The Keystone – The Cross of Christ

By Arthur J Licursi

Introduction to the Cross of Christ - Its Purpose

The “keystone” is that one stone, which alone holds up the whole structure, making it work. It is that odd shaped stone at the very top of a Roman stone arch. Paul refers to Jesus Christ as the “chief cornerstone” (Eph 2:20), referring to such a keystone (Gk. acrogoniaios, the extreme uppermost part).

The Apostle Paul tells us that he was only determined to know Jesus Christ according to the cross. 1 Cor. 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save (except) Jesus Christ, and him crucified.  What does Paul mean? Have you ever noted that Paul never refers, even once, to anything that Jesus of Nazareth did before the cross – that is his miracles or what He said? Paul wrote; 2 Cor. 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh (humanity): yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh (humanity), yet now henceforth know we him no more. Paul was referring to the Christ who was the earthly Jesus of Nazareth, who had come only to, and for, Israel. (Matt 15:24).Paul saw that by the cross, Jesus Christ became the heavenly “Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:2, 1Cor 15:45, 2Cor 3:17); for all who would receive Him – they then become “the church, which is His body” (Eph 1:22b-23a).

You see, Paul is the one who to whom the ascended Christ revealed the nuts and bolts of the cross – to be taught to us Gentiles (Eph 3:1-5), as he wrote in his fourteen epistles. This paper is to explain in more detail why it is that Paul would consider Jesus Christ crucified to be the focus of Paul’s gospel, which would “establish” the Christian. Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery (musterion, secret), which was kept secret since the world began, Paul tells us what that mystery or secret was. Col. 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

The cross has a duality within it. The cross is the place of death and life, the place of termination of the old and germination of the new. God works by the cross which is the fulcrum point for mankind. The cross changes everything between man and God. Consider that whereas God was heretofore “unapproachable” – now God in Christ, as the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, dwells within every believer’s spirit.

The cross was in the heart of God since before the world began. The cross was not to rectify an error in God’s judgment in previous dispensations, now to “get to right”. No, the cross of Christ was in His heart from eternity past, as seen by the phrase “the lamb slain before the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8).

The ultimate purpose of the cross is that it is the basis for God to gain his “many sons”, according to His loving hearts desire, and which is in accord with “the eternal purpose that was purposed in Christ Jesus” (Eph 3:11). Hebrews 2:10 For it became him (God), for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory (expression), to make the captain of their salvation (Jesus) perfect (completed) through sufferings. It is the sufferings that Christ endured, both for us and as us, that lead to the enlargement of God’s family, to the children of God who are the living expression (glory), of their new found Father’s life. God’s Fatherhood comes out of the work of the cross of Christ.

Jesus foretold of the cross here. John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except (unless) a corn of wheat (a seed) fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. This “much fruit” are the many grains that come out of the One Seed sown into death. The cross has the purpose of yielding the many grains – born of the One Seed, Jesus Christ (Gal 3:16, 1Peter 1:23). We, who have been born of that One Seed, are the “many grains” – the “many sons” of God, being brought to express His life, as being the “glory of God”. It may not yet appear so to us, but we have the genetics, the spiritual DNA, of God your Father in your spirit right now, if we’ve been born of His Seed – Jesus Christ.

The two most commonly spoken of aspects of the cross of Christ, His blood and His death are preparatory for accomplishing God’s ultimate intent – producing these “many sons”. The blood and death of Christ exhibit only the termination side of the precious cross of Christ. We know there’s also the resurrection side of the cross.

I trust that as we proceed to study we will gain a greater view of the blood of Christ. We shall see that while most Christians think the cross primarily as the place of Jesus’ death for their sins, wonderful as this is, it alone falls woefully short of the depth of the riches of the cross of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Seeing the elements of the cross with greater understanding has the power to produce life-changing faith within us - the power to deeply change our lives.

My prayer is that we come each to see the riches of the glory of the work of Christ’s cross, which resulted in the glory that now abides within the spirit of every regenerated Christian who has been born of God’s spiritual loins.

The Blood of Christ:

In order to understand the impact of the blood of Christ shed for us at His crucifixion, we must view man according to God’s intention, as he was created. Man was created to simply become a living container to bear the very life of God – to be a living vessel for God’s expression. For this, man was created tri-part, with a body, soul, and spirit. God’s intention was that one day God would place His very life into the created man’s human spirit, thus making reborn in spirit – to be born of God Himself. This is indicated by the fact that God placed Adam before the Tree of Life.

If we see a verse that lists these three parts of man, but in a different order than I have listed above. 1 Thes. 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We can note from this verse, by a hermeneutic device called the “law of first mentioning”, that the spirit is listed first, placing it as the foremost part of man’s being. God intends that spirit rules soul, and soul is to rule the body.

This brings us to see the physical body as the least part of man according to God’s eternal plan. It is in the members of the physical flesh body that Sin as a nature dwells (Rom 7:17-23). The body contains the fallen nature that Adam gained at the fall in the garden, and which came also to all mankind as the lineage of Adam. Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: Sin has contaminated the originally created man with “acts of that Sin nature” which we call sins. Thus, if God is to bring man into accord with His eternal plan to have “many sons” by placing the life of Jesus Christ into them, there is a problem that needs to be remedied – man as a vessel had become a dirtied container – dirtied by acts of Sin in the flesh, called sins.

It is the blood of Christ that washes away our sins, making us suitable to receive the life of Christ. Let’s now look at some of the scriptures referring to the many aspects of Christ’s blood shed for us. Christ’s shed blood is supreme, matchless and absolutely effective. In Paul's fourteen epistles, under his “mystery gospel” of the pure grace of God, given him by the ascended Jesus Christ “for ye Gentiles” (Eph 3:1-2), there’s no such thing as repentance for each sin, or for sin.

Paul, our Apostle, never suggests, as John does to the Jews to whom he writes, 1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is conditional forgiveness, Paul saw a deeper truth. Thus, Paul never once writes of confessing our sins, he only mentions “confessing” as “homologeo”, as in “acknowledging”, that “Jesus Christ is Lord”.

Continual Forgiveness by The Blood of Christ

We must note the many verses that all indicate that the work of the cross on our behalf as completed as having been accomplished once and for all time – its never seen as something that “shall be” for the believer, rather, as “having forgiven all your trespasses”, “you have been”.

As with all aspects of Christ’s cross, we must view the blood of Christ dispensationally, under grace, versus being under the law, in order to fully appreciate its benefits to us. Paul, having been the first to see the truth of the effectual blood of Christ in depth, never uses the phrase “if”, as in “if we confess our sins”. Rather, Paul shares his revelation of the cross as the finished work of God, on our behalf, in his many writings to “the church, which is His body” – the body of Christ.

Paul saw that the forgiveness of our sins as being solely by the grace and blood of Christ, PLUS NOTHING of our effort. Paul here in Eph 1:6-7 reveals the continual means by which we are washed of our sins, a means that is effective once and for all time, for the believer. It only requires that we believe it.

Eph. 1:6-7 … wherein he (God) hath made us accepted in the beloved (Christ). ⁷In whom (Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Paul saw that forgiveness of sins is found only by being our “IN Christ”; and we know that we were placed into Christ’s body by the Spirit (1Cor 12:13), at the moment we receive Him – being regenerated. Our “receiving Christ” placed us into Christ. We might say that we repented or changed our direction once; it was when we turned our heart to God and received Christ; that was our one, everlasting repentance. Paul also writes, Col. 2:13 And you… hath he quickened (made alive) together with him, having forgiven you (<< past tense) all trespasses (sins). Note here that this is a past tense statement; we have been forgiven of all sins – past present and future. The term “all” in the Greek is “pas”, having the meaning of absolutely all; past, present, and future. Paul saw that absolutely all our sins have been forgiven in Christ’s one offering of His shed blood. I know that we have been taught by religion that we must list our sins and ask God to forgive them often or daily in order to be forgiven, but this is in conflict with the revealed truth of God that we have received by the Holy Spirit inspired revelation of the blood of Christ given to Paul. We will see this even better as we go on.

Is Confession of Sins Necessary?

Now, I want to explain that there is a place for telling the Lord we are sorry for our sins – but, it is not necessary that we confess our sins in order to gain forgiveness of sins. Paul addresses this in his writing to the Hebrews. Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true (right) heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil (poneros, hurtful) conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Paul here addresses the condition of a part of us called our consciousness – we have consciousness in our soul - it becomes dirtied and hurtful to us. This cleansing comes not by the blood of Christ but by the washing of the water of the Spirit. It is a refreshing by the Spirit – a renewal. After we sin we sometimes note that we have a hurtful heart within our consciousness. It is not a matter of sins being noted by God – He has long ago, at the cross, dealt with and forgiven ALL our sins. In this verse Paul instructs us saying, we can have a true (right) heart in full assurance of our relationship with God our Father; because the water of the Spirit of God can also cleanse our consciousness. We see by this that any such response of expressing our sorrow is not for God (He is satisfied by Christ’s blood), rather, it is for us, to put us at ease. To ask for God’s forgiveness of our sins would mean we do not yet believe in the sufficiency of Christ’s blood.

You see, if we live by the orthodox teachings of modern day Christianity, we would in all honesty have to spend most of our day confessing sins. Ask yourself, do you as a Christian really list and ask God’s forgiveness for every sin? I am sure you do not. Remember, all sin is sin - there are no big or small sins.

Just look at the standard as to what sin is, according Paul’s grace gospel. Paul writes in Rom 14:28 "whatsoever is not of faith is sin". Sin then would be to live and have your way, apart from trusting and obeying the leading and guidance from Christ, who we know now is within us. Wow, that means when I live with anxiousness and fears, as proof of my lack of faith toward God as my sufficiency, I am sinning. When I think I must correct the people around me to control all the situations and circumstances of my life, I am then distrusting God as being sovereign over all “working all things for my good” (Rom 8:28), and I’m thereby sinning. Then, considering my rampant and admitted unfaithfulness or distrust of God, if I would have to repent of each and every sin, I would spend about 2 hours a day repenting. So, let’s dispense with the old religious idea that we must confess every sin. Our Father, God, has provided the blood of Christ to pay for all sins – past, present and future. This is why Christ’s blood is so very precious. In Christ and by His blood that was shed once and for all time, we stand blameless, righteous, and pure before God, in His love (Eph 1:3-4); we stand cleansed in Christ’s blood for evermore.

More Scripture Concerning Christ’s Blood

Christ’s innocent blood shed to deal with the sins of mankind was foretold by typology, without the mention of blood specifically. The blood may be seen in the innocent blood that was shed to cover Adam and Eve’s sin.

Gen 3:7 the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made them aprons. 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Jesus foretold of the purpose and work of His blood for Israel’s new covenant. Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Paul writes Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Then Paul writes to the Hebrews to let them know, from his familiarity with their own Jewish heritage and historical understanding of animal sacrifices, now in the light of the revelation he had received from the ascended Christ, the differences between animal sacrifices and that of Christ. Paul makes clear to the Hebrews that unlike the blood of animal sacrifices of the old covenant under the law, which were offered repeatedly, they were not able to actually take away sins. Hebrews 10:3-4 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. ⁴For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.  

Paul tells the Hebrew - Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. He goes on. Hebrews 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.  The sins are gone and once sins are remitted then there is no more offering needed. Hebrews 10:18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.  Paul tells them they now can have boldness through the work of the shed blood of Christ. Hebrews 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

Peter confirms the efficacy of Christ’s blood, writing to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Only Christ’s blood remits sins, whereas there traditional offerings of Israel do not redeem men. 1Pet 1:18-19 … ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; ¹⁹But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Paul tells the Gentiles that it is by Christ’s cross that God made us alive and forgave us of all sins. No matter what you have done - God has already forgiven all our sins. Col 2:13-14b NKJ … He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all (pas, being past, present and future) trespasses (sins)

Luke quotes Paul, here speaking of the redemption in Christ versus the impotence of the Law of Moses. Acts 13:38-39 NKJ "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man (Jesus) is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹ "and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Paul tells the members of the body of Christ - Romans 6:14b…for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

This was according to God’s plan from …before the world began. We do not have to plead or to convince Him to forgive us. He planned for our forgiveness from before “the foundation of the world”. John writes in Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain (already) from the foundation of the world. Christ was crucified, shedding His blood already in the heart of God for the redemption of mankind, before the world began.

We must simply believe Christ’s one offering of his blood was sufficient payment for ALL sin, and thereby God has forgiven us. Our redemption by the blood of Christ is forever – eternal. Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Now all we can do is simply believe and thank Him.

Note this Contrast between Law & Grace:

1) Sins, under the law, were only “covered” – so as not to be held against the righteous who lived by faith, such as Abraham. Until the cross and Christ’s blood was shed, men’s sins could only be covered.

Psalm 85:2 NKJ You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin.

Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember (zakar, take note of) thy sins.  Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember (nmaomai, bear in mind) no more. Sins were still there, but God did not keep them in mind.

2) Now, after the cross, our sins are… “Cancelled”.

2 Cor 5:19 NKJ that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing (logizomai, no longer inventoried) their trespasses (sins) to them…

AMPLIFIED Bible - 2 Cor 5:19 It was God (personally present) in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them]; and committing to us the message of reconciliation -- of the restoration to favor.

Romans 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (a expiatory sacrifice that compensates or pays for sins) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission (Gk., paresis, toleration) of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Thus, God, by Christ’s shed blood, has fully compensated for the sins that were only tolerated or covered by Him in the past.

The good news of the Pauline Grace Gospel for the body of Christ is that Jesus Christ already paid the price for all of our sins. Not only is God no longer holding any sin against us, but all our sins have been dropped entirely from the record of our debt. We have been forgiven of ALL sins. Our debt was not covered, but cancelled – as being Paid in full!

Now we must simply believe in order to receive the benefit of Jesus' sacrifice. Ephes 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.

We have redemption and justification through his shed blood.

·       Redeemed = Our Debt is now paid in Full

·       Justified = “just-as –if-I’d” never sinned

Ephes 1:7 NKJ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

Col 1:13-14 NKJ He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom (REALM) of the Son of His love, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Rom 5:9 … being now justified by his blood…

We simply need to trust that what God says in His word is true – all our sins are taken away – past, present, and future sins. We must see the fact is that we cannot be condemned. Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God has also sprinkled and cleansed our consciousness with water of the “Spirit of life”, so we can keep on walking in Him, with our mind at ease. Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil (poneros, hurtful) conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.  Thus we can have confidence in our good standing and our acceptance by God “in Christ”.

Let’s now compare God’s forgiveness of sins under the two dispensations of Law and Grace.

1) Under the Law, Jesus told the Jews they had to forgive first in order to receive forgiveness. Matt 6:12 And (God) forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  Here we see there is a conditional requirement for being forgiven while under law. Any preacher who preaches this conditional requirement preaches law. That would be in conflict with Paul’s statement. Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

2) Under the “Dispensation of the Grace of God”, our forgiveness is UNconditional – we’ve simply received forgiveness by receiving Christ’s substitutionary work on our behalf.

We are unconditionally justified.

Roman 3:24 Being justified (dikaioo, rendered innocent) freely (dorean, without cause, unconditional) by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Paul then writes this.

Eph 4:32 be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath (already) forgiven you. Col. 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave (already) you, so also do ye.

How is it that God has forgiven us?

God forgave us freely. Paul encourages us to forgive others in the same way. So, we now forgive others freely.

How is it that we can forgive others?

We must see that God not only forgave us, but He also gave us His life and love on the inside. Thus He has equipped us to forgive ourselves, and others freely -- even when they have wronged us.

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