THE DIVINE SYLLOGISM: God's remedy for sin and reconciliation

THE DIVINE SYLLOGISM

Common English Bible (CEB)

[Genesis 2:16-17] ¹⁶ The Lord God commanded the human, “Eat your fill from all of the garden’s trees; ¹⁷ but don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because on the day you eat from it, you will die!”

[Romans 6:23] The wages that sin pays are death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[Romans 3:23] All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory,

[Psalm 51:5] Yes, I was born in guilt, in sin, from the moment my mother conceived me.

[1 John 1:8-10] ⁸ If we claim, “We don’t have any sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from everything we’ve done wrong. ¹⁰ If we claim, “We have never sinned,” we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

[Isaiah 53:6] Like sheep we had all wandered away,
    each going its own way,
    but the Lord let fall on him all our crimes.

[Isaiah 64:6-7] ⁶ We have all become like the unclean;
    all our righteous deeds are like a menstrual rag.
All of us wither like a leaf;
    our sins, like the wind, carry us away.
⁷ No one calls on your name;
    no one bothers to hold on to you,
    for you have hidden yourself from us,
    and have handed us over to our sin.

[Romans 3:9-26] ⁹ So what are we saying? Are we better off? Not at all. We have already stated the charge: both Jews and Greeks are all under the power of sin. ¹⁰ As it is written,

There is no righteous person, not even one.
¹¹ There is no one who understands.
    There is no one who looks for God.
¹² They all turned away.
    They have become worthless together.
There is no one who shows kindness.
    There is not even one.
¹³ Their throat is a grave that has been opened.
    They are deceitful with their tongues,
        and the poison of vipers is under their lips.
¹⁴     Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
¹⁵ Their feet are quick to shed blood;
¹⁶         destruction and misery are in their ways;
¹⁷         and they don’t know the way of peace.
¹⁸ There is no fear of God in their view of the world.

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, in order to shut every mouth and make it so the whole world has to answer to God. ²⁰ It follows that no human being will be treated as righteous in his presence by doing what the Law says, because the knowledge of sin comes through the Law. ²¹ But now God’s righteousness has been revealed apart from the Law, which is confirmed by the Law and the Prophets. ²² God’s righteousness comes through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who have faith in him. There’s no distinction. ²³ All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, ²⁴ but all are treated as righteous freely by his grace because of a ransom that was paid by Christ Jesus. ²⁵ Through his faithfulness, God displayed Jesus as the place of sacrifice where mercy is found by means of his blood. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness in passing over sins that happened before, ²⁶ during the time of God’s patient tolerance. He also did this to demonstrate that he is righteous in the present time, and to treat the one who has faith in Jesus as righteous.

[Hebrews 11] Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don’t see. ² The elders in the past were approved because they showed faith. ³ By faith we understand that the universe has been created by a word from God so that the visible came into existence from the invisible. ⁴ By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain, which showed that he was righteous, since God gave approval to him for his gift. Though he died, he’s still speaking through faith. ⁵ By faith Enoch was taken up so that he didn’t see death, and he wasn’t found because God took him up. He was given approval for having pleased God before he was taken up. ⁶ It’s impossible to please God without faith because the one who draws near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards people who try to find him. ⁷ By faith Noah responded with godly fear when he was warned about events he hadn’t seen yet. He built an ark to deliver his household. With his faith, he criticized the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes from faith. ⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out without knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he lived in the land he had been promised as a stranger. He lived in tents along with Isaac and Jacob, who were coheirs of the same promise. ¹⁰ He was looking forward to a city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹ By faith even Sarah received the ability to have a child, though she herself was barren and past the age for having children, because she believed that the one who promised was faithful. ¹² So descendants were born from one man (and he was as good as dead). They were as many as the number of the stars in the sky and as countless as the grains of sand on the seashore. ¹³ All of these people died in faith without receiving the promises, but they saw the promises from a distance and welcomed them. They confessed that they were strangers and immigrants on earth. ¹⁴ People who say this kind of thing make it clear that they are looking for a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking about the country that they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return to it. ¹⁶ But at this point in time, they are longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God isn’t ashamed to be called their God—he has prepared a city for them. ¹⁷ By faith Abraham offered Isaac when he was tested. The one who received the promises was offering his only son. ¹⁸ He had been told concerning him, Your legitimate descendants will come from Isaac. ¹⁹ He figured that God could even raise him from the dead. So in a way he did receive him back from the dead. ²⁰ By faith Isaac also blessed Jacob and Esau concerning their future. ²¹ By faith Jacob blessed each of Joseph’s sons as he was dying and bowed in worship over the head of his staff. ²² By faith Joseph recalled the exodus of the Israelites at the end of his life, and gave instructions about burying his bones. ²³ By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months when he was born, because they saw that the child was beautiful and they weren’t afraid of the king’s orders. ²⁴ By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter when he was grown up. ²⁵ He chose to be mistreated with God’s people instead of having the temporary pleasures of sin. ²⁶ He thought that the abuses he suffered for Christ were more valuable than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking forward to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he left Egypt without being afraid of the king’s anger. He kept on going as if he could see what is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, in order that the destroyer could not touch their firstborn children. ²⁹ By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if they were on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were drowned. ³⁰ By faith Jericho’s walls fell after the people marched around them for seven days. ³¹ By faith Rahab the prostitute wasn’t killed with the disobedient because she welcomed the spies in peace. ³² What more can I say? I would run out of time if I told you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. ³³ Through faith they conquered kingdoms, brought about justice, realized promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ put out raging fires, escaped from the edge of the sword, found strength in weakness, were mighty in war, and routed foreign armies. ³⁵ Women received back their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured and refused to be released so they could gain a better resurrection. ³⁶ But others experienced public shame by being taunted and whipped; they were even put in chains and in prison. ³⁷ They were stoned to death, they were cut in two, and they died by being murdered with swords. They went around wearing the skins of sheep and goats, needy, oppressed, and mistreated. ³⁸ The world didn’t deserve them. They wandered around in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground. ³⁹ All these people didn’t receive what was promised, though they were given approval for their faith. ⁴⁰ God provided something better for us so they wouldn’t be made perfect without us.

[Romans 5:8] But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

[Ephesians 2:8-9] ⁸ You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. ⁹ It’s not something you did that you can be proud of.

[John 3:16] God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life.

THE SYLLOGISM

[The wages or penalties of sin] is [death]

     (A)                                               (B)

[All] have [sinned]

(C)                  (A)

\ [All] will [die]

   (C)           (B)

______________________________________________________________________

[God's gift] is [eternal life]

 (A)                    (B)

[All believers] have received [God's gift]
                     (C)                                            (A)                                          

\[All believers] have [eternal life]
(C)                          (B)             

 FROM DEATH TO ETERNAL LIFE

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved [1 Corinthians 1:18]

L                    O                    V                    E

GOD

MAN

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. [John 3:16]

Salvation can be found in no one else. Throughout the whole world, no other name has been given among humans through which we must be saved.” [Acts 4:12]

________________________________

He carried in his own body on the cross the sins we committed. He did this so that we might live in righteousness, having nothing to do with sin. By his wounds you were healed. [1 Peter 2:24]

________________________________________________             

Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [John 14:6]

but your misdeeds have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden his face from you so that you aren’t heard. [Isaiah 59:2]

__________________________________________________________________________

[Romans 8] So now there isn’t any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ God has done what was impossible for the Law, since it was weak because of selfishness. God condemned sin in the body by sending his own Son to deal with sin in the same body as humans, who are controlled by sin. ⁴ He did this so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. Now the way we live is based on the Spirit, not based on selfishness. ⁵ People whose lives are based on selfishness think about selfish things, but people whose lives are based on the Spirit think about things that are related to the Spirit. ⁶ The attitude that comes from selfishness leads to death, but the attitude that comes from the Spirit leads to life and peace. ⁷ So the attitude that comes from selfishness is hostile to God. It doesn’t submit to God’s Law, because it can’t. ⁸ People who are self-centered aren’t able to please God. ⁹ But you aren’t self-centered. Instead you are in the Spirit, if in fact God’s Spirit lives in you. If anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, they don’t belong to him. ¹⁰ If Christ is in you, the Spirit is your life because of God’s righteousness, but the body is dead because of sin. ¹¹ If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your human bodies also, through his Spirit that lives in you. ¹² So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it isn’t an obligation to ourselves to live our lives on the basis of selfishness. ¹³ If you live on the basis of selfishness, you are going to die. But if you put to death the actions of the body with the Spirit, you will live. ¹⁴ All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. ¹⁵ You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him. ¹⁸ I believe that the present suffering is nothing compared to the coming glory that is going to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ The whole creation waits breathless with anticipation for the revelation of God’s sons and daughters. ²⁰ Creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice—it was the choice of the one who subjected it—but in the hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from slavery to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of God’s children. ²² We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now. ²³ And it’s not only the creation. We ourselves who have the Spirit as the first crop of the harvest also groan inside as we wait to be adopted and for our bodies to be set free. ²⁴ We were saved in hope. If we see what we hope for, that isn’t hope. Who hopes for what they already see? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience. ²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit comes to help our weakness. We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit himself pleads our case with unexpressed groans. ²⁷ The one who searches hearts knows how the Spirit thinks, because he pleads for the saints, consistent with God’s will. ²⁸ We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ We know this because God knew them in advance, and he decided in advance that they would be conformed to the image of his Son. That way his Son would be the first of many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ Those who God decided in advance would be conformed to his Son, he also called. Those whom he called, he also made righteous. Those whom he made righteous, he also glorified. ³¹ So what are we going to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³² He didn’t spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. Won’t he also freely give us all things with him? ³³ Who will bring a charge against God’s elect people? It is God who acquits them. ³⁴ Who is going to convict them? It is Christ Jesus who died, even more, who was raised, and who also is at God’s right side. It is Christ Jesus who also pleads our case for us. ³⁵ Who will separate us from Christ’s love? Will we be separated by trouble, or distress, or harassment, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

We are being put to death all day long for your sake.
    We are treated like sheep for slaughter.

³⁷ But in all these things we win a sweeping victory through the one who loved us. ³⁸ I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers ³⁹ or height or depth, or any other thing that is created.

OOW

2013