The Cross is the symbol of God’s salvation in Christ. The cross was a physical reality of a spiritual operation that happened before the foundation of the world. First is the spiritual before the natural for our Lord Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). The Cross is a symbol of God’s salvation in Christ. To understand how not to sell short the Cross, we must first understand the purpose of the Cross.
In Ephesians chapter 2 from verse 16 through 19 we read that through the body of His Cross, our Lord Jesus :
1. Reconciled the Jews and the Gentiles as one in His body
2. Made us to have access to God by one Spirit, and we are now members of God’s family. The cross made us one with God: “that they may be one in us” (John 17: 21, 23).
3. Have blotted out the handwriting of the ordinances that is against us, that was contrary to us, and he hath taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the Cross (Colossians 2: 14). And what were those ordinances that were against us?, wages of sin, vengeance, bondage of fear, sickness, oppression, works of the flesh, accusations of the devil and so on. All these, our Lord Jesus had obliterated and nailed to the cross.
All these Christ did on the Cross that we might have the liberty of new creation, the liberty of the children of God. Thus, anything that compromises our liberty in Christ is selling short the Cross, not liberty to sin but liberty to be partakers of the nature of God. As it is written, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God (Jesus Christ), unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4: 13).
Our salvation was not concocted by man, it was with divine knowledge. The scripture in the book of Ephesians chapter 1 verses 7 and 9 reads: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ.” Unless we see the grace (the goodwill to all men) that God lavished on man in Christ in all wisdom and prudence, we will be guilty of making light of it. The bible laments in Hebrews 2: 3: “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.”
Man will never get anything like this, this salvation we have through Christ. To neglect it is dire, just as selling it short is dire, that is this salvation depicted by the Cross. For this salvation that came to man through Jesus Christ is complete as the bible says in Colossians 2 verse 10: “ye are complete in Christ”.
How do we sell short the Cross?
The book of Hebrews 12: 25 thus admonished us: “Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!”
Many believers today sells short the Cross, not upholding the completeness of the salvation. Gospel singer David Ingles warns us of not to be guilty of selling short the Cross. With the lavish grace in all wisdom and prudence that accomplished our salvation, it goes beyond forgiveness of our sin and going to heaven. It is salvation of our spirit, our soul, our body as well as our environment. Our salvation in Christ restores man back to his dedicated blessing, dedicated estate of being in the image and likeness of God to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth (after this godly likeness and image), subdue it and have dominion…over every living thing… ” (Genesis 1:28). This is the estate man was to keep and nurture after his salvation. Any teaching, practice, or belief that does not affirm this total estate of man in salvation is selling short the Cross.
Our faith in Christ should affirm the complete work which He did. Our Lord Jesus declared in Luke 18: 8: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” Just as Apostle Peter was sorrowful when the Lord repeatedly ask him “Simon Peter do you love Me” this statement by our Lord: “shall the Son of Man find faith on earth” is mind-boggling. That men will lose sight of this so great a salvation, for faith in Christ affirms our continuance in the all-inclusive salvation in His name. The unfolding events we see happening is but a scratch on the surface of that which the scripture says will be. Events that will be all-pervading and which will cause the hearts of men to faint (Luke 21: 26). How many of us are holding on to the salvation in Christ and are standing complete in Christ?. This is the time for preparation, it is the time to get into the Ark, get rooted and grounded in Christ as we were admonished in Colossians chapter 1 verse 23: “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which hath been preached to every creature which is under heaven; of which I Paul am made a minister”. We have to continue and grow in the knowledge of Christ and let our lives be built on Him as the book of Colossians chapter 2 verse 7 further admonishes: “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness”.
We also sell short the Cross when we are not at peace with our fellow men for Christ Jesus has reconciled us, Jews and Gentiles and made us to be one family, God’s family by one Spirit. We have not been made a judge, but we are ministers of reconciliation to promote the unity of the Spirit (this one Spirit by which we have access to the Father) in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4: 3). Any believer not peaceable with others but that is bitter, critical, judgemental, unforgiving and who is a talebearer sells short the Cross.
We also sell short the Cross through our lifestyle and our confession. We must be a people prepared. Remember the parable of the ten virgins. It was only the five that were wise and prepared that entered in, the foolish five in the frenzy of the moment went away to look for oil. It is risky for us to delay our preparations in getting into Christ and drawing men with us into the knowledge of Him and building our lives on Him. We should neither wait for tribulation to be a time we will run to Christ. Tribulation and tough times are no guarantees that lead men to Christ, often there are times of falling away for those not in Him or those unprepared.
Nothing matters to God as much as the salvation of the souls of men, for this reason He demonstrated His love for us and gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever believes will not perish but have everlasting life. His love is for our salvation, and this salvation is a total package. To sell short the Cross, is to diminish God’s salvation and the lavish grace and wisdom and prudence that accomplished it. It does not make one stand complete in Christ and therefore not qualified as His Bride. The Bride of Christ are those accomplished believers, those who are complete in Him in knowledge and whose lives are built on Christ and are become conformed to His likeness.
In Christ Jesus on the Cross, God had made us to obtain mercy and salvation. This mercy we obtain triumph over judgment and as it written there is now no more condemnation for those in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but walk in the Spirit. To sell short the Cross is to walk in the flesh rather than in the Spirit of Christ. That I might know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering and be made comfortable to His death (dead to sin, dead y carnal flesh and carnal living) is the Spirit of Christ. We cannot have the knowledge of Christ and remain in sin, for whatsoever is born of God (born again) cannot sin because His seed (His Spirit) remains in him. It is time Believers quit selling short the Cross and begin to prepare themselves before the temptation that will happen to the world comes.
If the salvation we obtain through the Cross is only for the forgiveness of sins, then we are omitting the great things that accompany our salvation. For the same Lord that provided for the forgiveness of sins, is the same Lord that has healed us that has delivered us from the captive of the terrible, that is a refuge to us and has given us another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. For the great and precious promises we have received through the knowledge of Christ is to make us to be partakers of His nature. We sell short the Cross when we limit the power of The Holy One and fail to aspire for the high calling of the Cross. It is easy for many to conclude that it is the will of God, seeing the many things happening around them. But the promises of God never fails, we are to contend earnestly for the faith delivered to us, each one of us is to work out his salvation in fear and trembling. Where we see the devil, the enemy of our soul trying to steal, to kill and to destroy we should stand stout on the word and by the Spirit wage a resistance. The other day the Lord corrected my thinking, and He said to me, “there is no sickness that cannot be healed” for nothing can defy the power of the Spirit of life. In our faith in the Lord, it is as far as our eyes can see, we should not sell short the Cross by our short sight, judging the word of God by our past experiences or by the experience of others. It’s time to stretch our faith, build ourselves up in Christ through prayer and the word of God, and not be guilty of selling short the Cross.
