Jesus said, “It is finished.”

Recently, I have been working on a message for our church about the freeness of salvation. As I have contemplated this subject, I have been reminded again about one of the most profound statements Jesus ever made from the cross: “It is finished (Jn. 19:30).”

Those three words carry tremendous significance. The Greek word translated “finished” is tetelestai. It speaks of something completed or brought to its intended end. In the context of an obligation, it means paid in full. That has profound implications for how we understand salvation. Salvation can only be truly free to us because Christ completely paid the price for it. The cost of our sin was not ignored, reduced, or postponed. Jesus Christ paid it in full. He did not make a down payment on our salvation and leave the remainder for us to pay through our works, obedience, commitment, or perseverance.

For the first ten years of my Christian life, I was confused about the freeness of salvation. I believed that salvation was by grace, but I had not fully grasped what it meant for salvation to be completely free. Like many Christians, I struggled with the thought that perhaps there must be something more I needed to do—something I needed to give, prove, or maintain.

But if I must contribute something to the payment for eternal life, then Christ did not finish the work. If salvation is for those who “give their hearts” or “give their lives” to Jesus as a condition for receiving eternal life, then what exactly did Christ finish? If my contribution is necessary to complete the transaction, then salvation is no longer entirely the gift of God. If that is true, then it means that Christ paid part, and I supplied the rest.

But that is not what Jesus said. As He hung on the cross, He said, “It is finished.” In other words, the work necessary to provide our redemption was complete. The payment was complete. The sacrifice was complete. There is no remaining balance for us to pay.

That truth has brought me tremendous encouragement. My eternal security does not rest on the consistency of my performance but on the completeness of Christ’s payment. My performance changes. Christ’s payment does not.

When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant it. And because it is finished, we can rest—not in ourselves, but in Him.

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

Religion vs Christianity

There is a vast difference between religion and genuine Christianity.

Religion consists of two letters: D-O.

Christianity consists of four letters: D-O-N-E.

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. John 19:30

This Independence Day Remember Your Greatest Freedom

As Americans, we look forward each year to celebrating Independence Day. It is a time to remember the freedoms our nation enjoys and to give thanks for those who sacrificed to secure them. Freedom is something we naturally treasure. Yet as wonderful as our national freedoms are, they remind us of an even greater freedom that every believer possesses through Jesus Christ.

The Biblical Resource Group is currently working on a new paper entitled Sanctification by Grace: How the Christian Life Flows from Our Position in Christ. Although the paper is still in progress, one of its central themes has been both refreshing and encouraging to study: the believer’s freedom from the Mosaic Law.

This truth is often misunderstood. Some assume that if Christians are no longer under the Law of Moses, then they are free to live however they please without experiencing any consequences. Others believe that spiritual growth requires placing believers back under the Old Testament Law as a rule of life. Scripture teaches neither of these positions.

The apostle Paul plainly declares, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). He also explains that believers have “become dead to the law through the body of Christ” (Rom. 7:4). These are remarkable statements. Through our union with Christ, we have been set free from the Law’s condemning authority and from its role as the governing rule of life for the Church.

This does not diminish the value of the Old Testament. God’s Law is holy, righteous, and good. It reveals God’s character, exposes our sinfulness, and points us to our need for a Savior. But the Law was never designed to produce sanctification. It can tell us what is right, but it cannot give us the power to do what is right.

That power comes through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Under grace, the Christian life is not driven by external regulations but by an internal transformation. We obey Christ not in order to gain God’s acceptance, but because we have already been accepted in Christ. As we walk by faith and depend upon God’s grace, the Spirit produces genuine holiness from the inside out.

As we celebrate Independence Day, we value the political freedoms we enjoy. But even greater is the spiritual freedom Christ has secured for us through His finished work on the cross. We have been delivered from condemnation, liberated from the Law as a means of sanctification, and invited to walk in the freedom of God’s grace.

On a personal note, I had a colonoscopy June 12^th. My doctor reported that my colon was clean and I had no polyps. PTL!

Blessings,

Bob

* * *

The Believer and the End of the Law

According to the New Testament, the Christian is “delivered from the law.” This is the central argument of Romans 7. Any failure to see and accept it leads inevitably to that moral and spiritual defect pictured so vividly later in the chapter. … The same book sums up the argument in one irrefutable statement, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth” (Rom. 10:4). The Greek arrangement of the words here puts the word “end” first in the sentence. This is where the emphasis must be put—the end of the law has come for all believers in Christ. God says “end.” Let there be no equivocation here. –Alva J. McClain