The Cross, Part 2

What Happened At The Cross?

By Tammy Lacock

Warren Litzman poses two questions in this week’s podcast:

Do you have one foot in law and one foot in grace? In order to answer this question, we must then ask ourselves: do we understand what happened at the cross?

If we are still living as if we are in bondage to sin and death under the law, what Warren calls “doer religion,” then we are not living the brand-new life God promised us through Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection; and, we don’t have a complete understanding of what happened at the cross.

The Apostle Paul was the only one raised up by Christ, Himself, to bring to the world a new gospel, one that explains exactly what happened at the cross. Before the cross, Jesus preached the kingdom gospel, salvation by works, meant only for Israel. The apostles also preached the kingdom message because it had not yet been revealed to them what took place at the cross.

Paul tells us Christ revealed to him an entirely new gospel, that we are saved by God’s grace. By Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection; “whosoever believeth” in Him as their Savior is saved (John 3:15-17).

Grace happened at the cross. Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection abolished the law and ushered in grace, making every believer brand-new creations in Christ. Christ now literally lives in every believer, His Spirit joined to us making us one spirit in Him (1 Corinthians 6:17).

“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.” (Ephesians 2:15)

We are no longer bound by sin and death under the law and its distortions. By the cross, we are now free to live and move in Christ by God’s amazing grace and boundless love for us. In fact, Paul tells us it is now time to rest in Him. As we get to know the Christ that now lives in each of us, we begin to actually understand His peace that “passeth all understanding” (Phil. 4:7) and live life more abundantly. By the cross, we went from a soul life dictated by our outer works to a spirit life in Christ. We died with Christ and arose with Him to a new life. He is our new life, the very breath we breathe. He is our righteousness, and nothing we do will ever change that. God sees only Christ in us now, making us His bona fide sons and daughters.

In Philippians 3:17, Paul tells fellow believers to follow him because Christ is now revealing through him an entirely new gospel, the gospel of God’s amazing grace.

So why are we trying to finish what Christ did on the cross!? Why are we living our lives as if we are justified by our works? Christ did the work on the cross and and we are justified only by His grace.

By the cross, Christ is our new life, our new identity. Our only job now is to live and move freely in Him, guided by His Spirit to do His good works, knowing He is our strength, our peace, our joy, our everything.