IS IT NO LONGER A SIN QUESTION BUT A SON QUESTION?

By Pastor Art Watkins of Coden Bible Church (Coden, Alabama)

April 27, 2010

“It is no longer a sin question, but is now a Son question.”

I have heard this statement many times. I believe it expresses a muddled view of the work of Christ, of salvation and the gospel.
“Christ died for our sins” expresses why He had to die, that is, to pay our sin debt. That His payment was accepted is evidenced by God raising Him from the dead. But our sins are still the issue.

That Christ’s death was sufficient for all mankind to be saved and forgiven we heartily admit. This tells us of the extent of the provision made by the Lord’s work on the cross. But the idea that everyone is forgiven is to loose sight of the principle of substitution. He is the “propitiation for our sins,” in the sense that His work is sufficient to meet the need and settle the debt for everyone. But the idea that everyone is therefore forgiven is not true, nor is it the gospel.

We receive forgiveness, that is, it is made applicable to our own personal need only when and upon our believing the gospel. The great principle is that our sins were borne by Him on the cross and that we, by our identification with Him in His death, receive His righteousness imputed to our account. Our sins were transferred to Him. He paid our debt. His righteousness was transferred to us upon our believing in Him as our Savior.

Someone put it this way: Suppose a person had an incurable disease and he was presented with a medicine that was a guaranteed cure. He refused and died. Would his death certificate read, as the cause of death, “He died because he refused to take a pill,” or did “He die because of the disease”? Of course, he died because of the disease. Much more can be said. This should point us in the right direction.