Church Plight
The sermon emphasizes the importance of understanding the internal Cross, our identification with Christ's death, and living a life that is no longer in bondage to sin.
Miles J. Stanford delves into the profound truth of the Cross, emphasizing not only Christ's atonement for sins but also the triumph over sin. He highlights the importance of moving beyond a contractual relationship with Jesus to a personal one, where identification with Christ's crucifixion leads to deliverance from the power of self, sin, and the world. Stanford stresses the significance of appropriating by faith the reality that our old self was crucified with Christ, enabling us to be free from the bondage of sin and live a life of victory.
Text
"For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27).
In regard to the external Cross, the obvious fact is that "Christ died for our sins." As to the internal Cross, while not so obvious, it is still a fact that we are to be "always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:11).
"Popular Fundamentalist theology has emphasized the utility of the Cross rather than the beauty of the One who died on it. The saved man's relation to the Lord Jesus has been made contractual instead of personal. The 'work' of Christ has been stressed until it has eclipsed the Person of Christ. Substitution has been allowed to supersede identification. What He did for us seems to be more important than what He did to us." -A.W.T.
"The death of the Lord Jesus was not only an atonement for sins, but a triumph over sin. By faith we see our sins not only on His head for our pardon, but sin under His feet for our deliverance. Multitudes who glory in the outward Cross know nothing of that inward crucifixion which it has also made possible, whereby they are delivered from the power of self and sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil. That they do not know: That their 'old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, so that they should no longer be in bondage to sin' (Romans 6:6)." -G.M.
"We are not only to take by faith the fact that the Lord Jesus died for us to pay the price and penalty of our sins, but we are to appropriate by faith the fact that He also took us to the Cross with Him. In Christ, God put to death our old man that we might be delivered from the power and dominion of sin in our lives. So the story of the pathway of faith begins with Calvary and our identification with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus." -G.M.
"You were set free from the tyranny of sin" (Romans 6:18, Wey.).
Sermon Outline
- The External and Internal Cross
- The Problem with Popular Fundamentalist Theology
- The Triumph of the Cross
- Appropriating the Cross through Faith
- Taking by Faith the Fact of Christ's Death
- Appropriating the Fact of Our Identification with Christ
Key Quotes
“The death of the Lord Jesus was not only an atonement for sins, but a triumph over sin.” — Miles J. Stanford
“By faith we see our sins not only on His head for our pardon, but sin under His feet for our deliverance.” — Miles J. Stanford
“You were set free from the tyranny of sin” — Miles J. Stanford
Application Points
- We must focus on the Person of Christ and our personal relationship with Him, rather than just the work He did.
- We are set free from the tyranny of sin through our identification with Christ's death and our faith in Him.
- We must appropriate the Cross through faith by taking by faith the fact of Christ's death and our identification with Him.