Season 2 Podcast 66 The Innocence of Perfection

A New Voice of Freedom

The Innocence of Perfection

Christ did not cheat justice by atoning for our sins. He satisfied justice by sacrificing his own perfect life for our sins, the pure for the impure, the righteous for the unrighteous, the innocent for the guilty, the perfect for the imperfect, and the just for the unjust. He bought us with his blood.

Christ did not die because of Roman law or because of the deceit of the Sanhedrin. He died because he loved us. He died willingly for our sins to satisfy the law of justice. He could have stepped down from the cross at any time. The Romans did not kill Christ. Their mortal weapons did not have the power to take the life of an immortal God.

“17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 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. This commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10:17)

We are told in the Gospels that when they came to arrest Jesus in the Garden, impetuous Peter drew a sword and cut off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant. Jesus said to Peter, “Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11) Jesus added, “Thinkest thou that I cannot pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Mathew 26:53) A Roman legion consisted of from 3000 to 6000 soldiers, meaning, of course, that the power Jesus had was greater than the power of the entire Roman Empire. Instead, however, Jesus touched Malchus’s ear and healed him. (Luke 22:51).

He is the perfect model of his own teachings: On the Sermon on the Mount, he taught:

“44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)

While hanging from the cross, Christ said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Once the requirements of the atonement were met, Christ, being half mortal through his mother Mary, willingly forfeited his life with the final words— “It is finished,” which, along with “God is love,” “Lazarus, come forth,” and “He is risen” and the Holy Trinity itself is the great triadic message of Christianity.

Even justice must bow to the innocence and perfection. That is why the atonement works. It is justice that brought about the fall. It is mercy that brought about the atonement. It is justice that condemns the sinner. It is mercy that forgives the repentant, makes us responsible only for our own sins, has the keys of death and hell, and makes a merciful judgment possible. Justice satisfied law. Mercy satisfies justice. Justice condemns us. Mercy ransoms us. Justice which governs all laws, temporal and spiritual, makes life on earth possible. Mercy makes life on earth bearable by bringing hope and joy. Justice brought temporal death into the world. Mercy brought about the resurrection. Justice brought about spiritual death. Mercy brought about spiritual redemption. Because of justice, we are all imperfect; because of mercy, Christ can sanctify, perfect, and purify us and bring us back into the presence of the Father. Justice separated us from God and the glories of heaven. Mercy brought about the resurrection and immortality with God on conditions of repentance. Because there is justice there is life; because there is mercy there is the possibility for each one of us to receive the blessings of exaltation and eternal life with God.