[Our Lord's Victory Cry, "It is Finished!" Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries] "The night before the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross He prayed to His Father that He had "finished the work you have given me to do" (John 17:4). When we consider all that He had to do to save sinners, His victory cry, "It is finished," speaks volumes. Righteousness had to be perfected, divine justice had to be satisfied, blood had to be shed, redemption had to be paid, sins had to be forgiven, reconciliation had to be accomplished, death had to be conquered, salvation had to be secured, and heaven had to be opened. All this was perfectly accomplished so that eternal life could be offered as a free gift of God's grace to those who trust the all-sufficient Savior.
Only when sinners realize their hopeless and helpless condition can they begin to understand the glorious promises revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything that man could never do was completely accomplished by our Lord Jesus Christ. His mission to seek and to save the lost culminated on the cross. The work of salvation was finished. The eternal sin debt was paid in full. Since it was an eternal debt, it was impossible for man to pay. But God forgave us "all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross" (Col. 2:13-14).
Jesus "appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26).
linger: Yet Catholicism rejects the Word of God by teaching a Catholic must do "something more to make amends for the sin: he must 'make satisfaction for' or 'expiate' his sins. This satisfaction is called 'penance'" (CCC, par. 1459). What a terrible deception this is for faithful Roman Catholics who look to their church, rather than the Bible, for truth! oly: By adding to the perfect and sufficient work of Christ they have nullified God's grace which is the only means by which God saves sinners (Rom. 11:6). The very purpose Christ became our kinsman redeemer and suffered an excruciating death was to expiate sin, once and for all, by His perfect sacrifice.
Roman Catholicism also rejects another finished work of Christ: the purification of sins. God's Word declares "when He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1:3). Those who trust Christ alone are purified from all sin, by His blood (1 John 1:7). Catholicism denies the efficacy of Christ's blood and instead offers a place called "purgatory." It states: "every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory" (CCC, par..1472). How can a religion which names the name of Christ reject His precious blood for a fictitious place that robs Him of His glory?
After finishing His all-sufficient work on the cross, Jesus now offers His righteousness as a gift to all who believe (Rom. 5:17). The only way to receive the gift is by faith in Christ alone. Those who are blinded by religious deception must do what the Apostle Paul did. He exchanged his religion for a relationship with Christ. He wrote: "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith" (Phil 3:8-9)." Pro-Gospel.org
Only when sinners realize their hopeless and helpless condition can they begin to understand the glorious promises revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything that man could never do was completely accomplished by our Lord Jesus Christ. His mission to seek and to save the lost culminated on the cross. The work of salvation was finished. The eternal sin debt was paid in full. Since it was an eternal debt, it was impossible for man to pay. But God forgave us "all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross" (Col. 2:13-14).
Jesus "appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26).
linger: Yet Catholicism rejects the Word of God by teaching a Catholic must do "something more to make amends for the sin: he must 'make satisfaction for' or 'expiate' his sins. This satisfaction is called 'penance'" (CCC, par. 1459). What a terrible deception this is for faithful Roman Catholics who look to their church, rather than the Bible, for truth! oly: By adding to the perfect and sufficient work of Christ they have nullified God's grace which is the only means by which God saves sinners (Rom. 11:6). The very purpose Christ became our kinsman redeemer and suffered an excruciating death was to expiate sin, once and for all, by His perfect sacrifice. Roman Catholicism also rejects another finished work of Christ: the purification of sins. God's Word declares "when He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1:3). Those who trust Christ alone are purified from all sin, by His blood (1 John 1:7). Catholicism denies the efficacy of Christ's blood and instead offers a place called "purgatory." It states: "every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory" (CCC, par..1472). How can a religion which names the name of Christ reject His precious blood for a fictitious place that robs Him of His glory?
After finishing His all-sufficient work on the cross, Jesus now offers His righteousness as a gift to all who believe (Rom. 5:17). The only way to receive the gift is by faith in Christ alone. Those who are blinded by religious deception must do what the Apostle Paul did. He exchanged his religion for a relationship with Christ. He wrote: "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith" (Phil 3:8-9)." Pro-Gospel.org