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BABQ: Bible Answers to Bible Questions
Dr. Bedore will be giving answers to some of the most frequently asked Bible questions.
Read the latest edition of BABQ >
Questions about Christianity and the Bible?
THE REMISSION OF SIN
By Dr. W. Edward Bedore
Introduction
Before looking at the subject at hand, there are some things we should consider for the sake of clarity. First is the fact that when Jesus Christ suffered on the cross for the sins of the world, it was on behalf of every human being that has ever lived, is now living, or will ever live. In other words, He died for the sins of every member of Adam’s fallen race regardless of when they lived. This means that the first two thirds of II Corinthians 5:19 has a transdispensational application. “That God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their sins unto them” speaks of the incarnation of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, the sinless life He lived, His once and for all sacrifice of Himself for mankind, and His resurrection. It is only through the blood of this once for all time and all people sacrifice that the forgiveness of sins and salvation is possible for any age or dispensation. Verse 18 and the last few words of verse 19 with verse 20 are specifically about the commission that Christ has given the Church of the Dispensation of Grace. I bring this up to point out that the “non-imputation of sins” and the “reconciling of the world” that was accomplished have to be understood in the light of their transdispensational nature. Those who would dispute this fact must find themselves a different cross, a different Savior, and the blood of some other sacrifice than those that are in view here. The historical account of Jesus Christ’s life and ministry as found in the Gospel Records of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell us of His sinless life, death, burial, and resurrection. Paul, in his letters, explains the great significance of His work on the cross in its relationship to all of mankind of all time and specifically tells us how it is applied today.
That Jesus Christ died once for all of mankind of all dispensations, times and ages, period (Rom. 6:10; Heb. 9:26,28; I Pet. 3:18) is important to understand because, while there are important dispensational distinctives to be considered, the Person of Jesus Christ and His redeeming work on the cross is the common denominator that ultimately gives value to and provides the hope for each dispensation. Therefore, whatever our conclusions are about the forgiveness, or remission of sins, the timing of any imputing or not imputing of sins, the reconciling of the world, and the redemption of man must be in accord with this truth or they are automatically invalidated.
Second is that the Apostle Paul, in his explanation of the Grace Gospel, starts at creation (Rom. 1:18-20) to show that all of mankind needs a Savior because of sin and brings us through history to God’s abandonment of the nations at the Tower of Babel (Rom. 1:21-32). Then, after briefly dealing with the moralistic Gentiles (Rom. 2:1-16), he takes us on through God’s past dealings with Israel and right into the present Dispensation of Grace, concluding that “there is no difference” between any Jew or Gentile regardless of when they lived or what their claim to righteousness is “for all have sinned” (Rom. 3:21-23). Sin is revealed to be man’s basic problem. Since all are sinners, it was for all the world, the whole of humanity that Christ died for. Setting aside for now the distinctives of past and future dispensations concerning salvation, we want to focus on the great truth that was previously hidden, but has now been revealed through Paul, that today redemption is through personal faith in Christ alone by the means of His shed blood. Each believer is identified with Christ and declared righteous in God’s sight. He is forgiven of his sins because he has trusted in the fact that Christ’s sacrifice for him is sufficient to satisfy (propitiate) God’s righteous demand for justice (Rom. 3:24-26). The forgiveness of sins, justification, imputed righteousness, and redemption are all part of the salvation package. Each represents an important but different aspect of salvation and no one can have one without having them all. Personal salvation is an all or nothing deal. A person is either identified with Jesus Christ through faith and has received all that He has to offer, or they have nothing and remain spiritually bankrupt.
I know that these things are elementary, but I have brought them up because one person I spoke to about the subject of forgiveness seemed to think that the world God was not imputing sins to in II Corinthians 5:19 is only the world of the Dispensation of Grace. Their idea was that Paul’s statement that “sin is not imputed when there is no law” in Romans 5:13 must logically mean that II Corinthians 5:19 can only be referring to those living in the Dispensation of Grace because we “are not under Law” like Israel was, but are “under grace” (Rom. 6:14). We will not go into a discussion of these verses here except to say that this application of these verses is obviously wrong, as it is contrary to Paul’s assessment of the entire human race in Romans. Bringing two verses together in this way without due consideration of the context and subject matter each is found in is improper hermeneutics. That interpretation of these verses would mean that in II Corinthians chapter five, Paul is saying that Jesus Christ’s redeeming work on the cross was only for the Gentiles living in the present Dispensation of Grace rather than being a once for all sacrifice on behalf of the whole world. This, of course, is wrong because the cross is central to all that Christ accomplished in His work of redemption on behalf of all of Adam’s fallen race (Rom. 5:12).
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