What are the Biblical Metaphors for the gospel?
Meta-fours
Justification teaches us to think about the gospel in legal terms.
- Christ's death deals with the reality of our guilt before God and the punishment we deserve. When God identifies us with Christ's death, we are declared not guilty. Christ gets the penalty of our sin, and we get the status of His righteousness.
- He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2Cor 5:21).
Spiritual warfare language teaches us to think about the gospel in military terms.
- Christ's death and resurrection effectively gave Him victory over spiritual forces.
- When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him (Col 2:15).
The point of these four metaphors is that the benefit in view has not merely been made available; it has been secured by Christ's death on the Cross and His resurrection to life. The gospel is not just a possibility made available; it is a reality made certain.
