WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED
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He preached that Christ was crucified to provide atonement for our sins so that we can have eternal salvation.. To some this message is foolishness to others it is an evil stumbling stone.. But to those of us who are saved it is the Love of God manifested in the world and glorious..
Amen! 1 Corinthians 1:18 - For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness.
This does not mean that Paul never taught or preached anything other than the crucifixion - but it does mean that whatever theme he taught always contained the Gospel message of the death, burial and resurrection. In other words, a preacher is not worth a red cent that does not incorporate the plan of salvation into his message. This certainly leaves out the mainline denominational churches that wouldn't know the Gospel if it bit them. It's mighty hard to know the Bible when many of them read from Reader's Digest or discuss the book of the month or gardening recipes from the holy desk known as the pulpit.
There are more 'bloodless' churches than can be counted.
I'm responding to the question exactly as you have written it, with the quotation truncated...
What does Paul mean? Start with Who Christ is, according to Paul. Consider the cultural-religious context in which Paul was ministering: the Greek culture and the Roman political machine which governed Corinth were rife with capricious false gods, myths of their escapades, and disgusting practices to "worship" them despite their essential indifference toward humans. Consider the context of Jewish beliefs: God is completely separate from humanity; though He occasionally speaks and interacts with humans, He is distinctly above them, not subject to the failings of the human experience. He is Holy, and only by following a set of rules can men ever hope to enter His good graces. The Jews hoped for their Messiah as a conquering mighty King.
Enter Christ: God Almighty in human flesh, executed like a common criminal, subject to weakness and death like any man.
This concept is foreign to both cultures. God is (or "gods" are) not subject to human death. Yet it is the very death of Christ that secured our victory over sin and over death. Christ crucified declares to both cultures, "You have it all wrong".
Incidentally, I could not find a single translation where "crucified" is capitalized. However, given your other posts, I suspect this is not a typo.
The Truth is, everything hinges on Calvary, one's Salvation, one's constant Victory in Christ, Divine Healing, Answered Prayer, the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, etc. In other words, the effect of Calvary does not stop with Salvation, but continues just as important in one's everyday walk before God (Rom. Chpt. 6).
Satan attacks this Message as he attacks no other!
JSM
Many believe that the Finished Work at Calvary's Cross does not mean the same thing as the Blood of Jesus or the Cross of Calvary where the victory was won. They believe when you say, "Christ Crucified or the Cross," you are talking about the wooden beam. When we say place your Faith and maintain it exclusively in Christ and the Cross, we are saying place your Faith and maintained it in "Who Jesus is (Christ - The Son of God), and what Jesus has done (at the Cross of Calvary, where the victory was won, i.e., The Blood of Jesus, i.e., The Finished Work). However it has become a stumblingblock and foolishness for most.
Galatians 2:20 says, ": and the life which I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God (WHO JESUS IS), Who loved me, and gave Himself for me (The Finished Work at Calvary Cross, i.e., The Cross of Calvary where the victory was won, i.e., The Blood of Jesus.)."
If this is not understood "Grace" is frustrated. Jesus Christ has become of no benefit to you.
Galatians 2:20 says, ": and the life which I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God (WHO JESUS IS), Who loved me, and gave Himself for me (The Finished Work at Calvary Cross, i.e., The Cross of Calvary where the victory was won, i.e., The Blood of Jesus.)."
If this is not understood "Grace" is frustrated. Jesus Christ has become of no benefit to you.
Isaiah/Yeshayahu 53
1, "Who has believed our report? And to whom was the arm of יהוה revealed?"2, "For He grew up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or splendor that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should desire Him –"3, "despised and rejected by men, a man of pains and knowing sickness. And as one from whom the face is hidden, being despised, and we did not consider Him."4, "Truly, He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains. Yet we reckoned Him smitten·, stricken by Yah, and afflicted."5, "But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our crookednesses. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed."6, "We all, like sheep, went astray, each one of us has turned to his own way. And יהוה has laid on Him the crookedness of us all."7, "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, but He did not open His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, but He did not open His mouth."8, "He was taken from prison and from judgment. And as for His generation, who considered that He shall be cut off from the land of the living? For the transgression of My people He was stricken."9, "And He was appointed a burial-site with the wrong, and with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was deceit in His mouth.10, "But יהוה was pleased to crush Him, He laid sickness on Him, that when He made Himself an offering for guilt, He would see a seed, He would prolong His days and the pleasure of יהוה prosper in His hand."11, "He would see the result of the suffering of His life and be satisfied. Through His knowledge My righteous Servant makes many righteous, and He bears their crookednesses."12, "Therefore I give Him a portion among the great, and He divides the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His being unto death, and He was counted with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
1, "Who has believed our report? And to whom was the arm of יהוה revealed?"2, "For He grew up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or splendor that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should desire Him –"3, "despised and rejected by men, a man of pains and knowing sickness. And as one from whom the face is hidden, being despised, and we did not consider Him."4, "Truly, He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains. Yet we reckoned Him smitten·, stricken by Yah, and afflicted."5, "But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our crookednesses. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed."6, "We all, like sheep, went astray, each one of us has turned to his own way. And יהוה has laid on Him the crookedness of us all."7, "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, but He did not open His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, but He did not open His mouth."8, "He was taken from prison and from judgment. And as for His generation, who considered that He shall be cut off from the land of the living? For the transgression of My people He was stricken."9, "And He was appointed a burial-site with the wrong, and with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was deceit in His mouth.10, "But יהוה was pleased to crush Him, He laid sickness on Him, that when He made Himself an offering for guilt, He would see a seed, He would prolong His days and the pleasure of יהוה prosper in His hand."11, "He would see the result of the suffering of His life and be satisfied. Through His knowledge My righteous Servant makes many righteous, and He bears their crookednesses."12, "Therefore I give Him a portion among the great, and He divides the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His being unto death, and He was counted with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
The words in red are comments that, once again, you have failed to cite. In order to avoid the charge of plagiarism, you must cite the source every time you quote it. Better yet, just stop quoting that source completely.
The part in bold is garbage; Paul's message to the Galatians was about the error of mixing law-adherence with faith. It had nothing to do with them not understanding Jimmy Swaggart's views regarding "Calvary's Cross", "the Blood of Jesus", and "the Finished Work" being synonymous.
The "stumbling block" and "foolishness" to which you refer are the reactions which Jews and Greeks respectively had to the death by execution of God incarnate. The Greeks could not comprehend a god being subject to death at human hands, let alone a substitutionary death; the Jews could not comprehend anything other than a powerful conquering God.
The Christian is doomed to failure if he thinks he can face the sin business and simply say yes or no. That's not the way it works. Those who try that (and almost all have) will conclude by failing every time. You may win for awhile, but after awhile, you're going to fail.
Now, stop and think about this for a moment: If it were possible for us to defeat sin and the attacks of Satan by willpower, then Jesus would not have had to come down here and die on a Cross. He could have merely taught us how to function within our willpower, and that would have solved the problem.
However, He didn't do that, did He? The truth is, the problem of sin is so deadly that it took the Cross to defeat this monster, and even then, we have to have the help of the Holy Spirit to get this thing done. That's why Paul said, "But if the Spirit (Holy Spirit) of Him (God the Father) who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit who dwells in you" (Rom. 8:11).
This tells us that sin is so powerful that it takes the same power to overcome this thing as it did to raise Jesus from the dead, which, of course, is the power of the Holy Spirit. Understanding that, we should come to the conclusion that our personal willpower is totally inadequate.
However, most Christians little understand the victory of the Cross and try to do this thing on their own, which always results in failure.
The majority of Christians know nothing about the Cross of Christ for sanctification. Justification delivers us from the penalty of sin, while sanctification delivers us from the power of sin. The Cross of Christ is as necessary for sanctification as it is for salvation (1 Cor. 1:18).
If you get Jesus wrong, it does not matter what you get right!
JSM
I go with Paul.
Romans 7
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
So . . . how do you feel about this grand old hymn?
The Old Rugged Cross
Brad Paisley
On a hill far away, stood an old rugged Cross
The emblem of suffering and shame
And I love that old Cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain
So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown
Oh, that old rugged Cross so despised by the world
Has a wondrous attraction for me
For the dear Lamb of God, left his Glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary
So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown
In the old rugged Cross, stained with blood so divine
A wondrous beauty I see
For the dear Lamb of God, left his Glory above
To pardon and sanctify me
So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown
To the old rugged Cross, I will ever be true
Its shame and reproach gladly bear
Then He'll call me some day to my home far away
Where his glory forever I'll share
So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown
All this exaltation of "the Cross" gets tiresome. Why can't you just preach the finished work of Jesus Christ?
Well, Paul 'did' tell us that some would be offended by the cross . . .
"But 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" (Galatians 6:14).
What did Jesus say about the Cross?
“DISCIPLESHIP
25 And there went great multitudes with Him (proclaims Him having left the home of this Pharisee, and now continuing His journey toward Jerusalem): and He turned, and said unto them (He was anxious now, at the end, clearly to make it known to all these multitudes what serving Him really signified),
26 If any man come to Me (no exceptions), and hate (prefer) not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also (no affection, however strong, must be permitted to compete with or displace Christ), he cannot be My Disciple (once again, no exceptions!).”
“27 And whosoever does not bear his Cross (this doesn’t speak of suffering as most think, but rather ever making the Cross of Christ the Object of our Faith; we are Saved and we are victorious not by suffering, although that sometimes will happen, or any other similar things, but rather by our Faith, but always with the Cross of Christ as the Object of that Faith), and come after Me (one can follow Christ only by Faith in what He has done for us at the Cross; He recognizes nothing else), cannot be My Disciple (the statement is emphatic!; if it’s not Faith in the Cross of Christ, then it’s faith that God will not recognize, which means that such people are refused [I Cor. 1:17-18, 21, 23; 2:2; Rom. 6:3-14; 8:1-2, 11, 13; Gal. 6:14; Eph. 2:13-18; Col. 2:14-15]).” (Luke 14:25-27)
Excerpt From
The Expositor's Study Bible
Jimmy Swaggart
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-expositors-study-bible/id399697870?mt=11
This material may be protected by copyright.
“DISCIPLESHIP
25 And there went great multitudes with Him (proclaims Him having left the home of this Pharisee, and now continuing His journey toward Jerusalem): and He turned, and said unto them (He was anxious now, at the end, clearly to make it known to all these multitudes what serving Him really signified),
26 If any man come to Me (no exceptions), and hate (prefer) not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also (no affection, however strong, must be permitted to compete with or displace Christ), he cannot be My Disciple (once again, no exceptions!).”
“27 And whosoever does not bear his Cross (this doesn’t speak of suffering as most think, but rather ever making the Cross of Christ the Object of our Faith; we are Saved and we are victorious not by suffering, although that sometimes will happen, or any other similar things, but rather by our Faith, but always with the Cross of Christ as the Object of that Faith), and come after Me (one can follow Christ only by Faith in what He has done for us at the Cross; He recognizes nothing else), cannot be My Disciple (the statement is emphatic!; if it’s not Faith in the Cross of Christ, then it’s faith that God will not recognize, which means that such people are refused [I Cor. 1:17-18, 21, 23; 2:2; Rom. 6:3-14; 8:1-2, 11, 13; Gal. 6:14; Eph. 2:13-18; Col. 2:14-15]).” (Luke 14:25-27)
Excerpt From
The Expositor's Study Bible
Jimmy Swaggart
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-expositors-study-bible/id399697870?mt=11
This material may be protected by copyright.
Your ignorance of the context leads to your complete misunderstanding.
At the risk of reading heresy, perhaps you would enlighten me (us)?
IMO,he Is saying that JESUS Is the messiah,the LAMB of GOD,GOD was In CHRIST redeeming the world.