What is finished?

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost, John 19:30.

Before I weigh in on this, I would like to recount a story from my time as an unbeliever that took place as I was beginning to grapple with eternal truth. I was in the military at that time serving overseas. I had been living a double life, not as someone who was a hypocrite pretending to be one thing while living otherwise, but as a fornicating drunkard I was beginning to attend bible studies.

I spent time in each world and didn't hide from either world what my other life was. I was growing weary of sin and wanted to know if there was any truth to scripture. From within the world of those who attended bible studies there were competing groups. Each claimed to know the real secrets to unlocking scriptural truth. Each made plain to me the importance of how they saw scripture and eternal life.

My main source of support and comfort came from service members and spouses who at the time identified as evangelical. The neo-evangelical movement had begun a decade or two earlier. By the mid 1970s when this took place they had begun to distance themsleves from mainstream fundamentalist churches by deemphasizing the importance of dress standards, an acceptance more progressive rhythmic music, and a more ready acceptance of new versions of scripture.

All in all, their life choices as to sexual morality, entertainment and personal evangelism were better than most people I know today who attend fundamental churches. Personal piety meant much to them. It was these people who wooed me to start attending bible studies and first began to exposit to me the merits of Jesus Christ.

They had competitors within those bible studies who sought to win me over to their influence, or to the influence of certain things that they thought were important and which were being neglected by the neo-evangelical crowd. In my mind at the time, the most absurd of them were those advocating the supremacy of the King James Bible.

They could not abide the introduction of other bibles into bible studies and they made mockery of introducing Greek or Hebrew meanings to supplant King James Bible words. The neo-evangelicals could have endured that except for one cardinal (virtue?) that they insisted upon. They could not abide a lack of unity.

Make no mistake, unity is a wonderful attribute among Christians. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!, Psalm 133:1. I'll never forget the ironic mirth of one of my key sponsors when he confronted the leader of the King James movement. He reasoned with the man and asked him quite reasonably whether or not unity was the most important thing among christians.

The man answered, "no". He explained that the integrity of scripture was the single most important thing to any group of christians. At that point, they had no more to do with each other. However, I saw the point to what he said. If the King James Bible really was the word of God, and the multitude of bibles springing from the Alexandrian manuscripts really were cheap counterfeits, that fact was far more important than unity.

The other competing group were those claiming baptismal regeneration. At least one strong advocate of that doctrine occasionally attended the bible studies. He made the case that none of us had any hope of eternal life unless we were baptized for the remission of our sins.

He quoted Acts 2:38; Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. He made the case that all other references to baptism were references to immersion in water.

By this time, I had quit my hedonistic ways. I didn't drink anymore and I had sworn off fornication and sexual uncleanness. I had made a resolution that I wanted to be a christian and everyone including me accepted this as me being born again (which in retrospect was not). I was shaken though by the thought that because I was not baptized, I could not be saved. The man's words ate at me.

I approached one of the main leaders of our bible study and expressed a desire to be baptized. He was a believer in baptism, but he knew full well what my motive was. He knew that I was being seduced by the corrupt doctrine of baptismal regeneration. He explained to me that the thief on the cross had not been baptized and Jesus promised him eternal life.

That greatly relieved me until I later explained that to the other man. He earnestly explained to me that the thief on the cross was an Old Testament character. He said that I needed New Testament salvation.

This was typical of the conundrum so many face who do not have a perfect bible. When two groups of people argued scripture they looked at it as a contest as to which argument had more scripture backing it up. Since then, I have learned that every scripture kept in its proper context needs to to point to one and only one truth. A perfect bible can do that.

It was the turmoil of this great dilemma that made me go to the man advocating for the King James Bible. I was desperate. When I told him about my fear that I needed to be baptized to be saved, he too brought up the thief on the cross. I told him that I been told that the thief was an Old Testament character and his salvation had no bearing in the New Testament.

The King James man thought about that for a few quiet moments and then quoted Hebrews 9:16 and 17.

Hebrews 9:16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.

Hebrews 9:17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

He then asked me, "who died first, Jesus Christ or the thief?" I answered that it was Jesus Christ who died first. He then explained to me that the thief died in the New Testament.

I had a great sense of relief. I also had my eyes open as to how important an exact scripture was. Since that time which was almost a half century ago, I have seen over and over again that exact scripture was far more important than unity or anything else. If only one second had elapsed between the death of Jesus christ and the death of the thief, it would have made no difference, the thief died in the New Testament. No single doctrine nor any understanding of the Godhead could be trusted unless we have an exact bible. God had promised us exactly that and had fulfilled it in the King James Bible.

I know this has been a lengthy introduction to our opening scripture wherein Jesus proclaimed, It is finished, John 19:30. Nevertheless, if we have an exact bible, just what was finished at that moment? He hadn't even died yet. He was about to die, and perhaps we would not be straining scripture to say that when he said, It is finished, he meant that he was describing his death in the next few moments.

What was in actuality finished at that moment was sin and what sin did to Jesus Christ who became sin for us. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, 2nd Corinthians 5:21. What happens when sin is finished?; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death, James 1:15. Those are only two times that the phrase, it is finished is quoted in scripture.

Sequentially, after Jesus Christ said that phrase, he died. Sin had done its best to destroy the sinless Son of God. After that, it was time for God to take over. My (and I hope your) eternal redemption was about to be completed by a string of events that had not even started when Jesus Christ said, It is finished. The three most magnificent days of all eternity were about to start.

Ephesians 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

Ephesians 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

1. He had not died yet.

2. He had not descended into the lower parts of the earth.

3. He had not preached to the spirits in prison (1st Peter 3:19).

4. He had not communed with the thief in Paradise (Luke 23:43).

5. He had not resurrected.

6. He had not entered into the holy place in heaven with his own blood, (Hebrews 9:12).

All too often, I hear people say that the gospel for today is the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and that if you add anything to that you are a heretic. They mangle 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 to get that. The gospel is not that Jesus Christ died and was buried and rose again. The gospel is that Jesus Christ died according to the scriptures, and was buried, and that he rose again according to the scriptures.

1st Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

1st Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

1st Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

1st Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

When did the Apostle Paul first deliver that gospel to those of Corinth? He did so in Acts 18:4, 5.

Acts 18:4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

Acts 18:5 And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

Paul spent weeks if not months persuading Jews out of Old Testament Scriptures that the Christ would die and that he would resurrect. Among the many passages that he undoubtedly used were Psalm 16, Psalm 18, Psalm 22, Psalm 27, Psalm 116, as well as so many other verses from the prophets. He then revealed to them that Jesus was that very Christ.

Yet when men preach from those same Old Testament scriptures the agonies of Christ in hell, the triumph of his delivery from hell and into paradise by crossing that gulf which no man could cross, his ascension into heaven, and his entering into that most holy place to sprinkle his blood, some hide behind a neutered 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 or they hide behind John 19:30, It is finished.

Yes, sin was finished, but to the everlasting glory of God the Father who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and to the everlasting glory of Jesus Christ who has made an end of sins, made reconciliation for iniquity, brought in everlasting righteousness, and has sealed up the vision and the prophecy and has been anointed as the most holy (Daniel 9:24), the work of God in our redemption was only getting started.

You can believe your favorite theologian if you so desire and keep the unity therein, or you can believe the scriptures as written and join a far smaller unity. When Jesus Christ said, It is finished, sin was finished and it had done all that it could do. It brought physical and spiritual death to Jesus Christ. From that time on, the Father has completed his perfect will for Jesus Christ and he has delivered him from the power of death and has delivered all of those who believe on him. To God be the glory.