The Role of Co-crucifixion in Discipleship

The Role of Co-crucifixion in Discipleship

By Prof. Jay Wegter, TMU I. As disciple-makers, we must know why the good news of the gospel addresses the condition of the human heart. Paul chided the Corinthian believers for boasting in men (1 Cor 4:7). Why do we boast in human distinctions if God alone is the distinction-maker? In terms of receiving God’s saving grace, the apostle states, “Why do you boast as if you had not received it?” Sin is not only lawlessness, it is self-justification, and it is religious pride. It is the desire to seek intrinsic differentiation from others by means of personal exponents—this was at the heart of the Corinthian catastrophe.

Because we fallen insecure creatures due to original sin, in our hunger for status we tend to divide the human race up between those who are achieving a standard and those who are not, between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. Then we draw from that distinction our differentiation from others. Christians are not exempt from this error—Corinth is proof (Paul F. M. Zahl, A Short Systematic Theology, pp. 54-55). (EX. How we love to flash our ‘score cards’!)

The grace of God demands that we see ourselves from the divine perspective. This is absolutely essential in living out gospel community as a local church. Only the gospel gives us identity in the Lord instead of in our achievements. Because of the gospel, all true differentiation; all individual identity is a gift by grace which frees us from self (i.e. ‘selfjustification’). This is part and parcel of ‘grace living’. (The West’s cultures erected on human achievement.) The redeemed have freedom and identity by a different ‘measure’ than the one applied by mankind—the child of God has status, favor, sonship, identity, acceptance, and standing ALL by divine grace through Christ. “Who made you to differ (God alone), why are you boasting as if you did not receive it from someone (from Christ)?” (1 Cor 4:6-7). It is easy to extrapolate from this that this that the matchless grace given to us in Christ is designed to give us true community.

As disciplers we must know that only the gospel can reverse our tendency to be self-justifiers. Self-justification is the action of defending our intrinsic worth. This defense of our intrinsic worth has manifestations (flesh fruits, Gal 5:19-21), which are all traceable to original sin. BUT, through the wonder of ‘guilt transfer’ at Calvary’s cross, Christ has brought believing sinners all the way to God (1 Pet 3:18). Self under judgment cannot possibly experience close proximity to God or to others (Job 3:25). We require a substitute, or we will forever be banished from God’s presence, favor, life, love, light, and blessedness (Ibid, p. 56).

The good news of the gospel is about God’s action to accomplish such a work of guilt transfer by substitution. God alone is free to affect that moral transfer (Jn 1:29; 10:18; Rom 6:23). (Quickly we forget the implications of this!) Christ died for me—this is a one to one substitution (Gal 3:13; 2 Cor 5:21; Rom 7:25. We have life by His blood (Lev 17:11; Rev 7:13-14). Christ voluntarily assumed our moral liabilities, our guilt, and our condemnation. He became of no reputation. He was sold under sin and thus paid the price of that sin as our substitute (Rom 7:14).

As disciplers we must know why the gospel is good news. The gospel is ONLY incredibly good news if we realize that the human condition was a kind of dead end—like a cul de sac (Zahl). There is no escape; no exit except by guilt transfer—without that guilt transfer, all of our hopes, dreams, and meaningful relations will turn to ashes once we enter our death bed. The wonder of redemption is that we are dealing with “the atoned and the atoning God.” God has plucked out His own heart in the bruising of His Son for us. He has “split” Himself so to speak in order to accomplish this guilt transfer. His requirement of moral perfection in the human being necessitated a guilt transfer in order for us to be restored to Him (Ibid, pp. 68, 70, 76-77).

Now the dynamics of our blood-bought life in Christ free us to radical honesty in our biblical self-confrontation. The gospel has set us free from self-justification—from attempting to prop up self by enforcing distinctions from others. Therefore, because our status in Christ is immutable, we can afford to face the worst things about ourselves without fear of being diminished.

This is the dynamic for close caring relationships (the vehicle of discipleship). Christians comprise ‘a new humanity’ for the believer’s life is “life as it is” and “life as God imputes to us through Christ.” This is a formula for radical heroism in dealing with sin. It is a formula for humility, for service, for true community—for intimacy through Christ—for trust and closeness—for freedom from paralyzing self-consciousness/self-protection (Ibid).

II. As disciple-makers, we must know why the cross of Christ gives the believer the power to deny self and put sin to death.

Paul’s disciple-making always begins with “we proclaim Him!” The admonishing and the teaching follow. It is the proclamation of Christ in His fullness that is the foundation for all ethical action and religious devotion (Col 1:28-29). Paul knew that his listeners must also build upon Christ. All of their own striving and repenting must rest upon Christ and Him crucified. The centrality of Christ must always be our proclamation in discipleship—or our efforts will be met with disappointment. (Know your ‘assets’ won at the cross.)

We proclaim Him and His cross-work—for only in the Christ-centered—cross-centered life do we find the divine power and love necessary to make a disciple. Only in His glorious Person and His work upon Calvary are found the divinely powerful resources necessary to make a disciple. When Paul was among the Corinthians, his message focused upon the cross, the heart of the gospel—this is the truth with which God associates His power (Rom 1:16-17). “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). Only in Christ are the resources to make a disciple (employ your assets).

The cross produces real transformation—radical changes that can only be adequately described as an entirely new creation. In Christ’s atoning work there is a death applied to us, a resurrection performed upon us that implants a new life principle, there is a spiritual circumcision in which the dominance of the flesh is surgically cut, severed, and removed (Gal 6:14; Col 2:11-12).

Christ’s death and resurrection affects these changes in the believing sinner. Therefore, our approach to discipleship must have the centrality of Christ at its center. For it is in the hearing and believing of this sweet message of the God-man standing in your room and stead that the poor sinner receives the power and the motives for discipleship. That means that when we proclaim Christ, we do so with the goal in view of making disciples and bringing them to maturity.

For the Word of the Cross is a message filled with divine power. When the converted sinner hears what Christ has done to slay our old man and how we have been resurrected to an entirely new form of existence—it opens his understanding to spiritual realities that are life-

changing. He discovers the source of power for personal holiness (“Christ in you”). This has immense consequences and crucial application for our own methodology in making disciples. We proclaim Christ, admonishing and teaching (See Romans 6). (Ex. Phil Lexow story).

We must follow the Pauline order—we proclaim Him—then we admonish and teach. Because only Christ and His cross can make a true disciple—you cannot by your own efforts. All of our instruction, exhortation, pleading, and admonishment must be anchored in Christ and His cross. And here is why—because the devotion, the diligence, and the sacrifices made by a true disciple constitute a series of faith responses to Christ, the Lord of Glory. The life of obedience lived out by a true disciple takes place because he has ever clearer views of his Savior. Faith-based obedience is never separated from its object; the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, as disciple-makers, we proclaim Him—for in Christ there is limitless transforming power. That a neglected truth in the church today—that the message of the cross actually produces consecration and devotion to Christ?

III. Paul gives us our growth pattern; he joins the power of God in the cross with the believer’s response of diligence and consecration.

The power of the message of the cross believed produces consecration and devotion to Christ. Our disciple-making must be characterized by both proclamation and practice, by

exhibiting

the supremacy of our Savior and by exhorting believers to follow Him without limits or reservations.

Bare principles and moral injunctions will not produce lasting change in the listener. In the final analysis, our most impassioned pleas for our listeners to be good; to try harder; to stop sinning—must be joined to the display of Christ—or the flesh will conclude that in itself are the resources necessary to crucify the flesh. We must preach to our hearers what we preach to ourselves—namely that Christ is the Divine Architect of the new man (Col 3:9-11; Eph 4:20-24).

The cross of Christ has redeemed and purchased us making us God’s possessions for His holy and loving purposes. Christ’s mediatorial work has poured us into a life mold—totally shaping us to live for God’s glory (Col 3:10-11). On this side of the cross, true discipleship is living the new life Christ has wrought for us. We do not live a life of self-denial so that Christ will accept us—no, God has accepted the believer in the Beloved (Eph 1:3-6). Discipleship, with its life-style of self-denial, is living the life Christ has wrought for us.

By means of the Holy Spirit, our Savior lives through us (Gal 2:20). Paul’s overflowing joy as a disciple of Christ emanated from his understanding that he was living an exchanged life. Paul could say with complete confidence that Christ was living His life through Paul. The old Paul had been crucified with Christ. The new Paul was nothing less than a daily cognizance of the reality that Christ lives in me. Paul was animated by this truth—it permeated his understanding—Christ is expressing His personality through the vehicle of my fleshly body (Gal 2:20). Paul was so conversant with his divine resources/assets in Christ that he could actually say of himself, “It is no longer I who live!”

IV. Proclaiming Christ and His cross guards against the pitfalls of performance Christianity. There are dangers we might encounter if we don’t keep sharing with our disciples the resources they have in Christ. Let us mark this down in our own disciple-making —exhortation without this Word of Christ and Him crucified can produce exasperation. I remember the formula this way: exhortation without enablement equals exasperation.

When we exhort—we must never fail to imbue our listeners with their infinite resources in Christ.

But, admittedly, these gospel spiritual realities of identification with Christ stretch our understanding/comprehension to the limit. Just to think that in the mind of God, the elect were so fully identified with Christ their Head as to gain His life. So intimate was this identification that in Christ’s crucifixion, our fallen human natures were judged so that we should no longer be slaves of sin (Rom 6:6). This is Paul’s victory cry—those who have died are freed from sin—sin is no longer master over them (Rom 6:5-10ff.). Our Adamic nature with its original sin—that bottomless vile vent of rebellion and pollution was once and for all judged in the body of Christ in His death. That is the basis for our victory over indwelling sin.

V. This doctrine of co-crucifixion is frequently neglected because it is difficult to understand, and therefore not viewed as practical.

The Apostle does not relegate this doctrine of co-crucifixion with Christ to the realm of theory. He immediately plows it into practical use. The believer is to reckon, count, consider himself dead to sin and alive to God. He is to present the members of his body to God as instruments of righteousness (Rom 6:11-13). How blessed it is to know that our fruitfulness as disciple-makers is tied to the Word of the Cross. The message of Christ and Him crucified assures us that the message of the gospel is God’s power to all who believe (Rom 1:16-17).

The proclamation of Christ’s indestructible life and His intercession for us in His passion and His glory cannot fail to produce a life of true discipleship in the elect. You and I

need that assurance. Paul was seeking to prove to the consciences of the Corinthians that Christ was in him (2 Cor 13:3), and that all of his motives in ministry issued from the Person and work of Christ (see 2 Cor 5).

Paul’s point is that only Christ’s cross can produce the mindset of a true disciple of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5, the Apostle expounds his motives for serving God, and he expounds the source of those motives. Paul’s motive for service was the controlling love of Christ. This motive issues forth in an action—the believer no longer lives for himself—he lives the life of a true disciple. “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf” (2 Cor 5:14-15).

Paul says that he is constrained or controlled—he is so affected by a sense of incarnate love as to be ‘bounded by it’. He makes the will of Christ the rule of obedience. The true Christian is controlled by a sense of divine love so as to consecrate his life to Christ. The one who lives supremely for family, science, world, mankind, or whatever else is not a Christian. Christ died and rose on our behalf. That is, He died in our stead. The theology of this verse (5:14) is more profound than merely an obligatory response of our love to Christ’s love.

The cross has an inner result only understood in terms of substitution. He died for me as Substitute. He met the demands of justice for me (the basis and reality of my justification)—I died with Him—co-crucifixion is the basis for the whole possibility of my discipleship and sanctification. Thus, the power of Christ’s cross is life-transforming. The sacrificial work of Christ is not merely an example of ultimate obedience for the disciple of Christ to emulate. The cross of Christ exerts the power in the lives of believing sinners to make new creatures who will walk as disciples of Christ.

VI. Let’s review so that these gospel realities so that they become fixed in our hearts as genuine ‘take away’s’.

Being a new creation in Christ is a profound truth in relation to discipleship because the cross of Christ produces actual changes in the sinner—changes which make the new believer willing to pay the cost of true discipleship! Therefore, we must fix in our minds that the cross provides each of the following three necessities for true discipleship. The cross provides the 1) motivation to live as a disciple (we are controlled by the love of Christ); the cross provides the 2) obligation to live as a disciple (we are to no longer live for ourselves); the cross provides the 3) enablement to live as a disciple (we have died with Christ).

Dear Students, in Module 7 (continued): the assignment is to 'unpack' the motivation, obligation, and enablement found in the cross of Christ. The application of these truths is crucial to understanding the cross-centered life. Countless Christian pastors harp on the need for obedience, but seldom, if ever, highlight these three essential resources provided by the

cross Christ. As your professor, as I evaluate your work, I will be looking for a demonstration of your grasp of these three truths. Here is some help to give you a catalytic 'kick start':

1. How is the cross a motivation to obedience and loyalty to Christ? ANS. according to 2 Cor 5:14-15, Eph 5:25, and Gal 2:20, and 1 Jn 4:10 -- it was infinite love for us that moved Christ to endure the cross. That incredible love is motivation for us to obey our Lord.
2. How does the cross of Christ provide the obligation to live for our Lord? ANS. according to 2 Cor 5:15 those who receive the benefits of Christ's atoning work on Calvary will no longer live for themselves. They will live a life which crucifies the sinful passions of the flesh (Gal 5:24). Romans 8:12-13 says that we are always under the obligation to obey Christ and to deny indwelling sin.

3. How does the cross provide enablement to live a 'sin-judged' life? ANS. The cross was a real condemnation and judgment of our old Adamic man. In fact, according to Romans 6:6 the former dominion of our sinful natures was made powerless, put out of business, and cancelled as a force of dominance by the application of Christ's death to us (this is known as co-crucifixion).