Christie asks, "What about Psalm 51?"

G'day Christie!

I'm going to paste two verses of Scripture. And you're going to notice something interesting...

Hebrews 10:5-6, "coming into the world, He [Jesus Christ] says, "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You prepared a body for Me. You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices concerning sins."

Psalm 51:16 "For you do not desire sacrifice, or I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering."

That strange!! These verses are almost exactly the same! It this a coincidence?? Why, of course not. The author to the Hebrews is making something very clear -- Psalm 51 is about Christ.

For a quick illustration -- If someone 2000 years ago had asked the author to the Hebrews, "Mr Apostle. Who was the famous person who said, " You did not delight in burnt offerings."??" The author to the Hebrews would have answered, "Jesus Christ.... Those are His Words".

And since these words are found in Psalm 51, then Psalm 51 is about Christ. Christ says, "You did not delight in burnt offering". The Psalmist says, "You do not delight in burnt offering." Therefore, Christ is the Psalmist!! By that I mean, Christ was speaking through the mouth of David.

David was merely a secretary. That's what the Apostle Peter says in Acts 1:15. "the Holy Spirit spoke before THROUGH DAVID'S MOUTH". Also, God spoke "THROUGH THE MOUTH of Your servant David" (Acts 4:25), God was "saying in David" (Heb 4:7), "David IN SPIRIT [calls]" (Mt 22:43), "David himself said BY THE HOLY SPIRIT" (Mk 13:36).

OBJECTION: Was Christ a sinner?

Now, here's comes the tricky bit. What about Psalm 51:3?? It says, "For I know my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me.

Could Christ say, "I know MY transgressions"?? Maybe He's not talking about sin He himself committed but IMPUTED sin (the sins of His people).

Hmmmm ... Do you really believe the sins of the elect were imputed to Christ on the cross? The New Testament says, "HE WAS MADE A CURSE" and "He who knew no sin WAS MADE SIN FOR US". Yes, Christ was a lamb without blemish. He was perfect. He never sinned. He was never stained within.

But when the sins of the elect were imputed, Christ TOOK THE DEBT upon himself. Let me explain. Suppose you owe your parents $50. Kindly, a friend of yours takes the debt from you, so that your friend is now in debt to your parents for $50. Of course, your friend never accumulated the debt himself.

In the same way, Christ never sinned. But He did take the debt/sins of the elect to be his own. In other words, He "owned" their sins, so to speak, whilst on the cross. Thus, he can refer to them as "my iniquities" because the sins were in His account.

A FINAL CHALLENGE

I challenge you NOT to be a Jew. Stop reading the Psalms like the Jews. Maybe you apply more Psalms to Christ than they do. But essentially, you both say the Psalms are David's. Something the Apostles never say.

Here's some objections from a few doubting Calvinists I had to answer.

Jeremy writes, "I also do not think that all of the Psalms are about Jesus."

My response: How do you know this? Where does the New Testament say any of the Psalms are about David's own experience? Let's assume for a moment that some of the Psalms are actually David's experiences. How would we know which ones they are? It's not obvious. Could you ever say you are *certain* about which Psalms are David's experiences? Anyways, you're simply not using the New Testament at all. You might as well be living 2100 years ago, before we had the Apostles. After all, you think they're useless.

You won't listen to a thing the Apostles have to say about the Psalms. I mean, aren't you *privately* interpreting the Psalms? Aren't you trying to make yourself into an Apostle? Isn't it the Apostle's job alone, to interprete prophecy?

OBJECTION: WHAT ABOUT PSALM 51

God says that Psalm 51 is about Christ. Read Hebrews 10:5-6.

"5 For this reason, coming into the world, He [Jesus Christ] says, "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You prepared a body for Me. 6 You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices concerning sins.

"Here we see that it is JESUS CHRIST who says: "YOU DO NOT DELIGHT IN BURNT OFFERINGS".

These are the words of the God-man Jesus Christ. Will you steal the words of His mouth and give them to David?

Because in Psalm 51 these EXACT words are found!! Read verse 16. "For you do not desire sacrifice, or I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering."

Clearly, it is Christ who says "YOU DO NOT DELIGHT IN BURNT OFFERING". Psalm 51 are the words of Jesus Christ to His Father. It is was Christ "says", according to Hebrews 10:6.

Regarding this Psalm, Jeremy wrote me, === "I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. (Psalm 51:1-5) .... Do enlighten me as to how this applies to our Savior who "in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin"===

In response: Jeremy, do you really believe the sins of the elect were imputed to Christ on the cross? The New Testament says, "HE WAS MADE A CURSE" and "He who knew no sin WAS MADE SIN FOR US". Yes, Christ was a lamb without blemish. He was perfect. He never sinned. He was never stained within.

But when the sins of the elect were imputed, Christ TOOK THE DEBT upon himself. Let me explain. Suppose you owe your parents $50. Kindly, a friend of yours takes the debt from you, so that your friend is now in debt to your parents for $50. Of course, your friend never accumulated the debt himself.

In the same way, Christ never sinned. But He did take the debt/sins of the elect to be his own. In other words, He "owned" their sins, so to speak, whilst on the cross. Thus, he can refer to them as "my iniquities" because the sins were in His account.