“Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—and all the brothers with me, To the churches in Galatia: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Gal 1:1-4, NIV)
The letter to the Galatians, penned by Paul sometime in the late A.D. 40’s, is both informative and inspirational. It contains both doctrinal words and practical ones. The first statement of the epistle reminds us that Paul was chosen and commissioned by Christ Himself and not by any man or group of men. Paul will develop that point later in the chapter, but he starts with an affirmation concerning Jesus and the nature of His redemptive work, found in verse 4: “[Christ] gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” (NIV)
This is the gospel in abbreviated form, and from the statement we see several aspects of Christ’s work of justification. First of all, Paul writes that Christ gave Himself. That is significant indeed. We have no problems whatsoever thinking in terms of God the Father giving Christ the Son to be our Savior. One reason for this is because of the Bible’s most famous verse, which states that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16, NKJV) Here the emphasis is on the Father’s role as giver.
We know that the Father is the giver of all good gifts. James 1:17 says that “every good and every perfect gift is from above” and comes to us from “the Father of lights.” Every blessing that we have is a gift from God from the air that we breathe to the automobile that we drive. But even though God is the giver of all good gifts, and we should thank Him for every blessing in our lives, the greatest gift He ever gave was His Son. Many verses bear this out. “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (I Jn. 4:9-10, NKJV) “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:32, NKJV)
This, by the way, is how the grace and peace of Galatians 1:3 come to us. The love of God the Father that gave His Son to be the sacrifice for our sins is the cause for peace in our lives. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (Lk. 2:14, NIV) “For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Rom 5:10-11, NIV)
Peace comes from being reconciled to God and it was God who reconciled us. We were His enemies, but He made peace with us by His grace. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (Rom. 5:1-2, NIV) “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” (Eph. 2:14-16, NIV)
The Father has reconciled us and made us one with Christ. But this is not the primary point Paul makes in Galatians chapter one. We are familiar with the concept of the Father giving the Son, but what about the concept of the Son giving Himself? “Who gave Himself for our sins...” (Gal. 1:4) This is a biblical thought as well as the other.
We know that Christ came into the world to be the atoning sacrifice for sins. He was, in the ultimate sense, born to die. “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matt 20:28, NIV) We should understand that just as the Scriptures teach that the Father gave the Son to die, the Scriptures also teach that Christ voluntarily gave His life. No one forced Him to die—He chose to do so.
He had a choice right up until the time of His death. “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18, NIV) “With that, one of Jesus' companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:51-53, NIV)
Christ willingly gave His life for our sins, and so the Scriptures affirm time and again that Christ “gave Himself.” “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11, NIV) “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20, NIV) So the sacrifice of Christ on the cross was a voluntary sacrifice, offered to rescue us and to change us. Several other New Testament Scriptures bear out the fact that Christ’s voluntary giving of Himself had a wonderful purpose behind it.
He gave Himself, of course, to atone for our sins. Sin had to be paid for with blood, and Christ gave Himself for that purpose. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.” (1 Tim. 2:5-6, NIV). At least twice we are told, in Matthew 20:28 and 1 Timothy 2:6, that Christ “gave Himself” as a ransom. The concept of “ransom” or “redemption” has to do with deliverance by payment of a price. We understand the concept of someone being held captive and a ransom being paid to free them. Similarly, Christ gave His blood as a ransom to rescue us. We were held captive by Satan and by sin and the only thing that would pay the ransom was the most precious thing in the world. We were bought with something that is worth more than all the silver or gold in the world—the blood of Jesus (1 Pet. 1:18-19; Eph. 1:7)
It is as though Jesus asked a question about how much it would take to redeem us. The answer was, “Your blood.” And that is what He was willing to pay. In other words, He was willing to give anything to get us back. That is what Jesus has said by His actions: “You are worth more to me than anything. I will give anything to have you with me.” Jesus voluntary sacrifice at Calvary says, “I would rather die than live without you.” What love!
As we contemplate the sacrifice of Jesus, we should also contemplate the ramifications of it, for there is a here-and-now purpose behind it as well as an eternal purpose. He gave Himself, in other words, not just to get us to heaven, although that was the ultimate purpose, but also to change us here-and-now. “While we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:13-14, NIV).
Notice that Paul says Jesus “gave Himself for us” not only to redeem us from all wickedness, but also to purify us now. He died to make us zealous to do what is good. The highest motivation for holy living is a continual remembrance of the greatness of Jesus’ sacrifice. If we believe that we have been bought with the most valuable, most precious thing in the world, then we will behave accordingly. And if we will remember to whom we belong, and what it cost Him to purchase us, then that will be a strong deterrent to our going back to sin.
When Paul was trying to get some of the Corinthians to refrain from sexual misconduct, He reminded them that they were not their own anymore. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Cor. 6:19-20, NIV) All believers are bought with a price. We therefore do not own ourselves anymore. Our minds, souls, and bodies belong to Him. Again, Paul tells us Titus in 2:14 that He gave Himself, to “purify for Himself” His own special people. We have been bought with the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28).
There is another point we should consider about this matter, and this is very important. We know that Christ gave Himself to save us from sin, and we have observed that He gave Himself so we would belong to Him in the world and live godly lives—and this is why an emphasis on His grace does not in any way deter from holy living. The grace of God leads to holy living and gives the power to do it. But now let us see what that godly life is all about.
“And live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Eph 5:2, NIV) Here Paul says that an acknowledgement of Christ’s love in giving Himself for us should and will lead us to live a life of love. This is so simple yet so profound. How can those who know that love motivated Christ to give Himself for them not turn around and extend His love to others?
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” (I Jn. 3:16, NIV) So the ultimate test of whether or not we really appreciate the fact that, as Paul says in Galatians 1:4, “He gave Himself for our sins,” is whether or not we love the people of God. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34, NIV) “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:12-14, NIV). “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (I Jn. 4:11, NIV). “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” (I Jn. 4:20, NIV).
These are just some of things the fact that He “gave Himself for our sins” should remind us of and teach us.
Bryan Dunaway
Grace and Peace Ministries
www.gandpministries.org |