Page 11 - The MacArthur Daily Bible

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FIFTY-TWO KEY PASSAGES OF THE BIBLE
died for sinners, and He did it because of His love Week 20
toward us. A love we didn’t deserve produced a sacri-
fice we didn’t deserve. But that’s what grace does, and Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
I hope you’re overwhelmed with gratitude. Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begot-
ten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of
Week 18 Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorrupt-
ible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved
Knowing that you were not redeemed with corrupt- in heaven for you.—1 PETER 1:3,4, page 1192
ible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct
received by tradition from your fathers, but with the pre- Throughout the Old Testament, God has a num-
cious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and ber of names. In the New Testament, He is most
without spot.—1 PETER 1:18,19, page 1193 notably “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” He shares the same spiritual and eternal life,
Being redeemed is a tremendous concept. the same essential nature as Jesus Christ. He has
Redemption was a technical term for money paid to begotten us again to a living hope as we put our trust
buy back a prisoner of war. It has the idea of paying a in Jesus Christ. But everything that God has planned
ransom to set someone free. We needed to be for those who belong to Him is not yet ours. And so
redeemed from the useless, aimless life passed down we live in hope, a living hope of eternal life, because
by tradition from our fathers. We needed to be res- Christ rose from the dead. So we live by faith. We
cued from that because the way of the world is the
way of death and judgment. live today in the midst of God’s blessings being
poured out upon us, but there is a glorious reality yet
We are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. ahead of us.
He alone was the acceptable sacrifice to God who paid
the price for our sins. And He is pictured as a Lamb And then Peter adds that we have an inheritance
without blemish and without spot because throughout that is incorruptible—not subject to termination,
the Old Testament the whole sacrificial system of ani- undefiled. It’s not subject to any defect or tampering
mals being offered as sin offerings to God all looked or fading away. But, rather, it is reserved intact in all
forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who its fullness, all its purity, all its glory in heaven for us.
would be the final lamb. Which is why very soon after And so we not only enjoy what the Lord has done for
His death the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by the us now, but we have our hope fixed on the day when
Romans in 70 A.D., and with that destruction, the entire the inheritance becomes a reality when we enter
sacrificial system came to an end. To this day there has heaven.
never been a temple or a place for sacrifice, and none Week 21
is needed because Jesus was the final sacrifice.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuf-
Week 19 fering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, control. Against such there is no law.—GALATIANS 5:22,23,
that we might become the righteousness of God in page 972
Him.—2 CORINTHIANS 5:21, page 919 This scripture tells us that when the Holy Spirit is
The fifteen words in the original Greek in this in full control of your life, this is what you’re going to
verse express the doctrine of substitution like no be like. These nine characteristics are interlinked,
other single verse in the Bible. God made the only and the fruit produced is this package. It’s like a tree
person who knew no sin, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be that bears nine different kinds of fruit. If we are walk-
sin for us. Some people mistakenly think this means ing in the Spirit, there will be agape love, which is the
that Jesus became a sinner—that, on the cross, He love of the will. It’s not the love of emotion or physical
actually was punished because He was a sinner. The attraction or a family bond. It’s the love of willful self-
truth is that, on the cross, Jesus was as holy as He sacrifice. And there will be a deep-down satisfaction of
ever was in the eternity before or the eternity after. joy and an inner calm of peace that results from the
On the cross, God treated Jesus as if He had person- Spirit of God superintending everything. There will
ally committed every sin ever committed by every be the longsuffering or the patience to endure irrita-
person who would ever believe, though, in fact, He tion and difficulty, and a kindness or tender concern
committed none of them. God put the punishment for toward others. There will be goodness, moral and
our sins on the sinless Son. spiritual excellence. There will be faithfulness, loyalty,
and trustworthiness. And there will be gentleness or
The rest of the verse says that “we might become humility and self-control, the restraining of passions.
the righteousness of God in Him.” That’s the other
side of substitution. God treated Jesus as a sinner so Paul adds that “against such there is no law.” Even
that He could treat us as if we were righteous. He was if you had an external law, you couldn’t force some-
not a sinner, and we’re not righteous. That’s substitu- body to have this kind of character. You can’t use the
tion. He fulfilled all righteousness so that His sinless law to produce this. This fruit only flows up from with-
life could be credited to your account. Pretty amazing, in by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And so how
isn’t it? On the cross, God treats Jesus as if He lived grateful should we be for that wonder-working Spirit,
your life so that He can treat you as if you lived His and how eager should we be to manifest that fruit as
life. That is the heart of the gospel. we walk in obedience to His revealed Word!

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