| The Christian Life | February 1941 |
A Covenant by Sacrifice
“Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”—Psalm 50:5
THE term sacrifice, as used in the Scriptures with reference to the Christian life, means the giving up of that to which one is justly entitled. To illustrate: one cannot properly be said to give up his sins as a sacrifice to the Lord, because he was never entitled by divine law to be a sinner. Mankind in general—all who have not become Christians through faith in Christ and full consecration to do the divine will—are under condemnation to death, hence have nothing to offer to the Lord in sacrifice. These are dying because they are sinners. But those who, through faith and in the spirit of full consecration, have accepted of the grace of God through Christ are no longer under condemnation, hence they have something to offer to the Lord in sacrifice, which they are assured is “holy and acceptable” to Him. That which they offer, moreover, is something to which they are justly entitled. These enter into a covenant with the Lord which is based upon their willingness to make this sacrifice.
A failure to apprehend this true significance of Christian sacrifice means that one doesn’t grasp the full meaning of what is implied in following in the footsteps of Jesus. Jesus did not die because He was a sinner, but because He gave up His life in sacrifice for sinners. He wasn’t compelled to do this, but in voluntary submission He was glad to carry out the divine will, which was for Him to die as man’s Redeemer. “I have power to lay it [His life] down, and I have power to take it again,” the Master said. (John 10:18) That is, Jesus had the right to lay down His life as a sacrifice, because He had been invited to do so by His Father; but He also had the right to decline the invitation, if He wished to do so.
The Christian’s sacrifice is also a voluntary one. He follows in the footsteps of Jesus, not as a sinner, but as one who has been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and by that blood has been justified freely from the condemnation to death that previously rested upon him. It is only from the point at which this justification takes place that a Christian can be said to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. However, by means of the merit of the blood of Christ the Christian IS able to actually walk in His steps of sacrifice, and for that reason he is said to be “planted together in the likeness of His death.”—Rom. 6:5
WHY CHRISTIANS DIE
In the foregoing brief outline of what is Scripturally implied in the Christian life of sacrifice and suffering unto death, is to be found the answer as to why Christians die at all. The Scriptures teach that man was created to live upon the earth, and he would have lived everlastingly had he not sinned. But man did sin and the whole world was brought under condemnation to death, for “the wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23) It was to save the world from death that Jesus laid down His life in sacrifice as the Redeemer.
Jesus did not die in order to divert the dying world from a road that allegedly leads to a place of torment to one that leads to heaven. If He had, it would of course, be logical to expect that those who accept Him and endeavor to serve Him would still go into death; the real difference in their experience from that of others taking place after death, when they would be taken to heaven instead of being consigned to hell. It is because nominal churchianity holds this view that it is impossible for them to comprehend with any degree of clarity what it means to be a Christian. The clearest comprehension such can attain is that to be a Christian means merely to be morally upright and devoted to a righteous cause.
According to this limited view the sufferings and trials of life are permitted in order to purify the soul and thus prepare it for heaven. The usual thought is that to the extent one is successful in being a good living Christian, he can get through life without trials. Thus material blessings of health and prosperity are often erroneously viewed as evidences of God’s special favor. This nominal view of the Christian life harmonizes with the false theory of death and heaven, but is very much out of harmony with the plan of God relating to redemption from sin and death, as that plan is outlined in the Bible.
“The wages of sin is death,” says Paul, and this means the loss of earthly life. “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” he continues, and this also means earthly life—that is, the great boon of continuous life here on the earth as a perfect human being. (Rom. 6:23) Yes, Jesus purchased earthly life for the human race, not spiritual life, and by every process of logic this should mean that when a sinner repents, accepts Christ, and dedicates himself to the doing of the divine will, he should not die. It means that he should begin to renew his youth and in every way have evidence that he is no longer on the way to death.
Why, then, is this not so? Why is it that every consecrated Christian since Pentecost has died seemingly just as though he hadn’t accepted Christ at all? The only answer is the Scriptural answer, the answer that is revealed in the divine plan for Christians to be co-sacrificers with Christ; to lay down their lives with Him, to be “planted together in the likeness of His death.” They, like Jesus, enter into a covenant with the Heavenly Father which is based upon sacrifice. That is, they covenant to give up something to which they are justly entitled.
They have nothing of their own which would be acceptable to God as a sacrifice; nothing but what is condemned to death and dying. But consecrated Christians do possess something of value, something which is imputed to them and which they receive by faith; and that is the life that was purchased for them by the blood of Christ. This, in God’s sight makes them just, and perfect, hence, “holy and acceptable” to Him as a sacrifice. The divine will for such is that they shall die in the likeness of Jesus’ death. Hence, while by faith they receive the life purchased for them by Jesus, the reason, from the divine standpoint, that they do not cease to die is that the condition upon which this life is imputed to them is that they shall give it up in sacrifice.
DEATH BY CONDEMNATION—DEATH BY SACRIFICE
In the 5th and 6th chapters of Romans the apostle contrasts the death which is the “wages of sin,” and the sacrificial death experienced by Jesus, and shared by His followers. He shows that there is a difference between dying as a condemned sinner, and dying “unto sin”—that is as an offering for sin in order that sin might be destroyed. He shows the difference between sin destroying one in death, and the great “body of sin” in the world itself being finally destroyed by Jesus and the church being planted together in a sacrificial death as a part of the divine program of reconciliation.
Analyzing Paul’s argument in Romans 6:1-13 we find it to be this: that it would be inconsistent for anyone who is dying as a sin-offering as a part of the divine program by which sin is to he destroyed, to, himself, carelessly let sin reign in his own body. Such a course would be like fraternizing with the enemy. The apostle makes it clear that Christians die “unto sin” in exactly the same manner as Jesus died “unto sin.” Jesus died “unto sin,” not because He was a sinner but because he was sacrificed for sin. “Likewise,” that is, in the same manner, Paul adds, “reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin.”
We are helped to grasp this staggering thought with less difficulty when we consider Paul’s use of the word “reckon.” “Reckon” that you are dying unto sin, the apostle says. By this he is reminding us that we really have nothing of ourselves to offer unto God that would be acceptable to Him as an offering because by nature we are sinners, even as the rest of the world. But we are here given the authority to “reckon” our sacrifice as being “unto sin” because of the assurance that through Christ it is actually acceptable.
Further confirmation of the sacrificial nature of the Christian’s death is found in the expression “For he that is dead is freed from sin.” This is not the death that is the “wages of sin,” for one who is thus dead is the absolute captive of sin. No, Paul is re-emphasizing that those who are planted together in the likeness of Christ’s death, hence are dead “unto sin,” are not dead in the sense of being under condemnation to death, but dead sacrificially.
A somewhat similar statement to this is that of Romans 8:10, which says, “If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin.” This is not death because of condemnation. If it were it would read, “If Adam be in you, the body is dead because of sin.” From the standpoint of the Adamic death, the body is dead if Christ is not in us. In verse one of this chapter the apostle assures us that there is “no condemnation” to those who are in Christ Jesus. Hence, to be “dead because of sin” on account of Christ being in us, means, unquestionably, that we are dead as a sin-offering. It means, in other words, that our body is dead because we have presented it as a “living sacrifice,” even as we are admonished to do in Romans 12:1. We can present our bodies a “living sacrifice,” because we are authorized to reckon them as being freed from condemnation, and acceptable as a sacrifice “unto sin”—a sin-offering.
CRUCIFIED WITH HIM
In Romans 6:6 the apostle further refers to the thought of the Christian’s sacrificial death, saying, “Know this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed.” Jesus’ crucifixion was not to destroy His own body of sin, for His body was not sinful. It follows, therefore, that if we are crucified with Him to destroy a body of sin, it must be that our crucifixion is our sacrificial death “unto sin,” or as a sin-offering, in order that the great body of sin itself, together with all of its awful effects in the world, might be destroyed.
The term crucifixion always symbolizes death, but not necessarily sacrificial death. Crucifixion itself, as a matter of fact, denotes the death of a criminal, a death under condemnation. But just as the apostle shows that there is a death of condemnation and also a sacrificial death, so we may, from one standpoint, be crucified with Christ, sacrificially, and, from another standpoint, crucify the lusts of our own flesh, as is indicated in Galatians 5:24.
It is interesting to note further these two viewpoints of how the Christian dies, as Paul mentions them in the 8th chapter of Romans. In verse 13 he says, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die [under condemnation]: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Paul explains that if through the spirit we do live, it means that “He who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [make alive] your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Verse 11) It is because this mortal body, freed from sin through the blood of Christ, is thus quickened (made alive) by the Spirit that we can present it as a “living” sacrifice. (Rom. 12:1) Presenting it as a living sacrifice, and, upon this basis, coming into Christ, and Christ, through His spirit, coining into us, the body again becomes dead, not by being condemned, but sacrificially “because of sin.”—Rom. 8:10
LIKE SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER
Jesus’ sacrificial death was foretold by the Holy Spirit, through the prophet saying that He was “led as a lamb to the slaughter.” (Isa. 53:7; Acts 8:32) In Romans 8:36, Paul tells us that our sacrificial death was also foretold in the Old Testament. He says, “As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” It should he remembered that sheep are slaughtered with the thought that thereby benefit shall come to others—they are not slaughtered because they are a menace, as is the case with wild animals.
Note this thought in the words of Paul as recorded in II Corinthians 4:10-12. We quote: “Always bearing about in the body [justified through the blood of Christ] the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” Observe from these inspired words the fact that life is said to come to others through the death that came to Paul. Thus is expressed the great principle which is operating to free all mankind from sin and death.
THE RANSOM AND THE SIN-OFFERING
Before proceeding to examine further Scriptures outlining the significance of the “covenant by sacrifice” entered into with God by the saints of this Gospel age, it is well that we notice the Scriptural use of the terms “ransom” and “sin-offering.” Traditional philosophy caused the Jews to howl Jesus down as a blasphemer because He claimed to be the Son of God. For the same reason there may be a tendency to thoughtlessly conclude that it now borders on blasphemy to claim that any sacrifice except that of Jesus could, in any way, be related to God’s great purpose of reconciling a lost world.
The term “ransom” as used in the New Testament means a corresponding price, and is applied exclusively to the redemptive work of Jesus, who, in His death as a perfect human being, took the place in death of Adam the sinner, and made provision for his release from death as well as the release of all who died in him. Nothing but the perfect humanity of Jesus could be accepted in this substitutionary arrangement demanded by divine justice; and nothing needs to be added to it to effect a release from Adamic death for all who die in him. This offering up of Jesus’ perfect humanity was made necessary on account of sin, hence it is properly called a sin-offering. While the ransom is a sin-offering, a sin-offering is not always a ransom. Even animals were used as sin-offerings, but no animal could be a corresponding price for the sin of Adam.
Turning back to the Old Testament we find that the term ransom is there used in more than one way. In Psalms 49:7 we are told that no one can redeem his brother “nor give to God a ransom for him.” Yet in Proverbs 21:18 we are informed that “The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous.” In both of these texts the term ransom is a translation of a Hebrew word which means “covering.” It doesn’t convey the thought of a corresponding price. One Scripturally recorded example of how the wicked may be a ransom, or covering, for the righteous are the words of Jesus explaining that all the righteous blood shed from Abel down to the end of the Jewish age, would be required of that generation of Jews that rejected and crucified Him.
Here, according to Jesus’ words, was a certain atonement for sin that was not included in His own ransom for Adam. This righteous blood that was shed in the persecution of the prophets could not be directly charged against Adam, hence was not covered in the atonement made for Adam. Because of this, the divine economy provided another “covering” for it. A similar divine viewpoint, no doubt, applies to the great time of trouble with which the present age is ending.
In Proverbs 13:8 we read that “the ransom of a man’s life are his riches.” Here again the Hebrew word meaning “covering” is used. The thought is that a man who has riches considers that by them he is protected, “covered.” David recognized that while this might be partially true, yet that none of those who thus boast in their wealth “can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom [covering] for him.”
The thought here is, as the context shows, that while a rich man may purchase a measure of protection against dangers and hazards common in life’s experiences of fallen and imperfect men, yet he cannot provide a covering that will protect his brother from the penalty of death being inflicted by God against all of Adam’s children, No ransom, or covering, that man can provide, will assure everlasting life, the prophet shows, “but,” he concludes, “God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave.” (Psa. 49:6-15) God is said to redeem men from death for the reason that He is the one that provided the only redemption that was acceptable for the purpose, namely, His own beloved Son.
In Hosea 13:14, the prophet states that God would ransom the people from the power of the grave. Here a Hebrew word meaning “release” is used. God will release mankind from death because He accepts the corresponding price provided in the death of Jesus as a covering or protection against the further infliction of the death penalty entered against mankind in Eden.
FORGIVENESS AND RECOVERY
Apart from the great sin-offering of the ransom no reconciliation between God and fallen man could be possible. From this standpoint it is certainly true that Jesus “died and paid it all.” But we have already seen that the fact of Jesus’ death does not, in itself, complete the work of reconciliation. The ransom, for example, did not cover the sin represented in the persecution of the ancient worthies. Nor does the ransom provide unconditional pardon and reconciliation for any sinner. The ransom provides the complete basis for reconciliation, but the manner in which the benefits of the ransom reach fallen man, is another matter.
John 3:16 declares that “God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.” Here are outlined two phases of the divine program for reconciling the sinful world to God. First is the gift, the ransom itself; and the second is the manner in which the merit of that gift becomes available to the sinner. Jesus alone is the Redeemer, but the church shares with Him in effecting the reconciliation made possible by the ransom. That is to say, the church co-operates in the divine method by which the merit of the ransom becomes available to the individual sinner.
Brother Russell, summarizing his thought on this vital subject, explained that the church’s share in the sin-offering has to do with the manner in which the merit of the ransom reaches the world. This is correct, and because it has to do with the work of releasing sinners from the result of their sin, the church’s sacrificial offering is properly and Scripturally styled a sin-offering—a death “unto sin.” It is not a corresponding price for sin, but it is the divine provision whereby the merit of the ransom becomes effective on behalf of the sinner.
The ransom is effective to assure reconciliation upon the basis of “whosoever believeth on Him.” But the apostle raises the question, “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom. 10:14) The obvious import of these statements is that the ransom would be ineffective apart from the ministry of reconciliation given to the church. Jesus explains the matter further, saying “As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” (John 17:18) Jesus prays that His church may be one with Him and with the Father in order “that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.”—John 17:21
God sent Jesus in order that “whosoever believeth on Him might not perish.” Jesus sends His church, as the Father had sent Him, in order that through their work of sacrifice the world may have an opportunity to believe on Him and accept the gift of life provided through the ransom. Herein is a wondrous partnership in the divine program whereby a lost world is reconciled to God. This partnership is based upon the willingness of both Jesus and His church to offer themselves in sacrifice even unto death. Thus they become planted together in the same kind of a death, a sacrificial death, the purpose of which is to provide and bring to the world salvation from sin. Thus it is a great sin-offering, made up of two parts; one the ransom, the other the divine method of making available the merit of the ransom.
Paul further confirms this in II Corinthians 5:14-21. Here he explains that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, and that He has committed unto the church the “ministry of reconciliation.” Thus it is that we are “ambassadors for Christ”; that is, we represent Him in effecting reconciliation. Paul explains how the matter operates, saying, “we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” It should be well noted from all this that not a hint is made to indicate that the church provides the means of reconciliation; but as representatives of Christ, they become the channel of reconciliation. Thus they work together with God.
WE LAY DOWN OUR LIVES
When we say that the merit of the ransom reaches the world through the church it does not imply some sort of vague, hard-to-explain philosophy. The method by which it is accomplished is simple, understandable and practical. First, and as the Scriptures clearly teach, when Jesus was raised from the dead and returned to the heavenly courts, “He appeared in the presence of God for us.” There undoubtedly took place what had been typically foreshadowed by the sprinkling of the blood of the bullock on the Mercy Seat in the Most Holy on the typical day of atonement.
The Scriptures also clearly teach that Jesus’ blood is meritorious for the sins, not only of the church, “but also for the sins of the whole world.” (I John 2:2) It is significant, however, that when Jesus first returned to the heavenly courts He appeared in the presence of God merely for “us,” His followers. Why? Certainly not because He did not die for all mankind! No, rather this was a part of the arrangement by which the merit of the ransom was to reach the world.
First, this merit makes possible the justification of the church. It is the divine purpose for the church to share with Jesus in the work of restoring the world of mankind to life, but in order to do this, she must be prepared. To be prepared for this future work God must deal with her. In order for God to deal with the church a robe of righteousness is provided through the merit of the ransom—righteousness is imputed unto her. Not only does this mean that God looks upon the church as perfect, but it also means that the hope of restitution life provided by the ransom is hers to offer in acceptable sacrifice to God.
The hope of future glory and partnership with Christ in the work of restoring the dead world to life is dependent upon first of all laying down one’s life in sacrifice just as Jesus did. This work of sacrifice has a practical purpose. It is not an aimless self-abnegation, but a sacrifice which is meritorious for the blessing of others. It is a further carrying out and exemplification of the great principle of love which prompted the Father to send His Son to be man’s Redeemer, and moved Jesus to lay down His life for both the church and the world.
Jesus explains how the matter works out by admonishing us to lay down our lives for the brethren. Here in plain words is the proof that the laying down of Jesus’ life was not all the sacrifice involved in the divine arrangement whereby the world is finally to be restored to life. It is this that Paul speaks of when he explained that he was helping to fill up that which was behind of the afflictions of Christ, “for His body’s sake.”—Col. 1:24
Each individual member of the church lays down his life for the church as a whole, and thus each one participates in the work whereby the entire company is prepared to bless the world in the future. Thus it is that we not only lay down our lives for the brethren, but we are also “baptized for the dead.” (I Cor. 15:29) Jesus’ death baptism was also for the dead world—dead because of sin—and we are baptized into His death, hence baptized for the dead world—dead because of sin. The laying down of life is the same in both cases, the difference being merely in what is thereby accomplished. Jesus’ death accomplishes the payment of the penalty; while the church dies in order that through her the purchased race might be restored to life.
Jesus assured His disciples that those who were willing would indeed drink of His cup and be baptized with His baptism. Just before He was crucified He offered a symbolic cup to His disciples, saying, “This is My blood.” He also offered them bread, saying, “This is My body.” Previously He had explained that unless one ate His flesh and drank His blood he could have no life in him. (John 6:53) The disciples found this hard to understand, so the Master explained, “What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before?”—evidently a prophecy of His return to heaven where He would appear in the presence of God with the merit of His sacrificed life. Then He further explains, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.”—John 6:61-63
Here Jesus is explaining that He does not mean that they should eat His literal flesh, for that would profit them nothing. “It is the spirit that quickeneth,” or giveth life, and “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” Here we are reminded of the prophecy quoted by Jesus, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4) These expressions teach that fundamentally life depends upon obedience to the will of God. But even heart-obedience to this will cannot give life to the condemned sinner. First of all, Jesus had to appear in the presence of God for us, there presenting upon the anti-typical Mercy Seat the merit of His sacrificial death. Then, through obedience to His words in connection with this arrangement, we appropriate this merit to ourselves and thereby are “quickened,” or made alive.
But, this quickening is for a purpose, and that purpose is that we lay down our lives also in sacrifice. This is not the age for merely seeking life. When Peter tried to dissuade Jesus from going up to Jerusalem lest He be killed, Jesus explained, “for whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake and the Gospel’s, the same shall save it.” (Matt. 16:25; Mark 8:35) Here are some of the “words” of the Master through obedience to which we are “quickened.” They reveal that the only condition upon which we may appropriate to ourselves the shed blood and broken body of the Master is that we lay down our lives for Him and for the Gospel. We are to become broken with Him. Thus Paul explains that the cup and loaf represent the communion, or partnership we enjoy in the shed blood and broken body of our Lord.
OUR COVENANT OF SACRIFICE
How true it is then, as our text indicates, that our covenant with the Lord is one involving sacrifice. It is this covenant of sacrifice which leads to death that makes it possible to establish the New Covenant by and through which the world may obtain life. Our sacrifices are made, in the first instance, on behalf of each other as we endeavor to build up one another in our most holy faith. As members of the prospective “bride,” we make ourselves ready to be united with Him in marriage, in order that, in due time, as the “bride,” we can say to the dead world, “Come, and partake of the water of life freely.”—Rev. 22:17
Through the church, therefore, the testimony of the ransom will, in “due time,” reach the world. Thus through the church the world will have an opportunity to believe; and whosoever believeth will not perish but have everlasting life. The method by which the church reaches the position where she can thus administer the blessings of the ransom to the world is through the sacrificial work of this age. Thereby she prepares herself to be “kings and priests unto God.” This work of sacrifice is made acceptable by the merit of the ransom; and thus it is that this merit reaches the world in the form of restitution blessings, through the church.
Obviously this doesn’t add anything to the ransom. It isn’t necessary that anything be added. But the sacrificial offering of the church is one which, by virtue of the divine arrangement, is necessary as a part of the program whereby the sinful and dying world is freed from sin and restored to life. Hence we are warranted, because divinely authorized, to “reckon” ourselves as dying “unto sin”—or as a sin-offering.
Next month, the Lord willing, we will consider New Testament Scriptures which directly or indirectly associate the sacrificial work of the church with the types and prophecies of the Old Testament which proclaimed in advance the “sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.” The article will be entitled, “Ministers of Reconciliation.”