Man's greatest need is redemption from sin. To deny this fact is to question the wisdom of God, disregard his love, reject his mercy, and rebel against his authority. In the redemption of man we have manifested the highest wisdom, the deepest love, and the greatest power known to earth or heaven. We not only have these supreme attributes exhibited, but we have the most sublime revelation of them. What love is like God's love for sinful man? What mercy is like that which is offered the guilty? What wisdom is so high as that which finds in Jesus man's eternal needs? And what power is so great as that by which the ungodly is made just? The fact that in redemption is displayed the supreme effort of the ages is proof that redemption is a real need.
And need must here be understood in the light of the meaning of redemption. The redemption here contemplated is not salvation from the curse of hunger, thirst, cold, sickness, pain, or even physical death. Man has needs more real than those that pertain to time and flesh. But redemption here means salvation from spiritual death. This is the death indeed! It is eternal!
Man, therefore, stands in need of a Redeemer as he does nothing else. So great and so real is this need that only God can fully comprehend it. This accounts not only for the supreme sacrifice on God's part to save man, but for man's neglect of "so great a salvation."
Since, then, redemption is a necessity, Christianity cannot be an imposition. Its mission is not to curse, but to bless; not to enslave, but to free; not to rob man of pleasures, but to give him joy for evermore. And thus man should consider it.
For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world but that the world should be saved through him. (John 3:17.)
Confirming the words of Isaiah and repeating them, Paul writes:
Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. (1 Cor. 2:9.)
Peter, who had "tasted that the Lord is gracious," called upon his brethren to "rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory."
Isaiah predicted at length the wonderful blessings of Christ and Christianity:
The wilderness and the dry land shall he glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water: in the habitation of jackals, where they lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for the redeemed: the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon; they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: and the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isa. 35.)
Thousands of saints down through the ages have testified to the blessings of Christianity. They are happiest who "seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life." Only those who know not God think they can prosper without him and his Son. The most progressive and enlightened people of earth are those who have been most influenced by Christianity. Let the tree be judged by its fruits. What of righteousness, peace, love? These are not figs gathered from thistles. The greatest curse that could be visited upon mankind would be to rob him of Christianity, as the greatest boon would be to influence him more by it.
But what is the basis of man's need of redemption? Why does he need Christ and Christianity? It is folly to attempt to evade the correct answer. One might as well be frank and honest. Man needs redemption, salvation, because he is a sinner against God and justly under condemnation. This answer is not complimentary to man, it is admitted; but it states the truth, and this is the object of our search.
Modernism tries to prove that sin is not real, and, therefore, denies the need of salvation such as the Bible contemplates. But the fact of sin remains one of the sternest facts of the ages. The mountains that lift their majestic heads above the rest of the world are no more real than sin. Proofs of the reality of sin face one on every hand. Effects are not to be found apart from causes. Whence come the miseries of mankind? Come they from what is good? "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit." If sin is not real, the miseries of man are not real, and only a fool can believe that. If sin is not real, there is no difference between good and evil.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isa. 5:20.)
The doctrine of the unreality of sin rules God out of existence. God can no more be the source of evil than the devil can be the origin of good. I say God is ruled out. This, or he is made a devil or the devil a God; for if there is no difference between good and evil, there can be no difference in their sources. Things will be left in better shape if one frankly admits the reality of sin.
When one has sinned, what has happened? And what condition of soul accompanies the transgression? What is the source of sin? Sin is no accident. It is the natural consequence of a definite soul state. In the sinning soul is to be found traces of Satan.
He that doeth sin is of the devil. (1 John 3:8.)
In the sinning soul is to be found no trace of God.
Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him. (1 John 3:6.)
Sin, therefore, is the manifestation of the presence of Satan as it is proof of the absence of God. Subjectively, then, sin means enmity against God and agreement with Satan. It is rebellion against God and submission to Satan.
The mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. (Rom. 8:7.)
Sin is ungodliness and the sinner ungodly. This is true because the laws of God have as their basis the character of God. "Sin is lawlessness," says John--lawlessness with respect to God. Sin is more than simply doing what God says not do, or failure to do what he commands. It is opposition to God himself. It is enmity and rebellion. To sin is to offend God personally, because his laws reflect his character. To sin is to join hands with Satan, to be like him, to be of him.
And herein lies the enormity of sin. And herein also is to be found the cause of God's attitude toward sin. God must hate sin, because it is essentially antagonistic to him. Sin is not simply a passive disregard of God, but an active opposition to him. God must regard sin as he regards the devil, for sin is of the devil. And, too, here is to be found the reason for God's disapproval of the sinner. Sin and the sinner cannot be divorced. Sin results in guilt. Just as God's wrath is against sin, so is his wrath upon the sinner. And here is spiritual death--the state of the soul separated from God and joined to Satan.
Here let it be remembered that sin is unnatural. Man was not made for the devil and sin, but for God and righteousness. This is why sin curses and never blesses man. This is why sin results in a sense of guilt. The soul of the sinner is in a state of chaos. The conscience, the compass of the soul, is not pointing Godward. Hence, the sinner is not "at rest." Nor can he be truly happy apart from God. Hell is hell because God is not present. The wicked shall
suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might. (2 Thess. 1:9.)
And heaven is heaven because of the presence of God and because the souls of the redeemed are reconciled to God.
And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more. (Rev. 21:3, 4.)
In thy presence is fullness of joy. (Ps. 16:11.).
Thus, then, can be seen the need of redemption. In the first place, man cannot rid himself of the source of sin. Human effort is too weak to crucify the "old man," or to put to death the "law of sin" which is in our members. Teaching, prohibitions, exhortations, or warnings cannot avail. The law instructed man and furnished prohibitions, exhortations, and warnings a plenty. But all these left him a miserable slave, under the bondage of sin, crying for a Savior.
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? (Rom. 1:22-24.)
But when Christ came, man was taken from under an administration of law and placed under grace. And grace provides for the destruction of this "law of sin," a work impossible for law.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace. (Rom. 6:14.)
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. (Rom. 8:1, 2.)
This "law of sin and death" is not the law of Moses, but the "law of sin" previously mentioned in Rom. 7:23. This law is in man, and the source of evil. The law of Moses made no provision for freedom from this source of sin. So "what the law could not do" God does through Christ. Thus man can exchange the "law of sin" for the "law of the Spirit." This latter law is not a law given through the Spirit, just as the former is not a law given by sin. The "law of the Spirit" is the exact opposite of the "law of sin." But we shall have more on this point later.
Every responsible person on the earth needs redemption.
For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23.)
And this redemption must come through Christ. He is man's only Savior. Other religious leaders, instead of being able to save others, need themselves to be saved through Christ.
Before the cross, men were divided into two classes religiously--Jews and Gentiles. Let us note here the Gentile need of Christ.
And it is easy to see the Gentile need of Christ. Read Rom. 1:18-32 for Paul's discussion of the matter. In the first place, the Gentiles had forgotten God and drifted into idolatry. Paul argues that the revelation of God through nature rendered the Gentiles inexcusable.
For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being seen through the things that are made, even his everlasting Power and divinity; that they may be without excuse: because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thank; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. (Rom. 1:20-23.)
By way of diversion, let me ask those who vainly imagine that Christianity has evolved from lower forms of religion to note how Paul contradicts their hypothesis. According to Paul, idolatry is the direct result of forgetting God. This is also according to reason. But the evolution of man and the evolution of religion stand or fall together. If man evolved from lower forms of animal life, it is easy to see how his religion also evolved. Indeed, man's evolution would necessitate an evolved religion in keeping with his ability to comprehend it and in keeping with his changing needs. But there is one fact that forbids the possibility of the evolution of religion--namely, the carnality of man. Man is "carnal, sold under sin." He is a helpless victim of the "law of sin" which is in his members. This law constantly and inevitably pulls man downward. Instead of creating a religion such as Christianity, demanding holiness, man's greatest failure now, as it has ever been, is to live up to its standards. Man is even now unfit for Christianity until he is "born from above," until the crucifixion of the "law of sin." And even when once redeemed he is in constant danger of apostasy from God. The history of the church down through the ages, as well as the personal experience of every child of God, proves this is true. Man is a fallen creature in spite of all his efforts to disprove it. And every effort of the present day to appear superior to Christianity is plainly an example of apostasy from God. The lives of the religious evolutionists prove the statement true.
In the second place, Paul argues that the Gentiles needed Christ because of their depravity. Rejection of revealed religion always results in, if it is not the cause of, moral corruption. So deep in sin did the Gentiles sink that God "gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness." This moral degradation Paul associates with their idolatry.
Next, the Gentiles were accused of moral perversion. Their "vile passions" led them into unreasonable sins too horrible to mention. Then followed a train of evils that rendered them "worthy of death."
Every Gentile needs Christ today. He may not be an idolater and he may not be guilty of some other sins just mentioned, but he is a sinner, nevertheless, and stands in need of a Savior.
It was a much more difficult problem to show the Jew his need of redemption. Was he not God's chosen among all peoples? Could he not trace his lineage back to Abraham? And did he not have the law and circumcision?
But the Jew needs Christ for exactly the same reason that any one else needs him. The Jew is a sinner. This, regardless of all advantages, establishes his need of redemption. After proving the Gentile need of Christ in the first chapter of Romans, Paul proceeds in the second chapter to show the Jewish need of him. He charges the Jews with the same sins for which they eagerly condemned the Gentiles. Thus the Jews were self-condemned.
Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practice the same things. (Rom. 2:1.)
The Jew is no longer to enjoy privileges simply because he is a Jew. Indeed, the distinction of Jew and Gentile is to cease in Christ. "There can be neither Jew nor Greek." Under Christ the word "Jew" is to have a deeper and different meaning.
For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Rom, 2:28, 29.)
For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel: neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed. (Rom. 9:6-8.)
The spiritual Jew is a son of Abraham through his faith in Christ.
Know therefore that they that are of faith, the same are sons of Abraham. (Gal. 3:7.)
For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. . . . And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise. (Gal. 3:26-29.)
The Jew needed Christ because by the law of Moses he could not be justified. Indeed, by law no one can be justified, for no one can be perfect. The law was not given the Jews as a means of salvation, but rather to show them the need of a Savior. Law cannot overcome sin. Sin is rather intensified by law. Prohibitions to the unregenerate do not kill lust, but revive it. Hence, instead of freeing the Jews from sin, the law bound them more securely under it. Thus God gave the law to the Jews to prove to them their helplessness and to make them, therefore, see their need of Christ. Yet they strangely misused the law as a means of salvation rather than a means of leading them to a Savior.
Howbeit, I had not known sin, except through the law: for I had not known coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet: but sin, finding occasion, wrought in me through the commandment all manner of coveting: for apart from the law sin is dead. And I was alive apart from the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died; and the commandment, which was unto life, this I found to be unto death: for sin, finding occasion, through the commandment beguiled me, and through it slew me. . . . But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good;--that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful. (Rom. 7:7-13.)
Since, then, the prohibitions of the law revived sin instead of killing lust, those under the law were slaves to sin and in need of a Deliverer. Hence, we have Paul saying as he represents himself under law:
For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practice; but what I hate, that I do. . . . For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practice. (Rom. 7:15-19.)
Sensing his bondage under sin and his consequent need of the Deliverer, he cries:
Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? (Rom. 7:24.)
He then answers his own question.
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 7:25.)
Thus God intended the law to lead to Christ. But the Jews, misunderstanding its purpose, looked upon it as a means of salvation. Hence their rejection of Christ.
Sin in man, Gentile or Jews, is the basis of his need of Christ.
For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all. (Rom. 11:32.)