Love, Law, Liberty and the pursuit of the evangelical dream.
Cards on the table, we’re talking about the cross and the models there
of.
One of the things as a younger Christian I couldn’t understand was how different people could talk about the cross in such different ways. What was worrying to me was that when ever people spoke about it I tended to agree, even when it seemed to go against that which I already knew.
Let me explain, one week I’d be convinced by preacher that the cross was about God demonstrating his love for us. He’d quote scripture, use illustrations etc. and I’d think to myself, “Yeah, that’s true. 
The cross really does show us how much God loves us. Good News Indeed!” (I was, still am, a bit of a nerd.) Then the next week say, some form of travelling band man would say about how the cross was God’s way of setting us free (that’s liberty by the way) free from the fear of death, free from the chains of sin etc. and again I’d find myself saying, “Go Spell!” Then the next week I’d be speaking t o some person handing out fliers on the street and they’d explain in detail to me how Jesus death on the cross payed a price, not to the devil, but to God for the wrong I’d done against Him by breaking His law. “Lucky I got Jesus.” I’d go away thinking.
And then I’d ask myself the question, “Am I really so easily swayed, do I just believe the last thing I’ve bee
n told?” I quickly realised that no, I don’t.
The reason that all three ‘models’ of the cross had been so easy for me to accept is because they were all true. All backed up by large amounts of scripture and that common sense filter my brain runs everything through. The cross was about Love, demonstrating God’s Love for us and an example of how we should love others. In a sense that’s what the cross does for us. The cross was about Law, paying off the debt we have against the law. IN a sense that’s what the cross does for God. The cross was about Liberty, freeing us from the fear we might have of death, the power of sin and the devil. In a sense that’s what the cross does to the devil.
I wasn’t simply ‘easily swayed’ but convinced by the truth of scripture. The cross was, and IS, all of these things…and more! When I realised this…BOOM…the top of my head almost came off. The cross has accomplished so much!
Something we love to talk about here on proGnosis is the atonement, that fits nicely into my ‘law’ category. It’s vital that we don’t forget this one because without it, we’re stuffed. We can know all we want about God’s love, but unless we’re rescued, we’re stuffed. We can know all we want about being freed from the chains of sin, but unless previous sin is dealt with, we’re stuffed. That’s why we emphasise it so much, because it is crucial!!! Hopefully we wont react so far the other way that we forget the Love and the Liberty bits.
But there IS a problem with focusing on just Love, or just Liberty.
Those who speak about becoming a Christian as an opportunity to ‘live the best life you can live!’ really miss the point, we have all sinned and fall short of the standard God expects from us. Those who speak about ‘cuddling up to Jesus at nap time’ really miss the point, because God does NOT love filthy retched sinners who can do nothing about their sin.
I think the real problem with both groups is that in a very large sense, they are right! Scripture backs them. But when we allow it to limit our thinking we shut out so much more scripture, we chuck it on the scrap heap because it doesn’t feel right to us.
The trend at the moment is to say the Cross just shows us God’s love because if it actually fulfills some ‘punishment’ function then it’s evil and cruel to the poor victim Jesus. So lets suppose the Cross is illustrative rather than constitutive, that the cross was a chance for God to just show us his love but doesn’t really achieve anything. Then isn’t it even more cruel? Isn’t it even MORE evil and twisted? Why would God put Jesus through such pain, such agony, such humiliation just to show us something?
What it boils down to is a misunderstanding of ALOT of things, authority of Scripture, Jesus choice in the matter, our own sin, God’s justice…the list goes on. My plea? Celebrate the cross for ALL it has done for us! Don’t box it in, don’t limit it, let’s spend our time finding out more and more about what Jesus did on that historic day!
substitution is “…a form of cosmic child abuse - a vengeful father, punishing his son for an offence he has not even committed. Understandably, both people inside and outside of the church have found this twisted version of events morally dubious and a huge barrier to faith. Deeper than that, however is that such a construct stands in total contradiction to the statement ‘God is love’. If the cross is a personal act of violence perpetrated by God towards humankind but borne by his son, then it makes a mockery of Jesus’ own teaching to love your enemies and refuse to repay evil with evil. The truth is the cross is a symbol of love. It is a demonstration of just how far God as Father and Jesus as his son are prepared to go to prove that love. The cross is a vivid statement of the powerlessness of lov
