The Three Crosses

Dino Cianflone

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Gal. 6:14

Three crosses. Three Crucifixions. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world crucified to me and I to the world. What an extraordinary declaration this is. The Galatians were foolishly turning a cold shoulder on the cross of Jesus. They thought that they could work out their salvation by certain acts and ceremonies. This was the same kind of false religion that Cain had tried to practice in the Old Testament. He thought that he could appease God with a religion of his own making which ignored his sin and need for a blood atonement. It is also the kind of religion that many people try to practice today. They say that they can make their own religion and that God is within them. But this is contrary to Biblical truth. As Jesus prepared for His crucifixion, He warned His disciples, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn. 14:6). There is one Way to God and that is Jesus Christ.

It is only in the cross of Jesus that I may find justification before God. Justification—now there’s a word for you. But just what does justification mean? Well, it doesn’t mean, “just as if I’d never sinned.” Neither does it mean that God makes me righteous so that I never sin again. It means instead that I am “declared righteous.” Pay close attention to that phrase—“declared righteous.” That means that while I was yet in my sins, God declared me righteous. No merit of my own. No special effort on my part. Just simply an act of mercy from a merciful God. The apostle Paul when writing to another group of Christians declared, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. AND ARE JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:10, 11, 23, 24).

So much for homemade religion. Without Christ we are completely out of touch with our true spiritual needs. But by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, we may find justification and be made righteous. There is certainly reason to boast in the cross of Jesus Christ when we reflect upon the glorious doctrine of our justification.

The cross of Jesus reminds us of another doctrine and that is the doctrine of substitution. When I was in high school, our gym teacher would often put us through a grueling game of basketball. When our legs could carry us no further and our lungs wanted to burst, we would raise an arm and cry out, “Sub!” and then hope that the teacher would mercifully send in a substitute to take the punishment in our place. Well, God has done just that. He has sent a Substitute in our place to bear the punishment that we so deserve. I can’t help feeling overwhelmed whenever I read that verse in 2 Cor. 5:21 which says,

“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Did you notice in this verse that the substitution works in both directions? Our sin has been imputed to Jesus Christ and His righteousness to us.

We often take for granted certain things that we have become intimately acquainted with. The cross of Jesus Christ is a subject so familiar to all of us that we may fail to realize that it was a work of such proportions that the entire Holy Trinity had to be active in its accomplishing our salvation. Look first at the matchless exhibition of the attributes of the Father, who in His infinite wisdom drew up a plan of salvation that in no way violates His own perfect character. On the one hand, God must be perfectly just and holy. That means that sin must be punished without regard to persons or intentions. The Bible declares, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23) and “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:4b). On the other hand is God’s infinite love, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pe. 3:9). How can these two things be reconciled? They can be reconciled only in the cross of Jesus. Because of the cross, God has put away all our sin. Forgiveness without penalty would have been a mockery of justice and of God’s Word. But in the cross of Jesus, the price of sin has been paid and you may stand sure on the promise of God that without transgressing His own law, He will “forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jer. 31:34).

And then there is the Son—“our Lord Jesus Christ”. Every word is charged with meaning. He is not a God who is far off and is accessible only through earthly priests and mediators. Rather, He is “our Lord”. Possessive! I like that. There are certain things that I can call my own but best of all is when I can call Jesus, my Lord! By calling Him my Lord, I am declaring Him to be the Master of my life. Then there is that name Jesus—the Lord saves. There is no sweeter name to pronounce, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Sweetest name I know”. “Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame” (Ps. 34:5). And finally, He is Christ, the Anointed One of God, chosen from before the beginning of time to put away our sins.

The Holy Spirit is also active by working within us to teach us and to move us to claim our adoption. “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out Abba Father” (Gal. 4:6). You have the witness within you. Your salvation, through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, is acclaimed by the Spirit in you. The Scriptures affirm it—the Holy Spirit bears witness to it.

What glorious changes the cross of Jesus has brought to the lives of countless men and women. There is nothing like it to change men’s hearts. Having been judged and condemned by our own consciences, we could cry out, “Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24). Then miraculously our sins were laid upon Jesus and we could say, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?” (Rom. 8:33). The cross of Jesus has truly humbled the proud; lifted up the fallen; refined the polluted; given a fresh start to those who were forlorn and desperate.

Now the second cross exhibits the world crucified. To understand what the apostle means by this, we must first give thought to this word “world”. The word is used in many senses in the Bible. There is the physical world (by Christ, “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him” (John 1:10). There is also the world which God so loved that He gave His only Son, “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). And there are many other meanings which are beyond our immediate purpose.

But there is another sense which is of interest to us and that is, “the world which is under the control of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19). The world referred to here is that system, that order of things, that set of values which is opposed to God and which is under Satan’s control. It is a world which Jesus says that He does not pray for (John 17:9) and which we are instructed not to love (1 John 2:15).

This is the world that is crucified to us. It holds no attraction for the believer. The character of the world has been nailed up to die. It is dead, dead, dead to every believing Christian. There is no doubt that the world will try to hold on to us with promises of honour or riches. There was a time when Paul had told his life to honour and recognition. What a difference Christ has made in his life! “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ” (Phil. 3:7). That is the kind of reckoning that we must make. But when a person has gained Christ, he can count himself as dead to the world. He refuses to be enslaved by any of the pursuits of the world and cares nothing for its maxims. He has no need of its approval and is certainly not intimidated by its threatenings. How happy is the man or woman who can say, “the world is not my master and I am not its slave.”

There is a third cross which Paul identifies. He says, “I am crucified to the world.” Being crucified to the world means that we are severed from the world and that we have been set apart for God. The great distinguishing mark of our salvation which is sanctification. Being sanctified means that we have been set apart to live in holy principles. The blood of atonement has been applied to the doorposts of our hearts. We must not live carelessly but we must keep our lives pure and clean.

Some Christians are intimidated by talk of sanctification. They greatly fear that the world will mock them. The friends and even family may call them odd. They may even be bullied. In fact, it is that very thing that distinguishes the walk of the true believer and which is sure to cause us to be crucified to the world.

What then does the cross of Jesus represent to you? Is it simply a symbol of compassion and love? A suitable representation of your religion to put on display for family and friends? I ask that question because there is more to the cross. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Prov. 14:12). The kind of cross you need is not preached with words of human wisdom (1 Cor. 1:17) but is one in which you identify with Christ. One in which you share in His death to you and you to the world. Are you trusting in the cross of Jesus Christ? Are you resting in Him? Look now to the cross of Jesus and be forever assured of your salvation.