Monthly Archive for February, 2001

1 John 2:2b

Published on February 28, 2001 in 1 John. 0 Comments
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  “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

 
and not for ours only
 
Jesus did not only die for believers but He died for unbelievers as well. 
 
The word “ours” is a strong term placing emphasis on this word. This “ours” includes John; he was not sinlessly perfect though an apostle. 
 
PRINCIPLE: Christians are uniquely responsible for their sin. 
 
APPLICATION: God does not argue with the non-Christian about their sins but he does with the Christian. Christians are more responsible for their sins than the non-Christian. 
 
It is easy to fall into despair over our sins as Christians. The reason for this is that we think the resolution lies within ourselves. This is especially truth when we look at the God of light – absolute in His righteousness. That is why we cannot plead our righteousness else there would be no hope. Our only plea is Jesus Christ’s righteousness and sacrifice for our sins. 
 
Jesus does not plead for our innocence but He pleads for our guilt. He knows our guilt but pleads His blood as a proper appeasement for sin. The basis of Jesus’ appeal is not His plea. The Father would not respond to a simple plea for forgiveness; He needs a basis for forgiveness. He does not respond to simple manipulation of words; He requires something consistent with His nature – justification for forgiveness. 
 
Therefore, God is propitious. God always deals with believers on the basis of the blood of Christ. Christ has an absolute right plea for us because He suffered all that needs to be suffered as far as the Father is concerned. Jesus transferred the perfection of His righteousness to our account.
 
2 Co 5: 21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
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1 John 2:2

Published on February 27, 2001 in 1 John. 0 Comments
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 “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
 
 
We have twofold provision in Jesus Christ: 1) an Intercessor and 2) a Propitiator. Verse one set forth Jesus as our Intercessor. Verse two sets forth Jesus as our Propitiator – the One who satisfies the holy demands of an absolute God (1:5). 
 
Chapter 1 should have ended with 2:2. John set forth 3 claims and 3 counterclaims. Verses 1 and 2 are the last counterclaim. 
 
And He Himself
 
Normally priest and sacrifice are distinct but here they are the same. Jesus is not only our Intercessor but He is the sacrifice for our sins as well. Jesus can plead our cause because of what He did. He does not plead our cause for what we did, do or will do. 
 
The Greek puts great emphasis on the person of the propitiator. Christ alone is able to propitiate God. He is in His own person and work the propitiation. This connects closely with His role as our Defense Attorney (2:1). Jesus’ work of propitiation gives efficacy to His work of intercession. 
 
is the propitiation for our sins,
 
This word “propitiation” is not the same word as is found in Romans 3:25. The word in Romans refers to the “mercy seat,” the meeting place between God and man. The word in our verse carries the idea of expiation. My sin does not undo the sacrifice of Christ for my sin. That is why Jesus undertakes my case before the Father when I sin. 
 
We need to distinguish between expiation and appeasement. Expiation refers to payment of penal exaction or punishment leveled against our sin. Appeasement refers to turning away God’s wrath. Propitiation refers to the full satisfaction of the absolute, holy and righteous character of God. “Mercy seat” was the place of propitiation. In the New Testament is the shed blood of the body of Christ.
 
Jesus as our Defense Attorney is His office but His role in propitiation is the satisfaction He offers to the Father that makes it possible for Him to officiate in the office of Defense Attorney. The Defense Attorney offers Himself as the basis of satisfaction! 
 
Propitiation is a term of appeasement. Jesus’ death on the cross appeased the wrath of God against our sin. God must be just or consistent with Himself. He is absolute in His being and He can never compromise His character in any way. 
 
The New Testament uses “propitiation” in the sense of satisfaction, appeasing. Jesus satisfies the demands of an absolute God. We cannot by our merit bring God into favor with ourselves. God is always propitiated by the atonement sacrifices of the Old Testament or the work of Christ on the cross. 
 
Death for sin vindicates God’s righteous character. The person who believes in this propitiatory sacrifice appeases the wrath of God. Jesus forever broke down the barrier between God an man in His work on the cross. He annuls the authority of sin to separate us from God. We satisfy the holy demands of God through faith in the blood of Christ. God makes actual the efficacy of the propitiation by those who believe in the means of appeasing God – the death of Christ for our sins.
 
Ro 3: 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation [mercy seat] by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed…”
 
Jesus did not just make satisfaction for our sins but who He is and what He did is satisfaction itself. God puts great value on the blood of Christ to save us. God is satisfied! Our Advocate pleads our cause on this basis. It is His brief before the almighty, absolute God. Jesus pleads His work on the cross. 
 
PRINCIPLE: Jesus’ death on the cross satisfies the absolute demands of God’s holy character. 
 
APPLICATION: Note that the statement is not, “If I repent, I have an Advocate” or, “If I confess my sins, I have an Advocate.” The statement is, “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father.” I have an Advocate whether I repent or not. 
 
Jesus is always our Advocate whether for sins confessed or sins unconfessed. Jesus takes up my case every time I sin. He represents me to the Father without exception. Sin does not touch the issue of our relationship to the Father but it does relate to the issue of our fellowship with the Father. That is why we must confess our sin to get back in communion with Him (1:9). The Father is more than ready to receive us back into fellowship when we do. 
 
The propitiatory sacrifice of Christ for our sins satisfied the demands of an absolutely holy God. He took our penalty for our sin as our substitute. He took our hell that we might have His heaven. 
 
Jn 1: 29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’”
 
He 9: 26 “He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
 
He 10: 10 “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
 
1 Pe 1: 18 “…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
 
Why we do make such an issue over Jesus? He died for us. He took our hell. He gave Himself for us. He took our rap. We go to heaven free of charge because of Him. That undermine all religion because it undercuts any attempt at morality to gain God’s approval. Religion, morality, church rites, baptism and confirmation cannot cut any ice with God to gain salvation. None of it will take you to heaven. Only the final, finished work of Christ’s suffering on the cross can give you eternal life. 
 
God dismisses Satan’s case against us because of the blood of Christ. Jesus’ appeal is perfect. It will not help to say, “Oh, I will never do it again.” This is ridiculous. The frequency of sinning is another matter. We can get out of fellowship occasionally or for long periods of time. The great objective is sin less so that confession is only necessary occasionally.
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1 John 2:1d

Published on February 26, 2001 in 1 John. 0 Comments
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"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
 
 
Jesus Christ the righteous
 
Jesus is not only our Advocate but a “righteous” Advocate. Jesus is “righteous” as our Advocate. He pleads for us on the ground of His perfect righteousness and justice. Although Jesus can say little good of us, He can say plenty for us. He can plead His own righteousness for us. 
 
Ro 8: 34 “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”
 
He 7: 25 “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
 
The word “righteous” is an added qualification to the name “Jesus Christ.” “Jesus” is His human name and “Christ” is the term for Jesus’ Messiahship. 
 
PRINCIPLE: Jesus stands in towering majesty above all men and is exclusively qualified to intercede for us. 
 
APPLICATION: Jesus stands in towering supremacy above all men. There is no one that compare to the magnificent Son of God. He is the sinless, spotless Son – the Great Unlike. 
 
“Jesus Christ the righteous” is the essence of our advocacy for He is absolute righteousness. Jesus pleads our cause before the Judge; He is our counsel for defense. He is an intercessor for us. Jesus pleads at the right hand of the Father when we commit sins.
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1 John 2:1c

Published on February 25, 2001 in 1 John. 0 Comments
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"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

 

with the Father,

This is the third time we have had the title “Father” in this epistle. Each time the preposition “with” occurs with the title. 

1: 2 “…and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us…”

1: 3 “…that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

The place of Jesus’ advocacy is “with the Father.” The word “with” means facing, turning towards. Jesus directs our cause to the Father. Jesus always enjoys unhindered access to and communion with the Father. Jesus does not represent rebellious creatures to God as the Creator but erring children to the Father. 

The Father is the Maker of all His creatures but He is only the Father to His dear children – “little children” [born ones]. 

PRINCIPLE: Jesus defends us against the accusations of the Devil. 

APPLICATION: Jesus is our defense attorney against the accusations of Satan. The name “Satan” means accuser (Job 1:6-11; Zech 3:1-2; Re 12:9,10). He has a worldwide network of agents (demons) that report on believers everywhere. Jesus is our advocate for each allegation. He represents us in the highest court of all – the final court of an absolute God. 

We retained a Defense Attorney when we believed in the finality of the death of Christ on behalf of our sin. Christ bore all our sin on the cross. There is no suffering for sin that needs to be suffered. 

2 Co 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

1 Pe 2:24 “…who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed.”

1 Pe 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit…”

Re 1:5 “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood”

The Father judged all of our sins for all time on the cross. There is therefore no more penalty to be paid for sin. There is a law in civil government called “the law of double jeopardy.” This law says in effect that a person cannot pay for the same crime twice. If Christ paid for our sins, then we do not have to pay for them. He did it all; all to Him we owe. That is why God throws Satan’s accusations out of court. God has already judged our sin on the cross. 

The sin of the believer is a family of God matter. Should we sin without confession then God takes us to the woodshed (He 12:6-7). God disciplines his family members should any of them stay out of fellowship very long. The moment we confess our sins, God restores us into fellowship. He does this on the merit of Christ and the work He did on the cross. That is why God can throw the accusations of Satan out of court with good conscience.

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1 John 2:1b

Published on February 24, 2001 in 1 John. 0 Comments
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“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
 
 
And if anyone sins,
 
Should a Christian sin, he has wherewithal to address his sin – a Lawyer in heaven who satisfied the absolute demands of the Father’s absolute being. 
 
we have an Advocate
 
The words “we have” indicate that the advocacy of Jesus begins at the moment we commit a single sin. Jesus instantaneously and constantly is at our disposal whether we realize it or not. This is true regardless whether we appreciate or not. He will always come to our side to help us with our sin issue before an absolute God. 
 
Jesus is more than a Savior and more than Lord, He is our Advocate or Lawyer. He is with the Father and intercedes on our behalf to the Father. An advocate is someone called along side to help. An advocate comes to someone’s aid. Secular Greek used “advocate” as a court term to denote a legal assistant, counsel for defense. Jesus as our Advocate pleads our cause; He is our Intercessor.
 
The word “advocate” occurs 5 times in the Greek New Testament. Other occurrences translate it by “comforter.” All 4 of the other occurrences refer to the Holy Spirit. 
 
We have a Defense Attorney in Jesus Christ and another Defense Attorney in the Holy Spirit. Jesus defends us against the accusations of the Devil because of our sin (Re 12:10). The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live the Christian life (Ro 6:12-14; 8:12,13; 1 Co 15:34; Ti 2:11,12; 1 Pe 1:13-16). 
 
PRINCIPLE: God makes provision for the sins of the believer. 
 
APPLICATION: God provides a double advocacy for the believer: 1) the Lord Jesus Christ interceding in heaven and 2) the Holy Spirit comforting on earth. Jesus’ advocacy is finished – that is the basis of his plea against the accusations of Satan against the believer. 
 
In addition to our two Advocates, the Father has an Advocate – the Holy Spirit. Jesus takes care of all our affairs over there. The Father has an advocate who takes care of His concerns over here. God has an Advocate with us and we have an Advocate with Him.
 
Jn 14: 16 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper [advocate], that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
 
The word “another” indicates that there are two comforters. Jesus says, “I am Comforter number one but I will ask the Father to give you another comforter. This comforter will be similar to me.” The Holy Spirit is to us what Jesus was to the 12 apostles. This is the first occurrence of the word “comforter.”
 
Jn 14: 26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
 
The Holy Spirit is the Lord Jesus’ representative here. He is the one and only Vicar of Christ. He personally represents the Lord Jesus in time on earth. He helps us in our infirmities (Ro 8:26). 
 
Jn 15: 26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”
 
The preceding two verses indicated that the Father sent the Spirit. Now this verse indicates that Jesus sent the Spirit. Both the Father and the Son dispatched the Holy Spirit to earth. The Holy Spirit always bears witness to the Lord Jesus. 
 
Jn 16: 7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”
 
This is the fourth and final occurrence outside 1 John. The Lord Jesus in His humanity cannot be over there and over here at the same time.
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1 John 2:1

Published on February 23, 2001 in 1 John. 0 Comments
Read Introduction to 1 John

 

“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
 
 
My little children,
 
John addresses his readers affectionately as his spiritual children. He views them as a family. The word “children” is an affectionate term regardless of age. This is a title that God gives to all His children; it is His name for all the family of God. 
 
these things I write to you,
 
The purpose of writing 1 John is that believers would have a means for addressing sin issues. This is an argument against the idea that Christians must engage in inevitable habitual sinful behavior. 
 
John does not write so that his readers have justification for their sin (1:6,8,10) but that they might conquer sin. Although Christians sin (1:10), they can conquer sin – “so that you may not sin.” 
 
so that you may not sin.
 
John writes with the purpose that his readers will have a safeguard against sinning. If we practice sin, we will become more proficient in it. That is how we were before we received Jesus as our Savior. Now, it is altogether different; we have Someone to live for. John’s desire is that his readers will not sin at the point of temptation. 
 
PRINCIPLE: Although believers are not free from sin they can overcome sin. 
 
APPLICATION: Temptation never becomes a sin until we allow our negative volition to yield to sin. There is no sin in being tempted but it is a sin to yield to temptation. Once the temptation becomes a sin, there is a danger of entering into carnality and dominance of sin unless we confess the sin. 
 
Although we are not in a state of carnality when we commit an act of sin, we do step out of fellowship with the Lord. If we go on without confessing, we make ourselves vulnerable to domination of our sin capacity. Because God is absolute, spirituality must be absolute (1:5). We cannot be 50% spiritual and 50% carnal. At any point of time, either the Spirit controls us or our sin capacity controls us. 
 
Before we came to Christ sin was the rule rather than the exception. Now when the child of God falls into sin, he grieves the Father, the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus. He even grieves himself. That is why we do not remain in sin with a clean conscience. The believer who wants to stay in tune with God confesses his sin immediately (1:9). He restores fellowship as soon as possible. He keeps short accounts with God. 
 
Many believers get into a zigzag orientation in their daily walk with God. All of us have had this experience. It is one thing to commit individual acts of sin and immediately confess them but another thing to cave into the power of our sin capacity. The cross gives victory over the power of sin. By confession, we appeal to the cross and have the right to fellowship with God. Jesus broke the back of our sin capacity on the cross.
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1 John 1:10

Published on February 22, 2001 in 1 John. 0 Comments
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“If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
 
 
Note that each false claim in 6, 8 and 10 denies the truth that immediately precedes it in verses 5, 7 and 9 respectively. The corrective to follows in the verse immediately following the false claim. 
 
Now we come to the third false plea. This claim is a denial of having committed any sin at all. 
 
If we say that we have not sinned,
 
Sin is an ongoing reality in the life of Christians because God is a God of absolute perfection. John is still dealing with the idea that “God is light” (1:5). To deny that fact is to fool ourselves and reject the Word of God. 
 
we make Him a liar,
 
If we claim that we have not sinned, we make God out to be a liar. We say in effect that what God says about Himself in the Bible about our sin is not right. This claim is completely inconsistent with God’s character. What an awful thing to make God out to be a liar! 
 
and His word is not in us
 
God’s Word always confronts our sin. We either admit or deny what the Word says about our sins. If we deny that we have sin in our lives, we fly in the face of the Word of God. We do not appropriate properly the principles of the Word to our experience. 
 
The word “in us” indicates intimate fellowship. The Word of God does not have intimate fellowship with those who claim to be free from sin. 
 
PRINCIPLE: Openness to the full integrity of the Word of God is essential for fellowship with an absolutely holy God. 
 
APPLICATION: If we claim that sin is not sin, we dismiss the reality of an absolute God and set ourselves up as the standard for what is right and wrong. A person who claims to be free from sin is a super snob. The sinless perfectionist or the person who denies committing actual acts of sin is a super snob. 
 
We live in a day when our society denies the distinction between light and darkness. Tolerance is the only norm of consensus for North America. God says that this is dangerous. It is even more dangerous when Christians do not use biblical discernment to indicate what is right and wrong. We make God a liar in this. 
 
We are people of rationalization: “Other people are conceited but I am a person of self-respect. If someone else takes initiative, he is presumptuous; if I take initiative, I am creative. When others lose their tempter, they are angry; when I show indignation over something, it is righteous anger. Others are prejudice; I have convictions.” Nice labels do not change the poison inside the bottle. The problem is not circumstance but sin. We need to admit and confess this to God. 
 
The more sensitive we are to the Word of God, the quicker we will detect our sin and confess it. It can take some time for the Spirit to convict us of sins of omission and ignorance. We cannot confess sin until the Holy Spirit brings us to conviction of a sin. In the mean time the first two verses of chapter two take care of our situation during our time of no confession. 
 
Ro 14: 23 “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”
 
Ja 4: 17 “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
 
If we want to walk in unbroken fellowship with the Lord, we must confess our sin. The believer cannot have anything between the soul and the Savior for God to fellowship with him. We acknowledge any guile, bitterness or hard feelings that we might have toward others. 
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1 John 1:9e

Published on February 21, 2001 in 1 John. 0 Comments
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“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
 
 
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
 
The word “cleanse” means to make clean, purify. Not only does God forgive us for the sins we confess but He cleanses us from the sins we forget to confess. If we confess the sins of which we are aware, God will forgive us for the sins of which we are unaware. God cleanses us from anything that would prevent a believer from being right with God. 
 
Note the word “all.” God will never overlook the slightest bit of unrighteousness in us but He will cleanse the slightest unrighteousness. God cleanses us all overt and covert sins. He cleanses us from conscious sins and from unwitting sins. In His cleansing, He takes care of sins of commission and omission. 
 
PRINCIPLE: If we confess our known sins, God will forgive us the sins we forgot to confess. 
 
APPLICATION: You have committed hundreds of sins you forgot to confess. What do you do with them? Are you perpetually out of fellowship with God because you forgot to confess them? The point of cleansing us from all unrighteousness is that if we confess the sins we know, God will forgive us of the sins we forgot to confess. This is grace upon grace.
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1 John 1:9d

Published on February 20, 2001 in 1 John. 0 Comments
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 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
 
 
to forgive us our sins
 
God does two things based on His character:
 
1)    Forgive the sins we confess and
 
2)    Cleanse us from sins we forget to confess. 
 
Forgiveness is the result of God’s faithfulness and justice. Forgiveness is also conditional – upon “confession.” The word “forgive” means to cancel, remit, pardon, send away, dismiss. Sin always incurs debt to God. The idea then is that God removes our guilt for wrongdoing when we confess our sin. 
 
Mt 26: 28 “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission [forgiveness] of sins.”
 
The forgiveness here is instantaneous (aorist). God forgives in a moment of time and once for all. He does throw the sin you confess in your face to taunt you with it. 
 
PRINCIPLE: God forever dismisses our sin upon confession of the specific sin. 
 
APPLICATION: There are two kinds of forgiveness in the New Testament:
 
1)    Eternal forgiveness which all of us receive at the moment of salvation.
2)    Temporal forgiveness, which we receive at the confession of specific sins. 
 
We find eternal forgiveness in Ephesians 1:7.
 
Ep 1: 7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace…”
 
Temporal forgiveness restores the believer to fellowship with God (our verse). We “grieve” the Holy Spirit by not confessing sin (Ep 4:30). We can also “quench” the Spirit by not yielding ourselves to God’s will (1 Th 5:19). 
 
God dismisses our sin upon confession. Forgiveness is a form of forgetting. If God forgets our sins then we must forget them as well. We cannot allow a guilt complex to haunt us after God forgives us.
 
Ph 3:13 “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
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1 John 1:9c

Published on February 19, 2001 in 1 John. 0 Comments
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"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
 
 
He is faithful
 
God’s forgiveness rests in two attributes of God – His faithfulness and His justice. God will always act according to His character. 
 
God is true to His promises. He is always consistent with His character. God is never unfaithful to His Word. He never breaks His Word. God faithfully forgives us because of Christ’s death for us. He does nothing unfair. 
 
Je 31: 34 “…For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
 
Heb 10: 23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
 
He 11: 11 “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”
 
and just
 
God does nothing contrary to His character. He is always just and true to Himself. God’s justice is His moral self-consistency. He always acts in uprightness in keeping with His own character. 
 
God does not cleanse us because of love, mercy or kindness but always based on the finished work of Christ on the cross. God’s forgiveness is always consistent with His justice because Jesus took the penalty for our sin. We can depend on God’s righteousness to forgive us if we confess our sin. 
 
Ro 3:25 “…whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
 
PRINCIPLE: God must always be true to Himself. 
 
APPLICATION: It would be an insufferable contradiction if God were forced to violate His own righteous in order to forgive our unrighteousness. The same attribute of justice that demands sin’s punishment guarantees our forgiveness. 
 
God is faithful to Himself, His Son and His Word. He is just and right in everything He does. He always operates on the level. God will not make you crawl and cower before Him to receive His forgiveness. He does not require righteousness from us to receive forgiveness; all He requires is the death of Christ on the cross. 
 
Christianity is not operation bootstraps. God does not ask for our blood but the blood of Christ.
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