Purposes of Christ's Death: 1 Peter 3:18

This is a repost of another of the old posts looking at the purpose statements for Christ’s death given to us in scripture. This time, the purpose statement is found in 1 Peter 3:18:

Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh. (NET)

There are lots of not-so-clear things in the verses after this one, but this particular verse is pretty straight forward. The purpose statement given here for Christ’s being put to death—or Christ’s suffering for sins—is “to bring you to God.” This, of course, is pointing to the reconciliation that Christ’s death brings.

Reconciliation goes two ways: God is reconciled to human beings, and human beings are reconciled to God. Christ, the just one, suffers in place of the unjust ones (that would be sinners like you and me), and on the basis of what is accomplished by his vicarious suffering, the sin that stands between God and sinners is taken out of the way. Because of Christ death, God can reach out to cause sinners to be reconciled to himself. Sinners can be brought to God because Christ died.

Another purpose for Christ’s death is to bring people to God.

Everything's Coming Up Irish: An Irish Name and a Little More History

• Carla points her readers to a place where we can get our own Irish Names. Here’s mine:
  
  

  Your Irish Name Is…

  Sorcha O’Donnell

  What’s your Irish Name?
  
  I think I’ll stick with the name I’ve got, thank you.
  
  
• Candy of Shook Foil posts a few facts about the history of Celtic Christianity.

Would you like to join in the Everything’s Coming Up Irish fun? Post anything related to Ireland or Irish things and send me the link (You can email me, or leave your link in the comments to this post.), then look for a link to your post in one of the upcoming ECUI posts. No blog? No problem. Email me your contribution or leave it in the comments and I’ll post what you’ve contributed in one of the Irish posts.

Bookmark this Meme

Kim of Hiraeth has a new business venture, selling custom, handmade bookmarks featuring her beautiful calligraphy. She’s introducing her new site with a meme—a book meme, of course.

• Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?
  I like hardback best (who doesn’t?), but I read a lot of paperback. They cost less, and they’re easier to get.
• Online purchase or brick and mortar?
  Mostly online. The chance that the bookstore here in town is going to have the book I want in stock is pretty slim.
  
• Barnes & Noble or Borders?
  Neither. If I shop in a store, it’s at the used book store or Mac’s Fireweed Books.
• Bookmark or dog-ear?
  I use one of these.
  
  

• Mark or not mark?
  I mark them up and doodle in them.
• Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
  I put them on the shelves by subject or type of book (mostly), but I do make allowance for size, and when I have several books by one author I try to keep them together. In other words, I have my own weird system that I understand, but confuses everyone else.
• Keep, throw away, or sell?
  I never throw away. If I know I’ll never look at it again, I donate it or sell it at a garage sale. The rest, I keep.
• Read with dustjacket or remove it?
  Read it with the dustjacket.
  
• Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?
  I don’t read short stories enough to have an opinion on this.
• Lord of the Rings or Narnia
  Once again, I’m going to avoid answering. I like them both. They’re different sorts of books, and they serve different purposes.
  
• Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
  I stop reading whenever a crisis arises that requires my attention.
  
• “It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
  “Once upon a time.”
  
• Buy or Borrow?
  Buy. If I borrowed it, I’d have to give it back.
  
• New or used?
  Used, but in good condition, if I can find it.
  
• Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?
  All of the above.
  
• Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
  Tidy ending. I hate cliffhangers and feel cheated if there is one.
  
• Morning reading, afternoon reading or night time reading?
  Mostly night time, but also whenever I can sneak in a few minutes throughout the day. I love reading in the car while I wait to pick someone up, or reading while I wait for an appointment.
  
• Standalone or series?
  Mostly standalone.
• Favorite series?
  I really haven’t read books in series since I was young. The Narnia books or the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, maybe.
  
• Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
  I usually read classics, so at least some people have heard of them. They may not have read them, but they’ve heard of them.
  
• Favorite books read last year?
  I read Knowing God again, and that’s always a favorite.
• Favorite book of all time?
  Nothing else compares to the Bible.