Theological Accuracy
How important is it to be accurate when we speak about God and the Bible? This is a question I contemplated based on a social media post from a rather large ministry that many people I know follow. The post said this, “Contemplate today what God did to ensure eternal fellowship with us. He allowed His own Son to die that we might live.” This quote, on the surface, sounds good. It is always good to contemplate what God has done for us, and certainly one of the greatest things God has done for us is demonstrated at the cross of Jesus Christ. However, there is a word here that makes this entire quote theologically inaccurate and unbiblical. Did you catch it? Keep reading to see what the problem is.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (Legacy Standard Bible). The word “He” here is God the Father, and the word “Him” is Jesus Christ the Son. One could paraphrase and say that the Father made the Son who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf. At the cross, then, the Father treated Jesus as sin, as though He had lived the life of every sinner who would believe in Him. All the punishment that is deserved of every sinner who would put their hope and confidence in Christ, the Father poured out on the Son at the cross. This is what Paul is saying.
Isaiah also had something to say about the cross. “But Yahweh was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If You would place His soul as a guilt offering, He will see His seed, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in His hand” (Isaiah 53:10). Here, we see God crushed the Son, willingly, desiring to do so, putting the Son to grief. Jesus was offered as a guilt offering to God to bring many sons to glory.
At the cross, then, the Father treated Jesus as sin, as though He had lived the life of every sinner who would believe in Him
Jesus Himself testified of the cross saying to His disciples, “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I lay it down. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father” (John 10:17-18). Jesus’ testimony is that the Father is pleased that He lays down His life, and that it is a commandment to Him from the Father to do this. The entire ministry of Jesus on earth was about doing the Father’s will, and the cross was no different, as proven in what Jesus said in Luke 22:42, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from Me, yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Of course, the word that is in error in the original post I referred to is the word “allowed”. Allowed means to give someone permission but it implies no activity on the part of the one allowing other than restraint. If I am driving in two lanes of traffic going to one lane and I allow a car to come over in front of me, all I am doing is restraining myself from keeping them from doing it. They may or may not come over if I give them the room, that is their choice, but by leaving the space I am allowing them. This is not, however, a Biblical description of the Father’s role in the death of the Son.
And at the cross, the Father is not a bystander allowing Jesus to go through death, rather He is an active participant
And at the cross, the Father is not a bystander allowing Jesus to go through death, rather He is an active participant. He is the One actively crushing Jesus, dealing out the punishment, the wrath, the condemnation, the shame, for all the sin of every person who would ever believe in Jesus Christ. The Father ordained this to occur, planned it to occur, caused it to occur, carried it out, and is glorified in doing so. In fact, to say that the Father simply allowed this to happen is to rob the Father of His glory in our salvation. When we understand the Father’s love for the Son, then we can begin to understand the extent of the Father’s love for us in crushing His own Son for us. Without this, the grace of the Father is cheapened and diminished.
Some might wonder if this is worth making a big deal of or that maybe I am being too critical and even judgmental of this ministry. I take seriously the stricter judgment for teachers in James 3:1, therefore we should be less concerned with my criticism and judgment and rather fear God more. In fact, this is what it all comes down to. Is God worthy of taking the time to be accurate, careful, truthful, purposeful in what we communicate? Is His holiness not worthy of our attention to detail? Do we think so little of God’s revelation of Himself that we do not think we must be accurate in handling it? I do not believe we have an issue with people holding too high of standards when speaking about our God, I believe the greater issue is sloppiness and carelessness, leading to wrong views of who God truly is.
Our sole existence is God’s glory, we owe Him the effort, the time, the attention, and much more
Give God glory, be amazed at all He is. Learn about Him through His Word. He is worthy of that and worthy of being proclaimed accurately. Our sole existence is God’s glory, we owe Him the effort, the time, the attention, and much more. Let’s be committed to treating Him as holy by being careful and accurate with who He is.
