angelo, until you understand and accept this you will always have problems with Christ being God.
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner [Ps. 118:22].
The stone in this verse refers to Christ Himself. Our Lord in Matthew 21:42 made that clear: “… Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?” First Peter 2:6–8 says, “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. The stone is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Leviticus teaches that the way to God is by sacrifice. The word atonement occurs 45 times in this book. Atonement means to “cover up.” The blood of bulls and goats did not actually take away sin. It covered over sin until Christ came to take away all sins. This is what Paul is referring to in Romans 3:25: “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”
The sins that are past are the sins back in the Old Testament. You see, God never accepted the blood of bulls and goats as the final payment for sin, but He required that blood be shed. It was an atonement to cover over the sins until Christ came. In other words, God saved “on credit” in the Old Testament. When Christ came, as the hymn accurately states it, “Jesus paid it all.” This is true as far as the past is concerned, and as far as the present is concerned, and as far as the future is concerned.
One of the key verses in Leviticus, dealing with atonement, is found in Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” The way to God is by sacrifice and without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.
Do His promises to Israel no longer stand?
But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end [Isa. 45:17].
Israel’s salvation is everlasting. God says, “Yes, you are going to be judged, Israel. You are going to Babylon, but you are going to return to the land. Rebellion is still in your heart, but ultimately I am going to save you.” He is speaking of the nation of Israel being saved, not individual people.
BigMack
angelo, until you understand and accept this you will always have problems with Christ being God.
I think really what I have the most problem with is the idea of God literally becoming man. As we have discussed earlier, if we look at the Word on the level of being mediator between God and man, I have no problem with it. Likewise, the idea of Jesus being the messiah is not an insurmountable problem. It is the "Word made flesh" -- literally made flesh in the person of Jesus -- of a man literally being God -- that is the obstacle for me.
In other words, God saved “on credit” in the Old Testament.
Okay.
Then, if I understand correctly, people who lived and died before Jesus could be saved "on credit" without knowing or believing in Jesus, but that those who lived after Jesus can only be saved if they believe in him? If God is not a respecter of persons, then why would He hold some to a different standard for salvation?
He is speaking of the nation of Israel being saved, not individual people.
What about the other passages I quoted, which do seem to be more clearly about individual salvation?