Articles
Is It Worth Crucifying Christ Over It?
“For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame.” (Heb 6:4-6)
Christ didn’t deserve to die on the cross. At his trials, no guilt was found in him (Luke 23:4, 14-15, 22). He knew no sin, yet he became sin on our behalf (2 Cor 5:21). He was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). He was sinless, yet he died for us even while we were yet sinners (Rom 5:7-8). The death of Jesus would not have happened if it had not been for our sins. His death secures our forgiveness and his resurrection secures our justification (Rom 4:25).
In Christ, our motivation ought to be to crucify ourselves with Christ (Gal 2:20), to take up our cross and follow him (Luke 9:23), and to have his mind in ourselves (Phil 2:5). Yet sometimes, instead of crucifying ourselves, Christians choose to re-crucify Christ! Why? The writer of Hebrews describes those who fall away as once again crucifying Christ and putting him to open shame. By rejecting the Lord they had once accepted, they cease to be his servants and instead join forces with the wicked crucifiers. The writer of Hebrews has further harsh words for these people later on, when he writes that “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Heb 10:28-29)
There is no sensible way to read the book of Hebrews and conclude that “once saved always saved” is a biblical teaching (at least as far as this earthly life is concerned). Many in the religious world have tried to deny this reality, but such a denial stems from an extremely selective handling of the biblical evidence and a convenient reinterpretation of the clearest texts. Falling away is a real danger for Christians. Re-crucifying Jesus is a real danger for Christians. The impassioned fervency of the New Testament warnings cannot simply be hand-waved by philosophical meanderings. We must watch ourselves so that we remain in the faith of Christ!
Of course, one of the obvious ways that one could fall away is by outright renouncing faith in Christ and walking away from the faith altogether. But there are other more sinister ways that the devil uses to get at Christians. Paul, for instance, warned the Galatians Christians that if they submitted to the Judaizing teachers, Christ would be of no benefit to them (Gal 5:2) and they will have “fallen from grace” (Gal 5:4). One can claim to follow Christ, and yet be led astray by alternative gospels that distort the simplicity and purity of the true gospel (cf. 2 Cor 11:3).
Another warning for Christians appears in the teachings of Jesus. Jesus tells a parable about a previously forgiven servant being unwilling to forgive one who owed him a substantially lesser debt (Matt 18:23-34). That first servant was found out by his master and his debt was “unforgiven.” Jesus then warns the disciples that “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart” (Matt 18:35). The implications are clear. Failure to forgive our brethren for slights against us can cost us our own forgiveness! If we do not show love for those whom Christ was crucified for, then Christ’s sacrifice will cease to be of benefit to us, and we very well might crucify him again!
There is a practical conclusion for us who profess to follow Jesus. The next time we come into conflict with a brother or sister, if they frustrate us or aggravate us in some way, if they anger us or hurt us, if they do something that outright infuriates us, if we feel like they “owe” us, if we feel like they need to “pay us back,” or if we feel like we need to “pay them back”—anytime any of these things happen, we would do well to ask one simple question:
“Is it worth crucifying Christ over it?”
And if the answer is no (which it will always be), then perhaps we should consider forgiveness instead. Whatever wrong has been committed against us, it pales in comparison to the wrongs we have committed against Christ. Somehow, he found it in his heart to forgive us. We must likewise find it in our heart to forgive others.
