Mfblume, thanks again for sharing your thoughts. I do not have the time I used to have to respond to these threads which is why I have been absent for some time.
After reading your last posts I think you may be confusing two different things. There was a work of God done IN CHRIST that was finished on the Cross.
This was the work of remission. Then there is a subsequent work God does IN US
through the risen Christ when we believe.
This is the work of justification. I think you've combined the two works of God together into one. It seems you think we are right with God when he forgives us. This is not the case.
We are right with God only when He imputes to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Though forgiven on the Cross we need to be justified based on the imputed righteousness of Christ.
I realize many think the righteousness imputed to us is that righteousness performed by the believer through the empowerment of the Spirit, but I believe it is more correct to understand that the righteousness imputed to man is completely foreign to him - it is that of Christ. Just as our sinful actions were imputed to Christ, Christ's righteous actions are imputed to us.
Christ did not himself sin in the imputation, nor is that righteousness imputed to us upon which God bases our justification the result of us 'doing right.' The sin imputed to Christ was foreign to him as the righteousness imputed to us is foreign to us.
Our sins were imputed to Christ and paid for by his death. This brought an immediate finished work of
remission when he died. Christ's righteousness is subsequently imputed to us when we believe (
Romans 3:22;
Romans 4:11;
Romans 10:10). This brings our
justification before God.
Also, I find it a rather ironic that you seem to downplay the Calvinist position of 'election' while positing a position akin to the idea of 'limited atonement,' the "L" in their "TULIP." You say "all sin was imputed to Christ on the Cross," but you really mean only sin presently recognized, acknowledged and repented of was imputed to Christ on the Cross. In your view, the atonement will ultimately only cover those sins and not others (in fact, you re-stated this to be the case). The atonement was thus limited only to the sins of those who ultimately elected to believe.
That the atonement had potential strength to cover all sin is irrelevant if one does not accept that it did. Unless it did, the atonement was limited.
My position understands the full work of atonement by Christ in recognizing His blood fully dealt with all sin whether repented of or not. All sin was imputed to Christ on the Cross and historically remitted opening the door for the possibility of justification based on the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us when we believe. The cause of spiritual death was removed on the Cross so that we might receive the justification of life (
Romans 5:18).
This leads us back to a question I asked earlier concerning the removal of the cause of spiritual death. I'd like to hear your answer to that question:
Can a man possess the Spirit of Life while still condemned by imputed sin?
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