Today Christians refer to Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross as “Good Friday.” Why? To a watching world, there does not seem to be anything good about suffering an agonizing and humiliating death on a cross. The Bible explains this, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (I Corinthians 1:18). A non-Christian does not view Christ’s death in the same way as a Christian does. To the non-Christian, there is nothing good about Jesus’ humiliating and agonizing death on a cross. But to the Christian, Christ’s crucifixion is a demonstration of “the power of God” to save them from an eternity in hell and from the power of sin in their Christian lives on earth.
For the Christian, it was a “Good Friday” the day Jesus’ died because of what Jesus accomplished on that day. While hanging on the cross, Jesus gave a triumphant shout, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). He did not say, “I am finished!” as many non-Christians think. What did He mean when He said “It is finished”? The Greek word that is translated “finished” is tetelestai. Receipts in New Testament times were stamped with this word which meant that the debt had been paid in full. Jesus was saying that our sin debt was paid in full! Past, present, and future sins have all been paid for by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ (John 1:29; Revelation 1:5; 12:11).
The word tetelestai is also in the perfect tense. This means Jesus finished paying our sin debt in full when He died nearly 2,000 years ago, and it remains paid in full today! There is no more work to be done to pay our sin debt. Jesus already paid it in full when He died and it remains paid in full today!
Why is this so important? All people have sinned against God with their thoughts, words and actions (Romans 3:23) and deserve to be separated from Him forever (Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:15). But God so loved the world that He gave His only perfect Son, Jesus Christ, to take the punishment for our sin when He was crucified in our place on the cross (John 3:16; Romans 5:8) and rose from the dead, proving He is God and had finished the work of paying our sin debt in full (Romans 1:3-4; I Corinthians 15:1-8; I John 2:2).
No amount of our good works can change the fact that we are sinners before a holy God (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:1-20, 23; 4:5; Galatians 2:16). Christ did not make a down payment for our sin when He died on the cross so that we must pay the remainder of our sin debt to God. God does not accept us on the basis of our good life, our prayers, our keeping of His commandments, our water baptism, or the sacraments we have taken. We are accepted by God on the basis of the full payment for our sin debt to God when Jesus Christ died and rose again on our behalf. God was completely and forever satisfied with Jesus’ full payment for our sin.
Think about this for a moment. You cannot earn your way to heaven because you cannot pay a debt that is already paid. Jesus said, “It is finished!” His redemptive work is done. When you finish a job, how much is left to do? Nothing! There is nothing you and I can do to add to what Christ has already done because His work of paying our sin debt is finished. All sin incurs a debt which the sinner owes to God. The debt must be paid for before that sinner can be accepted by God. When Christ died on the cross, He gathered to Himself the accumulated debt of sinful humanity and offered to God payment for all ours sins – past, present, and future. Having made the full payment, Christ could say, “It is finished!” that is, “The debt has been paid in full.” Only Christ’s death on the cross could satisfy God’s righteous and holy demand for payment for our sins. You cannot earn heaven by a life of good behavior because you cannot pay a debt that is already paid.
If you are a Christian, your faith is different than other religions. Your faith has four letters in it: D-O-N-E! All other faiths have two letters: D-O. The reason you cannot do and do and do to get to heaven is because Christ died on the cross and His work of paying for the sins of the world is DONE! Everything that was needed to be done for us to be saved was accomplished on the cross. God is now completely free to offer eternal life as a free gift to those who believe in Jesus (Romans 6:23b).
When we communicate the gospel with non-Christians, we must be clear that all people have sinned against God and deserve to die forever in the Lake of Fire (Romans 3:23; 6:23; Revelation 20:15). No amount of our good thoughts, words, or actions can change the fact that we are sinners before a holy God (Isaiah 64:6). Because Jesus finished paying the penalty for our sins when He died in our place, that means we do not have to work for our salvation (Romans 4:5; Ephesians 2:8-9). All God asks of us is to believe in Jesus and His finished work on the cross as sufficient payment for our sins (John 3:14-15; 19:30). When we do, He gives us everlasting life and forgives all of our sins (John 3:16; Acts 10:43).
Those who are trusting in their good works or in Christ plus their good works to get them to heaven, are telling God the Father that Jesus’ death on the cross failed to pay their sin debt in full. However, since God was forever satisfied with His perfect Son’s payment for the sin of the world (Isaiah 53:11; John 19:30; I John 2:2), we must also be satisfied with what satisfies God. God cannot accept anything we do as payment for our sins because He has already accepted His Son’s payment for all of our sins when He died in our place on the cross.
We can reflect this truth in evangelism by inviting non-Christians to believe or trust in Christ alone, not their good works, to give them a right standing before God (Rom. 4:5; Gal. 2:16) and everlasting life (John 3:15-16; 6:40, 47; 11:25-26) so they will go to heaven when they die.
This is why Christians refer to Jesus’ crucifixion as “Good Friday.” It is good because Jesus finished the work of paying the penalty for all of our sins. He did what no other person could do. He satisfied God’s holy demand to punish our sins.
If you have never understood this, Jesus invites you to come to Him in faith just as you are. He promised, “Whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Christ can make this promise because He paid our sin debt in full nearly 2,000 years ago when He died on the cross, and that payment still stands today. That my friends, makes that Friday good – very, very good!!!