There are a lot of teachings being promulgated in Christian churches that preach limited atonement or tell churchgoers Jesus and the cross isn’t enough to wipe away sins.
Beware of those who preach Jesus plus something else as they are leading you down a dangerous path.
In Zechariah the prophet was foretelling of a time when the time of self-righteousness would end and the people would cloak themselves in the righteousness of God.
“Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.
“The Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?’
“Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Take off his filthy clothes.’ Then he said to Joshua, ‘See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.’
“Then I sad, ‘Put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by. The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.
“Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” — Zechariah 3
Picture this in your mind, Satan is standing by a man, the high priest at the time of Zechariah, and is telling God the man is covered in sins. Matthew Henry writes that when the prophet saw Joshua standing before God, God allowed Zechariah to see him how God sees him, covered and dirty from sin — just as everyone of us are.
At this very moment Satan stands before God accusing us, telling God we are filthy sinners unworthy of acceptance.
Notice what God does, He rebukes Satan. Notice, it was Jesus Christ, described as the Angel of the Lord, who rebuked Satan in the name of the Lord; and then Jesus says this priest, though sin covered was a stick plucked from a burning fire. We would call that “saved” in our modern vernacular.
From the time the law was give to Moses, the people were required to keep the law and in effect, earn righteousness through works by relying solely on God, but the law brought forth the sin of the people.
It is in the next verses in which we place so much of our hope and our remedy. We are shown an image of Satan accusing a servant of God before God — Satan’s very name means adversary or opponent. Before Satan can finish his accusation, the intercessor stands in the breach and pleads the case before God.
Charles Spurgeon said, “Take note that this rebuke comes at the right season. When Satan accuses, Christ pleads. He does not wait till the case has gone against us and then express his regret, but he is always a very present help in time of trouble. He knows the heart of Satan, being omniscient God, and long before Satan can accuse he puts in the demurrer, the blessed plea on our behalf, and stays the action till he gives an answer which silences for ever every accusation.”
In His limitless grace Jesus tells Satan to go away and then Jesus removes the sin-stained garments and puts “rich” garments on us. What is that rich garment?
That rich garment is the righteousness given to us through the shedding of Jesus’ blood on the cross.
Then, Zechariah is told that what he had just witnessed will be done on behalf of all of mankind. Zechariah was written around 520 to 518 B.C., probably about 550 years before Jesus restored mankind to God through the cross.
The Lord tells the prophet the sins of the world would be taken away in just a day — that day was over when Jesus said, “It is finished.” It also foreshadows the day of Christ’s triumphant return and Israel is redeemed once and for all.
For us, for now, Jesus Christ — the stone on which the foundation of the church was built — has ensured for us an audience with God.
All are destined for judgment, but for those who belong to Christ, the verdict is not guilty. The debt for our sin has been paid.
For those who have yet to accept what Christ did for them, their verdict is still outstanding and if they die without Christ the grim reality is a guilty verdict will be issued and the sentence will be eternal.
Sin, brothers and sisters, equals death. There is no escape from it, but Christ came to rescue us.
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” — John 10:10
Jesus came that we may have an eternity in his presence — all we have to do is give ourselves to him.
Don’t hold anything back. Don’t be like Annanias and Saphira and just give a portion of yourself — pour all of your life into the nail-scarred hands of Jesus Christ and let him cover you in the righteousness given to all freely.
There is no magic formula, there is no ritual to perform other than admitting to Jesus you are rotting in the filth of your own sins and that you know He is the only remedy.
That is the narrow door we must all face.
Writer’s Note: There are many times I sit down to write this with absolutely no idea where it may be going, only that God has led me to a passage of scripture. Invariably, though, God leads my words back to the cross, just as he leads every one of us, so forgive me if I seem redundant week after week, but there is only one conclusion, “The Way of the Cross Leads Home.”
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