The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity

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Process (2/4) | We have been saved from sin

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’)

When some of those standing there heard this, they said, ‘He’s calling Elijah.’

Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, ‘Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.’

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

MATTHEW 27:45–51

I recently started filming vlogs of my daughters’ trips to watch Brighton’s women’s team play football. I have found myself being strangely drawn into the process of how to produce an engaging video. As a result, I’ve probably spent a little too much time researching how I can generate more views and subscribers.

However, only the other day it dawned on me that vlogging is all about personality. People watch as they are drawn to your on-screen persona. This is symptomatic of our cultural moment. We create an image of ourselves that we hope others are drawn to and will want to see more of. As a result, we ascribe value to other’s opinions of our created selves.

In his masterful work, Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West, Andrew Wilson writes that the message of God’s grace causes such thinking to turn upside down. For Christians, the focus is not on us and the question is not: ‘Have I done enough?’ Rather, the focus is on Jesus, and the question is: ‘Has he?’

Our passage today answers this question with Jesus’ dying breath, as we enter the next stage of seeing our faith as a lifelong process. We have missed the goal and sinned by putting ourselves in God’s place. We are justified by Jesus’ actions on the cross as he takes our place.

After being betrayed by those responsible for Israel’s spiritual direction and then brutally nailed to a cross by those responsible for Israel’s political direction, Jesus takes the consequences of humanity’s sin upon himself. The Messiah died according to the Scriptures and the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom. This reveals that the sin that separated humans from God had been removed. Jesus achieves the goal for us.

In his letter to the churches in and around Ephesus, Paul proclaims ‘for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God…’ (Ephesians 2:8). The message of God’s grace through Jesus’ death on the cross reminds us of this fundamental part of seeing our faith as a process. We have been saved from the penalty of sin and death.

This is good news! What’s even better is that we can invite those around us who do not yet follow Jesus into this process by the grace of God.

Luke Johnson
Luke is a part-time teacher, part-time church worker, and recent graduate of an MA in Christian spirituality.

This week, where do you need to recognise that God’s grace is enough is for you? And what difference do you imagine this might make for how you live alongside and love your neighbours, in this world so short on grace?

*See Andrew Wilson, Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West (Crossway, 2023), p279–280.

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