The Power of the Cross: Introduction
The Gospel and the Power of the Cross
Throughout this book and particularly in appendix 1, the contributors set forth the biblical evidence showing that healing ministry and miraculous spiritual gifts were the chief demonstration of the redeeming power of the Cross which accompanied the preaching of the gospel in the New Testament Church. The substitutionary atonement of Christ on the Cross is the heart of the gospel. I Peter 2:24 makes this clear: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” Christ’s atoning work on the Cross is the center of gravity in New Testament faith (Mat. 20:28; Mk. 10:45; Jn. 12:27, 31-33; Rom. 3:22-25; 5:8-9; II Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; Col. 1:21-22; I Tim. 2:6; Heb. 2:14; 9:14, 26-28; 10:10; I Pet. 1:18-21; 2:24; 3:18; I Jn. 2:2; 3:5, 8; Rev. 12:11).
The power of the Cross is first and foremost in the atonement and the forgiveness of all sin that the Cross provides (I Jn. 2:2). Scripture is also clear that the Cross provides the basis for all God’s work in our lives to sanctify us and to restore us from the brokenness of sin (I Pet. 2:24: “so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed”; II Cor. 5:21 “in him we might become the righteousness of God”; Col. 1:22 “to present you holy in his sight”; I Jn. 3:8 “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work”). Just as Scripture suggests we may experience sanctification and the eradication of sin only in part in this life (Phil. 3:12-13; I Jn. 1:9), so Scripture also seems clear that prior to the return of Christ, we will experience healing and spiritual gifts only in part (see below and compare I Cor. 13:9 with I Cor. 12:8-10; 13:8-12; I Jn. 3:2; Rev. 22:4; and cf. Gal. 4:14; Phil. 2:27; I Tim. 5:23; II Tim. 4:20).
In their chapters Dr. Niehaus and Dr. David’s discuss this “already-not yet” tension of the Kingdom of God in relation to healing and spiritual gifts. Dr. Niehaus’s chapter below discusses the relationship of the substitutionary atonement of Christ and divine healing and the atonement; in the context of the Isaiah 53. In a recent book, Prof. Gordon Fee discussed in detail the biblical evidence concerning the relationship, showing that healing is made possible by the atonement of the Cross but is not necessarily guaranteed to be fully experienced by believers in this age:
Healing is provided for [in the atonement] because the atonement brought release from the … consequences of sin; nonetheless, since we have not yet received the redemption of our bodies, suffering and death are still our lot until the resurrection.10
The reader will find more detailed discussion of this issue in Dr. Fee’s book and in Dr. Niehaus’s and Dr. David’s chapters below.
The contributors to this book share the conviction that the Cross of Christ is the solution to every problem men and women face (cf. II Pet. 1:3). We do not believe that healing and spiritual gifts are the solution to every problem nor that the Cross is limited to or equivalent to spiritual gifts and healing. Rather, Scripture is clear that the work of Christ on the Cross is the fountain-head from which all other blessings of the Christian faith, including healing and spiritual gifts, flow. Healing and spiritual gifts mean nothing by themselves, since demonic counterfeits are well-attested in non-Christian religions and cults, as Scripture itself suggests (Exo. 7:11, 22; 8:7; Acts 8:9-11; 13:6ff.; 16:16; 19:13, 18-19). But Scripture is clear that Christian healing and spiritual gifts are unique in that they show the superior power of the true and living God (Acts 8:9-11; 13:6ff.; 16:16; 19:13-19), they honor and glorify Christ, proclaiming Him Lord (I Cor. 12:1-3; I Jn. 4:2), they are accompanied by good fruit (Mat. 7:20; Gal. 5:22-23), and they encourage faith and growth in Christ (I Cor. 14:12; Eph. 4:11; I Pet. 4:10-11).
Christ and His Cross are everything, as Paul said in Philippians 1:21: “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” One may preach (and indeed many have preached) the Cross of Christ without healing ministry and still express the heart of the gospel, as Paul did at Athens (Acts 17:16-34). But it is the multifaceted grace and power of Christ’s death on the Cross, forgiving our sins, that make healing and spiritual gifts possible in the Christian life (Isa. 53:4-5; I Pet. 2:24; Acts 3:13-16; Gal. 3:5). Furthermore, certain passages in the New Testament suggest that healing and spiritual gifts actually illustrate the grace, forgiveness, and atoning power of the Cross (Mat. 9:6; 11:4; Mk. 2:10; Lk. 4:18-19; 5:24; 7:22; Jas. 5:15-16; cf. Rom. 15:18-19; I Cor. 2:2-5 [and II Cor. 12:12]; I Thes. 1:5; see appendix 1, “Power Evangelism and the New Testament Evidence,” and Dr. Greig’s chapter below). Is it simply coincidental in this regard that the Greek word charisma “spiritual gift” is derived from the same root as Greek charis “grace” and charizomai “forgive, pardon”?11
This is why Paul sought not only to preach the gospel boldly (Eph. 6:19-20) but also sought regularly to heal the sick and minister with signs and wonders and all spiritual gifts alongside his preaching (Rom. 15:18-19; I Cor. 2:4-5; II Cor. 12:12; I Thes. 1:5; cf. Acts 13:7-12; 14:3, 9-10; 15:12; 16:16-18; 19:4-6, 8-12; 20:7-10; 28:8-9). This is why in Philippians 3 Paul says in one breath, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8) and in the next breath, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Phil. 3:10). The work of Christ on the Cross is not equivalent to spiritual gifts and healing, but the power of the His Cross makes them possible and is illustrated and demonstrated through them in a unique way.
Category: Pneuma Review, Spirit, Spring 2006
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