Rescuing Scripture, Theology, & Church from the Shackles of Religion
You and I can forgive others without requiring them to shed their blood. So why do some Christians teach that God requires the shedding of blood in order to forgive us? One reason is because of Hebrews 9:22 which says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. But the text does not teach what most people think it teaches. This post gives 10 reasons why Hebrews 9:22 does not teach that the shedding of blood is required for the forgiveness of sins.
Grace is outrageous and scandalous. God extends it out of his love, simply because He is gracious. He would have extended it even if Jesus had not died. The death of Jesus on the cross was because of God’s grace; not the grounds for it.
![[#61] The New Creation in the Gospel of John](https://redeeminggod.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/gospel-of-john-podcast-150x150.jpg)
I have said numerous times before that Genesis forms the foundation for the entire Bible. Today we are going to jump forward into the New Testament and take a brief glimpse at how the Gospel of John pulls themes and ideas from Genesis 1–3, and also how the first Epistle of John pulls themes from Genesis 4.
My book on the Atonement of God begins with a summary of three views on the atonement, and then I define and defend a fourth view, which is a Non-Violent view of the atonement. Following this, I summarize 10 ways the Non-Violent atonement transforms your theology to look more like Jesus Christ.
If you struggle with how to understand the violence of God in the Bible, this book helps you move toward a solution to that problem.
The Bible was not written primarily to reveal God to us, but was written to reveal the same thing that Jesus revealed on the cross, which is that we scapegoat people in the name of God. And until we see this, we will never read the Old Testament correctly, nor will we ever understand God properly.
Dear world… I am sorry. You were right all along. Will you forgive me?
There are numerous problems with the idea that the death of Jesus was to appease God, or do away with the wrath of God. This idea does not come from Scripture, but from the pagan idea that the gods are angry at us and need us to give them something of value to appease their anger. This post looks at what is wrong with the traditional understanding of the death of Jesus, and how we can understand it differently.
Jesus went to the cross out of love, to rescue us from sin, death, and devil, but since the Gospels (or the rest of the New Testament for that matter) don’t place much emphasis on the blood of Jesus or the pain He went through on the cross, maybe we shouldn’t either.
Do you want to spend six months focusing your mind on Jesus Christ and Him crucified? If so, let me send you one email per week for the next six months about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. There is no charge.
What Jesus accomplished on the cross and through His resurrection is central to everything else. The death and resurrection of Jesus are not only central to Scripture and the Gospel, but are also central to learning (maybe for the first time) what God is like, and how we are supposed to live our lives as followers of Jesus.
So start receiving these emails today and let your life and theology begin a cross-focused transformation.
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