"The offense of the cross is that the cross is a confession of human frailty and sin and of inability to do any good thing. To take the cross of Christ means to depend solely on Him for everything, and this is the abasement of all human pride. Men love to fancy themselves independent. But let the cross be preached, let it be made known that in man dwells no good thing and that all must be received as a gift, and straightway someone is offended."
Man has committed sin of his own free will; but since it was the life of God that was used in the commission of it, God takes the responsibility of it upon Himself, although He was not responsible for it.
If God should refuse to hear my prayer, and should not forgive my sins, I should be lost, but God would also be lost, and His loss would be greater than mine.
Our last lesson, Hebrews 6.1-6, showed that the unpardonable sin is the sin that is not repented of, or, rather, the sin of willfully rejecting the grace that brings salvation.
The sum of Hebrews 6.4-6 is that if one rejects and despises all this power, having once known and tasted it, it is impossible to renew him again to repentance.
It was our sins that nailed Jesus to the cross. 1 Peter 2.24. And it was our sins that He bore in the garden of Gethsemane and in the wilderness of temptation.
Of Christ it is said “in all things it behooved Him; to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” Hebrews 2.17.
