Chafer - God Has Spoken (Hebrews)
By Lewis Sperry Chafer
The epistle to the Hebrews opens with a reference to the messages of God which have been
projected into this world, and which have
widened the possible scope of man's understanding and action from the limitations of the things of
this world and the conclusions of finite minds to the
issues of the entire sphere of God's redemptive purposes and the verities of the Infinite.
God has spoken. The effect of the message has been far reaching.
Men generally believe in certain facts the knowledge of which could come only from the Scriptures
of Truth. But men do not always pause to consider
all of God's message and its personal application to
them with its necessary demands upon their faith.
They believe in the Bible heaven, but do not carefully
consider the only condition the Bible reveals upon
which any soul can enter therein. They believe in the
fact of sin, but seem to care little for the priceless cure
divinely set forth for it. They believe there is a holy
God and that men are sinners, but do not estimate
what problems were involved in bringing about a
possible reconciliation between that holy God and the
meritless sinner. Yet how faithfully God has spoken on
all these issues!
It is not enough to believe generally that God has
spoken. What He has said must be carefully weighed
and personally applied.
His message is as a shaft of light from the eternal
sphere shining into a world where sin's darkness and
blindness are supreme. Happy indeed is the man
who humbly receives every word God has spoken
both of sin and salvation, and is thus able to look into
the realms of glory along this radiant shaft of divine
revelation. The following are the opening words to the
letter to the Hebrews:
"God who at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son." The
message from God spoken to the fathers by the prophets is contained in the QT. The message spoken to us
by His Son and which was confirmed unto us by them
that heard Him, is contained in the NT. This latter
message is primarily of "So great salvation" which in
no wise can be neglected with impunity.
God has disclosed His own essential being through
His Son. In this revelation which He has made
through His Son, God is said to be Light, Life, and
Love, or Wisdom, Power, and Love. Christ was an
outshining of these elements which are in the being of
God, and that manifestation of His being through the
Son was made in terms which the finite mind might
grasp. Men of Christ's time, from their study of Him,
were able to say: "No man ever spake as this man,"
and, "We know that thou art a teacher come from
God: for no man can do the miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him." So the wisdom and power of
God were recognized in Christ. But the wisdom and
power of God had already a sufficient revelation in the
very things that were created, so that even the heathen
world is without excuse.
Because that which may be known of God is
manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto
them. For the invisible things of him from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead;
so that they are without
excuse (Rom 1:19-20).
At least three messages from
God through His Son are revealed
in the cross.
Love
In John 1:18 a special manifestation of God through the Son is
mentioned: "No man hath seen
God at any time; the only begot
ten Son, which is in the bosom of
the Father, he hath declared him."
"No man hath (fully) seen God
at any time" would indicate that
while His power and wisdom had
been revealed to some extent by the
things created, the complete revelation had not been given and there
was to be a very special unfolding
of His bosom of love. The Son was
in the bosom of the Father (the seat
of the affections; from that bosom
He never departed). "For God so
loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son."
Every moment of the earthly
life of Jesus was a manifestation
of God's love, but one event in
the ministry of Jesus is especially
designated as the means by which
the bosom of God was unveiled.
"Hereby perceive we the love of
God, because he laid down his life
for us" (1 John 3:16); "In this was
manifested the love of God toward
us, because that God sent his only
begotten Son into the world, that
we might live through Him. Herein
is love, not that we loved God, but
that he loved us and sent his Son
to be a propitiation for our sins"
(1 John 4:9-10); "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us" (Rom 5:8).
In the cross of Christ, therefore,
God has declared His love, and
this declaration is addressed as a
personal message to every individual. It may be concluded that
when this divine message really
reaches a heart, the individual will
thereby become conscious of a fact
far beyond the range of human
knowledge and so far reaching in
its value that it transcends all other
issues in life and death. It becomes
intensely personal according to
the testimony of the apostle: "Who
loved me and gave himself for me."
That knowledge-surpassing love is
proven and expressed to "me" by
the fact that He gave Himself for me.
The vital question at once
becomes, what did He do for "me"?
The Scriptures make it plain that
He did enough to demonstrate
finally and perfectly the infinite
love of God. "Hereby perceive
we the love of God because he
laid down his life for us." This is
more than a moral example: it is a
distinct service rendered, and on
so vast a scale that it adequately
expresses the deepest message
from the Father's bosom.
The message must be understood
by those to whom it is addressed,
but not necessarily by the processes
of mere human reason. The cross
of Christ was the final answer to
the great necessities and problems
which sin had imposed on the very
heart of God. This is revealed and
is knowable only to the extent to
which God has spoken, and never
because man has examined and
analyzed the heart of the Infinite.
Human philosophy and blind
unbelief have woven many veils
which have tended to obscure
God's plain revelation. The conditions which moved the heart of
God exist in the higher realm and
have no comparisons or counterparts in the range of human
knowledge; hence human reason
cannot be deemed sufficient to
judge or challenge that which God
has seen fit to reveal. Anything
which adequately represents the
infinite love of God will hardly be
compressed into the limitations of
man's wisdom. It is most probable
that eternity itself will prove to be
but a ceaseless unfolding of that
fathomless expression of boundless
love. Even now that divine expression of love in the cross becomes
the source of supreme ecstasy to
the one who has received the message into his heart. "God forbid
that I should glory, save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."
In striking contrast to this, the
unsaved person, either Jew or Gen
tile, finds no attraction whatever, in
the same cross. "For the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness; but unto us which are
saved it is the power of God."
That something of eternal value
to lost humanity was accomplished
in the cross is clearly revealed. Just
how much was accomplished could
not be fully revealed. However,
some things are made plain.
The eternal issue of sin was
called into question at Calvary's
cross, and a sufficient Substitute
stood in the sinner's place until all
grounds of condemnation were
forever past and every righteous
judgment of God was perfectly
met. Human wisdom has sometimes challenged this revelation on
the supposed grounds that it would
be immoral for God to lay on an
innocent victim the condemnation that belongs to another. This
might be true if it could be discovered that the innocent One was an
unwilling victim. But on this point
every doubt is forever dispelled.
In Hebrews 10:1-14, where the sin offerings of the OT are held in contrast to the one offering of Christ,
the Lord is recorded as saying,
"Then said I, Lo, I am come to do
thy will, 0 God." So at the time
of His crucifixion, He said to His
Father "Nevertheless not my will,
but thine, be done."
But there is a still deeper truth to
be considered when the challenge
is made that the substitutionary
death of Christ is an "immoral
thing." "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself"
(2 Corinthians 5:19). Shall not the infinite
God be morally free to bear on
His own breast the doom of the
one His infinite love would save?
Would not a mother be morally
justified who had flung herself
between her child and the fire!
Would the child be justified in later
years, when gazing on those frightful scars, to deem that love-act as
an immoral thing?
What Christ bore we are saved
from bearing. His work was
effective. "He died for me": not
to show me how to die. He died
that I might not die! God's love, in
expressing itself to human hearts,
provided a Substitute for them in
their sin judgments, the issues of
which reach out into infinity. This,
we are told, is what divine love
did. Who can measure the blasphemy of those who speak of this
love-expression as an "immoral
thing"? So fallen is the heart of
unregenerate man that he will even
attempt to incriminate by a charge
of immorality the very God Who
seeks to save him from his doom.
The cross of Christ, though
unveiling the heart of God in a
moment of time, was, nevertheless, the expression of that which is
eternal in that heart. Christ was "a
Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world." What God did for sinners, therefore, is an expression of
His constant attitude toward them.
The cross is an assurance of the
undiminished love of God at this
very hour.
Only in the cross has God perfectly revealed His love to sinful
man. Not in nature. Nor in the
things and relationships of this
life, for these may fail. And when
they fail the stricken heart that
has trusted these outward benefits
alone as the evidence of God's love
is heard to say, "it cannot be true
that God loves me."
God's perfect and final revelation of His love is in and through
the cross, and the heart to whom
this message has come is possessed
with all the consolations of grace in
the midst of the trials and afflictions of life. Such a one can say,
"though He slay me yet will I trust
Him."
In these last days God is speaking through His Son of His personal love for each individual.
Reader, has God said anything to
you through His Son? Can you
say in the joy of that greatest of
all messages, "God forbid that I
should glory, save in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ"? If the cross
has not become this to you, is it
not evidence to you that you are
neglecting this great salvation in
spite of all professions and good
intentions, and from the unhappy
end of such failure there can be no
escape?
Sin
While Christians are grateful to
Christ for what He did in His death
for them on the cross, should they
not be grateful also in some degree
to the Roman soldiers who put
Christ to death?
This question has been raised by
unbelief and may well be answered
by first discovering just what part
the soldiers took in that great event
as it is viewed in the Bible.
In John 10:17-18 we read that
Jesus said: "Therefore doth my
Father love me, because I lay down
my life, that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from me, but I
lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to
take it again." He evidently made
no resistance at the moment of
His crucifixion, which was doubtless in great contrast to the violent
struggles of the two thieves and
wholly opposed to the highest ideal
of that time when self-preservation
and self-advancement were the
first consideration of all men.
Whatever else took place, no man
took His life from Him. So, also,
the last words recorded as falling
from His lips on the cross were of
victory and authority. "Father, into
thy hands I commend (deposit)
my spirit." This language distinctly
indicates that His death was in
no way a defeat through human
force. Not one reference in the
Bible, outside the mere historical statement of the crucifixion,
ever assigns His death to human
sources. It is rather indicated that
God the Father was acting in that
death. "All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned everyone to
his own way; and the LORD hath
laid on him the iniquity of us all"
(Is a 53:6); "Whom God hath set
forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood" (Rom 3:25); "For
he hath made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin; that we might
be made the righteousness of God
in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). The soldiers
might take a human life; but God
alone could accomplish a reconciliation through Christ's death and
thereby solve the great problems
created by human sin. Christians
are saved by the divine reconciliation alone, and no gratitude is due
the human factors in the death of
Christ.
The deed of the soldiers is not
without meaning, however. From
the first sin of man to the present
hour, every unregenerate person is
said to be at enmity toward God.
That enmity is usually covered and
latent, but as assuredly exists as the
Word of God is true. It was the will
of God that at the exact time and
place when and where His infinite love was being unveiled there
should be an unveiling, as well, of
the desperate wickedness of man.
Every human act in the crucifixion
was a revelation of the fallen creature; yet to crown it all, one man,
as though representing a fallen
race, took a spear and drove it into
the heart of God. The deep significance here lies in the inexplicable
fact that "God was in Christ" and
that this human act was in reality
against the person of God, as well
as a rejection of the human presence of Christ and the blessings of
grace He presented. So all those
who tarry in unbelief are warned
that in so doing they "crucify to
themselves the Son of God afresh,
and put him to an open shame"
(Hebrews 6:6).
Thus no man can be ignorant of
the true nature of his own sinful
heart who has honestly faced the
meaning of the sin of rejecting
Christ as enacted in the crucifixion. On this point God has spoken
through His Son. Oh, the sin of
even hesitating to receive the marvels of God's grace as offered to lost
men in the cross of Christ!
Righteousness
The cross of Christ is also a message from God in that it is said to
be a declaration of the righteousness of God.
Whom God hath set forth
to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare
his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of
God; to declare, I say, at this
time his righteousness: that he
might be just, and the justifier
of him which believeth in
Jesus (Rom 3:25-26).
The English word "declare,"
as used in this passage, is also
used in the passage in John 1:18
already considered, wherein the
bosom of God is said to have been
"declared." The Greek words from
which these two translations are
made are not the same. In the passage in John the word presents the
idea of announcement (cf. Luke
24:35; Acts 10:8; 15:12, 14; 21:19),
while in the passage in Romans the
word indicates the legal aspect of a
full proof of something in question
(cf. 2 Corinthians 8:24, "proof"; Philippians 1:28,
"evident token").
In v 25 of the passage under
consideration, the evident proof
of the righteousness of God was
made at the cross concerning the
sins committed before the death of
Christ. God had always anticipated
a perfect and sufficient sacrifice for
sin. The blood of bulls and goats
had never taken away sin, but
had been the divinely appointed
symbol of the blood that was to be
shed. In view of the sacrifice that
was to be, God had passed over, or
pretermitted, the sins aforetime
on the condition that the offender
present the symbolic innocent
sacrifice for his sins. Although the
offender may have comprehended
but little of all the divine meaning
and purpose, the sacrifice stood as
a covenant with Jehovah that He
would, in the fullness of time, meet
all the need of the sinner. When
the true and sufficient sacrifice was
accomplished, that sacrifice stood
as a full proof that God had been
righteous in all the generations
wherein He had freely acted in
view of that great event which was
yet to come.
In v 26 the declaration, or full
proof, of the righteousness of God
is made in the cross in relation to
the sins committed. Ever since the
cross, human responsibility for the
adjustment and cure for sin is not
through symbolic sacrifices, as in
the OT, but is rather conditioned
on a personal trust in the sufficient
sacrifice fully accomplished on the
cross. Such justification, according to this verse, is for "him which
believeth in Jesus."
This verse also states what we
may believe to be the deepest
divine problem. How can the righteous God deal righteously with
the sinner and at the same time
satisfy His own compassion and
love in saving him from the doom
which His own righteousness must
ever impose on one who commits
sin?
Though He loves the sinner,
there are unalterable conditions
to be met in upholding His justice
and personal character. Sin cannot
be treated otherwise than sin, else
all standards of holiness and justice
fail. This is not a remote and exceptional problem; but it is one as far
reaching and important as the very
fact of the existence and destiny
of the human family itself. It must
also be considered as claiming
the utmost attention of all intelligences of the universe. Can sin be
righteously treated as sin and still
a way be provided for the salvation
of the sinner?
Any theory which tends to lessen
the imperative for judgment which
was created by sin does not fully
weigh the fact of the unalterable
character of the righteousness of
God. Is He not all-powerful and
all-sufficient and can He not waive
aside the sin of those creatures His
hands have made? Is He bound by
any law whatsoever? The answer
is not of human origin, any more
than is the question, though the
human mind may comprehend it.
Even God cannot change the
character of righteousness by altering or lessening to the slightest
degree its holy demands. What is
done for the satisfaction of His love
in saving any whom His righteousness condemns must be done in
full view of all that His righteousness could ever require.
The cross is said to be the message of God through His Son in
answer to this divine problem. He
might not change the demands of
righteousness, but He has sufficient power and resource to meet
perfectly those demands for every
sin-doomed soul. The dying Christ
was "set forth" in order that God
might be just, and at the same
time, satisfy His heart of love in
being the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus.
As the righteous Judge, He
pronounced the full divine sentence against sin. As the Savior of
sinners, He stepped down from His
judgment throne and took into His
breast the very doom He had in
righteousness imposed. The cross
declares the righteousness of God,
and because of that cross, His righteousness cannot suffer or ever be
called in question, even when He
wholly pardons the chief of sinners
and floods him with the riches of
grace.
All that righteousness can
demand has by the very Judge been
supplied: for it was God Who was
"in Christ reconciling the world
unto himself." The problem was
within the very nature of God
Himself. How can He remain just
and still justify the sinner whom
He loved with an everlasting love?
He was the mediator between His
own righteous Being and the meritless, helpless sinner. The redemption price has been paid by the very
Judge Himself.
This is revealed to finite man as
being now accomplished by the
infinite God. God has not thus
acted because man requested Him
to do so. It was His own solution
of His own problem determined
by Him before any man came into
being. It was made actual in the
cross in "the fulness of time." Man
is only asked to believe and act on
the facts thus revealed.
Redemption by the cross was not
God's second best as contrasted
with the innocency of Adam in the
garden. It was in the divine councils from the foundation of the
world and its accomplishment is
unto a heavenly state above angels
and archangels, yea, into the very
image of Christ. This is the good
news of the gospel. Sin's judgments
are already perfectly met. "He
loved me and gave Himself for me."
While the cross is to the unsaved
Jew "a stumbling block" and to
the unsaved Gentile "foolishness,"
it is to those that are saved "the
power of God and the wisdom
of God." These extremes in the
conclusions concerning the cross
by equally intelligent people can be
accounted for on no other ground
than that some, by the Spirit, have
apprehended and accepted the
declaration of God's love and righteousness which He has made in
the cross. They have seen that the
very power of God in saving grace
has been set free, and that God's
own wisdom has been disclosed in
solving His own problem of saving
sinners by that cross. The new song
of such a heart is, "God forbid that
I should glory, save in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
the world is crucified unto me, and
I unto the world."
All praise be unto Him! Christ
was God's Lamb "that taketh
away the sin of the world" (John
1:29). "He became a curse for us"
(Gal 3:13). "He bore our sins in
his body on the tree" (1 Pet 2:24).
"He was made sin for us" (2 Corinthians
5:21). "Jehovah hath caused to rest
on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa
53:6). "He is the propitiation for
our sins" (1 John 2:2). "He tasted
death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9).
It is, therefore, now possible for
the righteous God to deal graciously with a sinner because that
sinner, through the substitutionary
death of Christ, is, in the estimation of God, placed beyond his
own execution, and the ground of
condemnation is forever past. God
has, for His own sake, removed
every moral hindrance which His
infinite holiness might see in sinful
man, and so it is now possible for
Him to exercise the last impulse
of His love without reservation or
limitation.
When thus unshackled and
untrammeled in His love, He,
through His own lavishings of love
and grace, places the sinner in the
eternal glory finally perfected into
the very image of His Son. There
is nothing in the highest heaven
beyond that. It is the greatest possible thing that God can do. It is
the infinite demonstration of His
grace. God's grace in action is
more than love. It is love operating
in full recognition and adjustment
to every demand of righteousness. "Even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom
5:21).
The conclusion from these
revelations is that by the cross God
has declared our sin, His own righteousness and His own unmeasured love. He has spoken to us
through His Son. The reasonable
requirement is that we believe that
message. This is the only condition
given in the Bible upon which one
may enter into God's saving grace.
Lewis Sperry
Chafer (1871-
1952) was the
founder of Dallas
Theological
Seminary. This
is Chap. 3 of his
book Salvation: A
Clear Doctrinal
Analysis (public
domain).
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