too many correspondences between the state of the modern Gentiles and that of the ancient Gentiles, to justify the propriety of applying the whole as fully to the former as to the latter. Indeed, the four particulars already explained point out the natural and practical state of every human being, previously to his regeneration by the grace and Spirit of God.

In due time Christ died for the ungodly - This due or proper time will appear in the following particulars: -

1. Christ was manifested in the flesh when the world needed him most.

2. When the powers of the human mind had been cultivated to the utmost both in Greece and Rome, and had made every possible effort, but all in vain, to find out some efficient scheme of happiness.

3. When the Jews were in the lowest state of corruption, and had the greatest need of the promised deliverer.

4. When the fullness of the time came, foretold by the prophets.

5. When both Jews and Gentiles, the one from their jealousy, the other from their learning, were best qualified to detect imposture and to ascertain fact.

6. In a word, Christ came when his advent was most likely to promote its great object - glory to God in the highest, and peace and good will among men. And the success that attended the preaching of Christ and his apostles, together with the wide and rapid spread of the Gospel, all prove that it was the due time, κατα καιρον, the proper season; and that Divine wisdom was justified in fixing upon that time in preference to all others.

Died for the ungodly - Ὑπερ ασεβων απεθανε, He died Instead of the ungodly, see also Rom_5:8; so Luk_22:19. The body of Christ, το ὑπερ ὑμων διδομενον, which is given For you; i.e. the life that is laid down in your Stead. In this way the preposition ὑπερ, is used by the best Greek writers.A. Clark

e. That Christ would receive as His Inheritance the Nations, along with all power and Authority.

Psa 2:6  "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill."

Psa 2:7  I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

Psa 2:8  Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

Psa 2:9  You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

Psa 8:5  Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

Psa 8:6  You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,

Psa 8:7  all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,

Psa 8:8  the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

Psa 8:9  O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Dan 7:13  "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.

Dan 7:14  And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Joh 17:1  When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,

Joh 17:2  since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

Joh 17:3  And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Joh 17:4  I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

Joh 17:5  And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

v.5 Comment by Barnes

With thine own self - In heaven, granting me a participation of the same honor which the Father has. He had just said that he had glorified God on the earth, he now prays that God would glorify him in heaven.

With the glory - With the honour. This word also includes the notion of happiness, or everything which could render the condition blessed.

Before the world was - There could not be a more distinct and clear declaration of the pre-existence of Christ than this. It means before the creation of the world; before there was any world. Of course, the speaker here must have existed then, and this is equivalent to saying that he existed from eternity. See Joh_1:1-2; Joh_6:62; Joh_3:13; Joh_16:28.

The glory which he had then was that which was proper to the Son of God, represented by the expression “being in the bosom of the Father” Joh_1:18, denoting intimacy, friendship, united felicity. The Son of God, by becoming incarnate, is represented as “humbling himself” (Greek: he “emptied himself”), Phi_2:8. He laid aside for a time the external aspect of honour, and consented to become despised, and to assume the form of a servant. He now prays that God would raise him up to the dignity and honour which he had before his incarnation. This is the state to which he is now exalted, with the additional honor of having made atonement for sin, and having opened the way to save a race of rebels from eternal death. The lowest condition on earth is frequently connected with the highest honours of heaven. Man looks on the outward appearance. God looks to him that is humble and of a contrite spirit.

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