Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

 ³⁰  Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!”  And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”  John 19:28-30.

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What exactly did Christ “finish” or accomplish by His death on the cross?

Here are some parts of the following Reformed Confessions which can help us understand:

The Heidelberg Catechism emphasizes that Christ made “full satisfaction”. 

Question 12.  Since then, by the righteous judgment of God, we deserved temporal and eternal punishment, is there no way by which we may escape that punishment, and be again received into favor?

Answer.  God will have his justice satisfied;  and therefore we must make this full satisfaction, either by ourselves, or by another.

The Belgic Confession (like The Heidelberg Catechism) emphasizes that Christ appeased God’s wrath by making full satisfaction.  The Belgic Confession also emphasizes that Christ’s sacrifice was perfect by which believers are made perfect forever. 

Article 21: Of the satisfaction of Christ, our only High Priest, for us.

We believe that Jesus Christ is ordained with an oath to be an everlasting High Priest, after the order of Melchisedec;  and that he hath presented himself in our behalf before the Father, to appease his wrath by his full satisfaction, by offering himself on the tree of the cross, and pouring out his precious blood to purge away our sins;  as the prophets had foretold.  For it is written:  He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:  the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.  He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and numbered with the transgressors, and condemned by Pontius Pilate as a malefactor, though he had first declared him innocent.  Therefore: he restored that which he took not away, and suffered, the just for the unjust, as well in his body as in his soul, feeling the terrible punishment which our sins had merited;  insomuch that his sweat became like unto drops of blood falling on the ground.  He called out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? and hath suffered all this for the remission of our sins.  Wherefore we justly say with the apostle Paul:  that we know nothing, but Jesus Christ, and him crucified;  we count all things but loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, in whose wounds we find all manner of consolation.  Neither is it necessary to seek or invent any other means of being reconciled to God, than this only sacrifice, once offered, by which believers are made perfect forever.  This is also the reason why he was called by the angel of God, Jesus, that is to say, Savior, because he should save his people from their sins.

The Canons of Dordt details the saving gifts.

Article 8.  For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of his Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation:  that is, it was the will of God, that Christ by the blood of the cross, whereby he confirmed the new covenant, should effectually redeem out of every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those, and those only, who were from eternity chosen to salvation, and given to him by the Father;  that he should confer upon them faith, which together with all the other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, he purchased for them by his death; should purge them from all sin, both original and actual, whether committed before or after believing;  and having faithfully preserved them even to the end, should at last bring them free from every spot and blemish to the enjoyment of glory in his own presence forever.

The Westminister Larger Catechism emphasizes that Christ bore the weight of God’s wrath and laid down his life as an offering for sin. 

Q. 49. How did Christ humble himself in his death?

A. Christ humbled himself in his death, in that having been betrayed by Judas, forsaken by his disciples, scorned and rejected by the world, condemned by Pilate, and tormented by his persecutors; having also conflicted with the terrors of death, and the powers of darkness, felt and borne the weight of God’s wrath, he laid down his life an offering for sin, enduring the painful, shameful, and cursed death of the cross.

Why is it so important that we have a true understanding and appreciation for what Christ finished and accomplished on the cross?

There are those who falsely teach that Christ’s death only opened up the possibility of salvation, but it is up to man to supply what is missing, namely man-generated works or man-generated faith.  Thus, under these false teachings, salvation is ultimately determined by man. 

These false teachings may seem pious at first, but they too lightly regard the blood of Christ.  

Scripture warns:  “How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”  Hebrews 10:29.  I think this Scripture not only applies to those who are openly hostile to Christ;  it also applies to those who regard the blood of Christ too lightly.

Matthew 5:13 gives an example of those who trample over salt.  These people are not hostile to salt, but they give it insufficient respect.   “You are the salt of the earth;  but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”  Likewise, there are those who regard the blood of Christ so lightly that in a sense, they trample over it.

In conclusion, let us join Paul who states:  “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.  For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.  I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”  1 Corinthians 2:1-5.