The true meaning of the cross is not always understood. Many Christians speak about the cross and preach the cross, while they live as enemies of the cross. What is the significance of the cross according to the Bible and what does the cross mean in the lives of Christians?
Many Christians have a relationship with Jesus and the Father their way
There are many Christians that believe in Jesus Christ and repented and are born again, but don’t want to have anything to do with the moral part of the law. They don’t want to keep all kinds of rules and consider them legalistic. And legalism is part of religion and not part of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
آنها نمی خواهند به آنها گفته شود که چه کاری انجام دهند, but they want to be free. They want to live in freedom and have a relationship with Jesus Christ and the Father their way.
در بسیاری موارد, the relationship looks more like a LAT relationship (Living Apart Together) than a marriage. چون بارها, Christians only spend time with God when they have a need or problems in their lives.
When they’ve a need or problems, they need God to show up and supply their needs and fix their problems. اما, the rest of the time, they live according to their own will, کاری را که می خواهند انجام دهند.
به هر حال, going back to the fact that many Christians say that the moral part of the law is not relevant anymore, how come, that they say they are redeemed from the law, در همین حال, they still live as carnal people to whom the law was intended. این به چه معناست?
The old carnal man keeps falling back into sin
The law of Moses was meant for the old carnal man, who lived in a sinful flesh from a fallen state and belonged to God’s chosen people by birth and the circumcision in the flesh. The sacrificial laws were meant for the old carnal man.
The sacrificial laws dealt with the (individual) sins and iniquities of the پیرمرد جسمانی, but not with the sinful nature of the old carnal man.
The blood of animals was not powerful enough to deal with the sinful nature of the old man. That’s because animals are not equal to man. The flesh of animals is different from the flesh of man (1 قرنتیان 15:39).
The blood of animals could only deal with the sinful deeds that derived from the sinful flesh.
بنابراین, the blood of animals could only make a temporary atonement for the sins of man. That’s why the sacrifices had to be done on a regular basis.
Despite the sacrifices and the blood of perfect animals, man remained the same.
The old man was still trapped in the sinful nature of the flesh and could not be delivered from it.
هر زمان, they had to confess their sins, توبه کردن and make reconciliation for their sins. Their sins were remitted and forgiven through the sacrifices and the blood of animals until they returned to their old habits and sinned again. This was an ongoing process.
The blood of animals flowed continuously, but the sinful nature of the flesh remained present in the generation of fallen man.
Jesus dealt with the sinful nature of fallen man
This process continued until Jesus came and dealt with the sinful nature of fallen man that produces sin and leads to death.
پس چون فرزندان در گوشت و خون شریک هستند, او نیز خود نیز به همین ترتیب بخشی از آن را گرفت; تا از طریق مرگ او را که قدرت مرگ داشت نابود کند, یعنی, شیطان; و آنانی را که از ترس مرگ در تمام عمر در بند بودند رهایی بخش (عبرانیان 2:14-15)
Jesus not only took the sins upon Him. He carried the sins and iniquities در His flesh and became the Substitute for fallen man. Jesus carried the punishment for sins, که مرگ است, و به طور قانونی وارد هادس شد (جهنم).
اما, the death was not strong enough to keep Jesus in Hades. بعد از سه روز, Jesus rose from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit with the keys of hell and death. Jesus conquered the power of death and had taken the dominion legally back from the devil.
Jesus released the righteous prisoners of death and gave the ability to everyone to be delivered from the power of death and hell و با خدا آشتی کن. (A.O. متیو 27:50-54; John 1:11-13; رومیان 5:10; 2 قرنتیان 5:18-20; افسسیان 4:10; کولوسیان 1:21-23).
و عیسی آمد و با آنها صحبت کرد, گفت, تمام قدرت در آسمان و زمین به من داده شده است. پس برو, و به همه ملتها بیاموزید, تعمید آنها به نام پدر, و از پسر, و از روح القدس: به آنها بیاموزید که همه آنچه را که به شما امر کرده ام رعایت کنند: و, اینجا, من همیشه با شما هستم, even unto the end of the earth
متیو 28:18-20
The new creation is delivered from the sinful flesh through regeneration
Only by faith in Jesus Christ and becoming born again, a person can be redeemed from the sinful flesh. از طریق غسل تعمید in Christ and the baptism with the Holy Spirit, the flesh of the old man dies and the spirit raises from the dead and the new man receives the Holy Spirit.
The new creation has left the old behind and receives a new life in the spirit. In the authority of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, the new man has the ability to become a son of God (هم نر و هم ماده) and walk as a son of God in obedience to God in righteousness.
The new man shall put away the carnal works of the old man, and do the will of the Spirit, whereby the new man shall come forth in the natural. (همچنین بخوانید: آیا می توانید زندگی قیامتی را بدون مردن زندگی کنید؟?)
The Holy Spirit has the same will as Jesus and the Father and confronts and reproves a person of sin. Then it’s up to the person to obey Him and put the sins away.
Because the person no longer belongs to the generation of fallen man and has no longer the devil as father.
The person belongs to the generation of the new man (خلقت جدید) that is created in Jesus Christ. The new creation is born of God and has God as Father.
The new creations are the sons of God and together they are the church; بدن عیسی مسیح.
در purpose of the church is to raise the saints in the Word of God and equip them. به طوری که, they know the will of God and become equal to Jesus Christ and walk as Jesus walked in obedience to the Father’s will, preaching and bringing the Kingdom of God to the people.
Persevere in sin through ignorance and a lack of knowledge
اما, the problem is that in many churches instead of sons of God, متکلمان, motivational speakers or self-promoters, who are still the old creation and have a form of godliness, are behind the pulpit and teach the believers.
They teach them from a carnal mindset and their own human wisdom, دانش, and philosophies instead of the mind of Christ and the truth of God’s Word.
In order to get an audience and attract people and be exalted, آنها چیزی را موعظه می کنند که مردم می خواهند بشنوند.
Through their sermons that revolve around the carnal man (گوشت), they ensure that the people become depended on them and that they stand above the believers.
By preaching carnal words and vain philosophies that derive from their carnal mind, instead of preaching the truth of God’s Word that derives from the mind of Christ, they keep the believers ignorant about the truth.
از طریق دروغ هایشان, they keep them in bondage, و این دقیقاً همان چیزی است که شیطان می خواهد.
از طریق عدم آگاهی از کلام خدا, Christians keep living in bondage of their flesh. They keep walking after the flesh and persevere in sin and cannot stop sinning.
On the one hand, they are told, که دیگر گناهی نیست. بنابراین, they can’t walk in sin. و از طرفی دیگر, they are told that they always remain a sinner. Therefore they will persevere in sin until the day that they’ll die. Because only through natural death, they will be delivered from their sinful flesh.
False doctrines are preached to keep Christians in bondage
But that is a big lie that derived from the carnal mind of people, که هنوز مخلوق قدیمی بودند. This false doctrine is based upon human philosophies and personal experiences. If this doctrine would be true, then why did Jesus come to this earth? Why did Jesus had to become our Substitute to deal for once and for all with the sin problem? And what happened on the day of پنطیکاست?
The people that came up with this false doctrine were unspiritual. They didn’t want to lay down their own carnal life. و به این ترتیب, they adjusted the gospel and truth of God to their own carnal experiences, یافته ها, شهوات, و خواسته.
و به دلیل این واقعیت, that they were appointed by the church because they had a diploma or Ph.D. and therefore obtained a certain status, the church adopted and applied this doctrine. To this day, this lie is still preached.
Christians are sidetracked
Due to this false doctrine, many Christians are sidetracked and many souls have been lost. While they could have been saved by preaching the right sermons according to the Bible (کلمه) و روح القدس.
Because of this lie, many Christians have the idea that when they توبه کردن و دوباره متولد شود (according to their theology), they are not only cleansed from their old sins, but also from their sins in which they persevere after they become born again. Because they can’t be redeemed from sin, but will always stay a sinner.
If the Bible says that Jesus came to redeem man and has redeemed man through His work at the cross, but the preacher or theologian says that man always remains a sinner, که حقیقت را می گوید?
What has Jesus done at the cross according to these theologians or preachers? What was the purpose of His coming and the meaning of His sacrifice?
با توجه به واقعیت, that many Christians are not truly born again and have no personal relationship with Jesus Christ; کلمه, but instead believe, trust and lean on the words of preachers and theologians. They believe the words of people above the words of God.
زیرا که با نافرمانی یک نفر بسیاری گناهکار شدند, پس با اطاعت یکی، بسیاری صالح خواهند شد
رومیان 5:19
The sins instead of the flesh nailed at the cross
Instead of crucifying their flesh, in which the sinful nature abides and that produces sin, they nail their sins at the cross. They don’t deal with the sin problem, for which Jesus came to this earth. عوض, they keep living in the lies, which are spread by the devil through the philosophies of carnal people.
اما حقیقت این است, that as long as the flesh of the old man doesn’t die, the person shall walk after the flesh and persevere in sin and shall keep doing the things that oppose the will of God.
تا زمانی که مردم در گناه استقامت کنند, they are not redeemed from sin, but are still a بنده گناه.
In some churches or at seminars there is even a wooden cross on the stage with pieces of paper, nails, and a hammer.
The visitors can write down their sins or problems on this piece of paper and nail it at the cross. But this is a carnal deed of emotion (گوشت) and has nothing to do with the Spirit.
Because when they go home, they continue their lives and fall back into the same sin. Just like the people of God in the Old Testament.
That’s why many Christian, who claim to be born again, and don’t want to have anything to do with the law, live the same way as the carnal people of God for whom the law was intended, یعنی: the carnal old man, who is trapped in the sinful flesh.
Instead of dealing with the sin problem, namely the cause of sin: گوشت گناهکار, they try to deal with their sins out of their flesh by using all kinds of natural means and methods
Jesus died because of the sin of the old man
Jesus didn’t die for your sins so that you can keep walking in sins. But Jesus died because of your sins that derive from the sinful nature of the flesh of the old man.
Jesus died for the old man, گناهکار. به طوری که, در او, پیرمرد (گوشت) می میرد و انسان جدید (روح) از مردگان زنده می شود.
Jesus not only dealt with the sins and iniquities of fallen man at the cross. But Jesus also dealt with the sinful nature of fallen man, که در گوشت وجود دارد. به همین دلیل است, زمانی که یک فرد, who is an old creation (یک گناهکار), becomes born again, دیگر گناهکار نیست.
در او نیز با ختنه بدون دست ختنه شده اید, در کنار گذاشتن بدن گناهان گوشت توسط ختنه مسیح: با او در غسل تعمید دفن شد, در آن شما نیز با ایمان به عمل خدا با او برخاسته اید, که او را از مردگان زنده کرد (کولوسیان 2:11-12)
The person has become a new creation: the righteousness of God in Christ. یک شخص, که به خلقت جدیدی تبدیل شده است, دیگر در گناه استقامت نخواهند کرد. چون اونها, who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with their affections and lusts. بنابراین, they shall not persevere in sin but shall do the works of righteousness.
What the law and the blood of animals couldn’t do, Jesus could! عیسی, کلمه زنده, came in the flesh and became the Substitute of the disobedient, rebellious old man, whose final destination is eternal death in the lake of fire.
They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts
گالاتیان 4:24
The true meaning and result of the cross in the lives of believers
روی صلیب, عیسی با طبیعت گناهکار برخورد کرد, که در گوشت وجود دارد. به طوری که, همه, who believes in Him and becomes born again, will be redeemed from the sinful nature of the flesh, which produces sin and death.
The believer shall no longer produce sin from the sinful flesh, but righteousness from the Spirit (A.O. رومیان 6-8; گالاتیان 5:16-26).
Do you want to get rid of the sins in your life? Then all you have to do is: go to the cause of sin. Go to the root of the sin problem, which is the flesh. As long as your flesh doesn’t die, your spirit cannot be raised.
نمک زمین باش’
