GLORY IN THE CROSS...but as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ

GLORY IN THE CROSS
by steve camp
1/3/01

Glory in the cross, our faithful High Priest
Went beyond the veil as our Prince of Peace
Clothed with our sin, its guilt and shame
Our sinless Substitute, Jesus His name

Glory in the cross, the law now fulfilled
Righteousness displayed on Calvary’s Hill
He, Son of Man and God the Son
The Lord and the Lamb, our victory won

Glory in the cross, where grace doth abound
Where the Man of Sorrows wore transgressions crown
Wounded and chastened for our iniquities
Our faithful Redeemer, God the Father pleased

Glory in the cross, marked by sin’s crimson stain
Grace and forgiveness flows from His precious veins
Perfect redemption once for all sacrifice
Salvation made secure by the Lord Jesus Christ

Glory in the cross, Satan’s power of death destroyed
Rendered impotent by The Incarnate Word
He crushed the Serpents head upon Golgotha’s tree
Our great and dreadful Sovereign, Champion is He

Glory in the cross, the elect have been redeemed
O covenant of grace from eternity decreed
Worthy is the Lamb slain from all ages past
Sinners reconciled, true worshippers at last

Glory in the cross, “It is finished”, the Victor, cried
God propitiated, forever satisfied
Once enemies now brethren, estranged but brought near
His judgment assuaged no bondage nor fear

Glory in the cross, God forsaken of God
Smitten and afflicted, bruised with Heaven’s rod
Resurrected triumphant, our Lord, God and King
Grave where is thy vict’ry, O death where is thy sting?

GLORY IN THE CROSS...where God saved His people from Himself

GLORY IN THE CROSS
by steve camp
written - 1/3/01

Glory in the cross, our faithful High Priest
Went beyond the veil as our Prince of Peace
Clothed with our sin, its guilt and shame
Our sinless Substitute, Jesus His name

Glory in the cross, the law now fulfilled
Righteousness displayed on Calvary’s Hill
He, Son of Man and God the Son
The Lord and the Lamb, our victory won

Glory in the cross, where grace doth abound
Where the Man of Sorrows wore transgressions crown
Wounded and chastened for our iniquities
Our faithful Redeemer, God the Father pleased

Glory in the cross, marked by sin’s crimson stain
Grace and forgiveness flows from His precious veins
Perfect redemption once for all sacrifice
Salvation made secure by the Lord Jesus Christ

Glory in the cross, Satan’s power of death destroyed
Rendered impotent by The Incarnate Word
He crushed the Serpents head upon Golgotha’s tree
Our great and dreadful Sovereign, Champion is He

Glory in the cross, the elect have been redeemed
O covenant of grace from eternity decreed
Worthy is the Lamb slain from all ages past
Sinners reconciled, true worshippers at last

Glory in the cross, “It is finished”, the Victor, cried
God propitiated, forever satisfied
Once enemies now brethren, estranged but brought near
His judgment assuaged no bondage nor fear

Glory in the cross, God forsaken of God
Smitten and afflicted, bruised with Heaven’s rod
Resurrected triumphant, our Lord, God and King
Grave where is thy vict’ry, O death where is thy sting?

and are justified by his grace as a gift, 

through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, 

to be received by faith.

This was to show God's righteousness, 

because in his divine forbearance

he had passed over former sins. 

It was to show his righteousness at the present time,

so that he might be just and the 

justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

-Romans 3:24-26

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us

and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

-1 John 4:10

The real suffering that Christ endured was not at the hand of Pilate's cat-of-nine-tails with the scorpion hook he brutally inflicted upon our Lord's body. No. But the greatest affliction occurred when on the cross our Lord became our divine substitute for us (2 Cor. 5:21) and took our sin, the penalty and guilt of our sin, and all of the Father's wrath that burns against us and our sin that we deserved. He took it for us! As Isaiah 53 says, "It pleased God to crush Him for our iniquities."

O what majesty in the midst of such suffering; what glory in the midst of such agony; and what grace,love and mercy in the midst of such sinful man's rebellion. Hallelujah to the King of Righteousness this blessed day of our salvation.

And wherever you are today, remember this beloved: that at precisely 3:00pm our Lord cried out from Calvary's tree these eternal words: "IT IS FINISHED!" Never forgot what a wonderful, merciful Savior we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And He is worthy of our reverence, respect, worship and adoration.

The Cross Displays the Satisfaction of God

-Solus Christus (Christ alone)

One of the key words the N.T. writers use to speak of vicarious penal substitutionary atonement is propitiation (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2, 4:10, Heb. 2:17).

This word carries with it two ideas:

1. to satisfy;
2. to quench, to assuage.

Taken in context, Jesus Christ on the cross took not only the guilt and penalty of our sin, but the full wrath of God for His elect. That is what the Apostles Creed means when it says, "…He [Jesus] descended into hell." Jesus literally didn’t go to hell after He died (the false teachings of the Word/Faith movement), but He endured the full weight of God’s eternal wrath for us as our Federal Head on the cross. And in that manner He “descended into hell…” for all those He came to save.

As a brief side note: the cross was not the triumph of darkness over light; Satan over Jesus - thinking that they had victory over the Son of Man in incarnation by His dying on the cross. As one theologian wrongly asserts:

"On Golgotha the day gave way to night as Christ sank deeper and deeper into the abyss of damnation. At Bethlehem there were countless angels praising God; on Golgotha legions of darkness filled the impenetrable gloom, hoping that darkness would finally triumph over light."

While I appreciate his passion and his ability at story-telling, that is just not true beloved. Jesus laid down His life for His sheep on the cross and no man (nor Satan himself) took it from Him - not even the legions of darkness. The cross was the death blow to Satan and his minions (Heb. 2:14-15). Jesus crushed the head of that wicked serpent on Calvary and destroyed his works. Amen? It was the death of death in the death of Christ.  

To God be the glory!

God's Wrathful Presence
Hell is not simply the absence of God beloved as some would suggest; hell is His wrathful presence being poured out upon all the ungodly, Satan and his demons forever. Listen, hell would be “Club Med” if it were not for the presence of God’s wrath.

This wrath of God that you and I deserve to be poured out upon us in unmitigated gall and ferocity without reprieve was fully poured out upon Jesus on the cross. This is truly miraculous. The sinless Son of Man; the perfect Son of God; the spotless Lamb; and the holy High Priest drank the cup of wrath on our behalf so that we may have peace with God forever. That was the punishment that Christ endured for us; that is penal substitution. This is not “cosmic child abuse” as one (who shall remain unnamed) author refers to it. This is a profound truth and mystery. Whatever eternal wrath comprises, the miracle was that it was compressed into time and poured out on the Son for us as the Father faced the Son and the Son faced the Father and the fullness of His anger was consumed, quenched, and satisfied by the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is what propitiation is:
wrath assuaged and God satisfied.

The sins of the elect (every sin, that would ever be committed, by everyone, who would ever believe) was thrust on Jesus.

The prophet Isaiah in his fourth song of the Suffering Servant, gives us the most graphic picture of this once for all propitiatory sacrifice for our sins:

“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him” (Isaiah 53:4-6).

The fullness of the guilt and penalty of ours sins were thrust on Him. And the greatness of my wretched sin and yours would have beeen enough to bear... But it was the burden of the cross, the eternal wrath of a holy God that was poured out upon Jesus Christ. THAT was the cup that only Jesus could drink; that was the cup that He wrestled with in the garden. It was not the cup of death or dying. He wasn’t fearful to walk the way of the cross. Wicked men had gone Golgotha’s way before and were rightly punished for their crimes. Many went laughing, mocking, unafraid, scornful of their insurrections and offenses. They were the worst of criminals deserving to die and punished justly for their crimes.

But not so with the Lord Jesus Christ. He was sinless, holy God incarnate; guilty of no crime that humanly deserved this kind of death sentence. As the Apostle Paul has said, “He who knew no sin, became the sin offering for us; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Only God incarnate, Jesus Christ the Lord, could drink the cup of God's wrath. And He drained it beloved; He drained it to the very dregs and fully redeemed us at Calvary. Christ suffered in our place so that we may have peace with God forever (Rom. 5:1-2). He became, what Paul says in Galatians 3, “a curse for us.”

Substitutionary death is not equal to the 

damnation unbelievers suffer, 

it is far superior because it is not due. 

His cry was not the cry of the damned 

but the perfectly obedient and 

sinless cry of the Son to His Father.

Christ Died for God
What were we saved from? Our sins? Yes. Hell? Yes. The sting of death? Yes. But those pale in comparison with this profound reality: on the cross, God through Christ saved us from Himself. That’s right – God through Christ saved us from Himself. From His wrath, His holiness, His justice. And Because Jesus Christ fully satisfied God (propitiation) on the cross as our Divine Substitute, we need to never fear of eternal judgment, condemnation, wrath or punishment for our sins. The penalty of our sins have been fully quenched in the once for all vicarious penal substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the Good News of the gospel beloved.

God treated Christ on the cross as if He lived our life, so that we by grace through faith in Him, can be treated as if we lived His life (2 Cor. 5:21). He was clothed with our sin (thought sinless and holy); so that we might be clothed with His righteousness (though are sinners and sinful). That is the great doctrine of imputation.

When the fullness of that wrath was embraced by Jesus on the cross He cried out, "My God, My God, why has thou forsaken Me?" Some commentators think that at this point on the cross that God simply turned His back on His Son in shame for He could not look on sin. That that was the forsaking. That represents a very shallow, sentimental view of what our Lord endured on the cross - but I submit to you, is thoroughly unbiblical.

Where does this view come from? This belief stems from inaccurate rendering of a verse in Habakkuk 1:13 where the prophet says,

“Thine eyes are too pure to approve evil, And Thou canst not look on wickedness with favor. Why dost Thou look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why art Thou silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they?” (NASB) (Emphasis mine).

Notice, it isn’t that God cannot look on sin; but He cannot look on sin with favor. Consider these verses:

Jer. 16:17 "For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes."

Prov. 15:3 "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good."

The Lord “sees” all things continually – including our sin. Nothing is hidden from His sight (Heb. 4:12-16). So the forsaking of Jesus on the cross by the Father couldn’t have been a simple turning away of the eyes of God from His Son because He cannot look on sin.

His holiness demanded a sacrifice; His justice demanded satisfaction; His righteousness required perfection. God had to be satisfied before we as sinners could be justified!

Therefore, Jesus was, as Hebrews 2:17 says,

"that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (emphasis mine).

That phrase "in things pertaining to God" in the Greek is: pros ton theon. It means "face to face with God"; and this occured on the cross. Don't miss this amazing picture of redemption: the Son faced the Father from the cross; and the Father faced His Son on the cross; and He poured out upon Him the eternal wrath that we deserve in hell forever. "Amazing love how can it be..." Amen?

Christ was absolutely forsaken; He bore our sin, its guilt, penalty, and shame. And He bore the wrath of God that burns against us. He drank the cup of wrath; He became the curse for us; he endured the shame of the cross for the joy set before Him; He was bruised, crushed, chastined for our iniquities. Once again beloved... hear this today: the Father faced the Son on the cross; and the Son faced the Father from the cross; and He “bore God’s wrath—all of it” as our divine Substitute in His once for all propitiatory sacrifice on the cross for His own.

When Jesus finally cried, "IT IS FINISHED" what had happened?

To what extent have all of our sins been dealt with on the cross--even those we have not even committed or have had committed against us yet? When the Lord Jesus Christ declared from the cross,"It is finished!", He had:

• fulfilled the Law;
• went beyond the veil;
• satisfied God's justice;
• propitiated the Father's wrath;
• satisfied His holiness;
• fulfilled all righteousness;
• exalted grace;
• confirmed the gospel;
• redeemed the elect;
• justified His own from the penalty of sin;
• quenched the guilt of our sin;
• crushed the head of Satan and destroyed his hold of death;
• abolished death and its sting;
• fulfilled all redemptive Messianic prophecies;
• secured for us eternal life;
• brought us into intimacy with God;
• imputed to us His perfect righteousness;
• instituted a new covenant;
• and brought us into peace with God forever!

Now THAT is a cross we can glory in!

The death of Christ was both a propitiation AND an expiation of sin. Propitiation refers to the turning away of wrath by an offering. God's wrath was satisfied and His justice meted out by Jesus’ once for all sacrifice on the cross. Expiation refers to covering sins and in specific, the guilt of sin. By the vicarious penal substitutionary atonement of Christ Jesus on the cross, our sins and their penalty are removed from us. The atonement satisfies both the demands of the Father and the needs of Christ's people (1 Pet. 1:2).

As brother Spurgeon can only say:

"When Jesus gave himself for us, he gave us all the rights and privileges which went with himself; so that now, although as eternal God, he has essential rights to which no creature may venture to pretend, yet as Jesus, the Mediator, the federal head of the covenant of grace, he has no heritage apart from us. All the glorious consequences of his obedience unto death are the joint riches of all who are in him, and on whose behalf he accomplished the divine will. See, he enters into glory, but not for himself alone, for it is written, "Whither the Forerunner is for us entered." Heb. 6:20. Does he stand in the presence of God?-"He appears in the presence of God for us." Heb. 9:24.

Can we now say with confidence this day with Paul himself: "If God be for us... who can be against us?"

Aren't we grateful to the Lord this day that He has not "rewarded us according to our sin, nor dealt with us according to our iniquity?" (Psalm 103:10). In Christ all our "sins are forgiven for His name's sake" (1 John 2:12); He has "forgiven us all our transgressions" (Col. 2:13, emphasis added). And if all our sins are forgiven by Him, can we not forgive the purposed wrongs that others do against us?

Beloved, God for Christ's sake forgave us; we for Christ's sake must forgive each other. Remember, the measure of our love is the extent of our ability to forgive! (1 Jn. 2:12; Col. 2:12ff)

SALVATION IS OF THE LORD...the Ordo Salutis (The Order of Salvation)

"To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect." -JOHN OWEN

Does Scripture picture God as a powerless lover or suitor, begging sinful man to "accept Him, marry Him or get engaged to Him?"; OR as the Sovereign Lord of all who is "commanding all men everywhere to repent" of their sins? IOW, is God simply reacting to man's "free will advances" or is He the One who is the Author and Finisher of our faith; the One who draws, elects, chooses; predestines, justifies, glorifies, and saves? (cp. Roms. 8:28-31)

My prayer is that you will find comfort, joy, reverence and thanksgiving in the blessed hope and surety of your salvation. What is the essence of the doctrines of grace? What is the heart and soul of biblical soteriology?

It can summed up in one phrase: "salvation is of the Lord."

The Ordo Salutis:
Latin, "the order of salvation."

The ordo salutis is the theological doctrine that deals with the logical sequencing of the benefits of Salvation worked by Christ which are applied to us by the Spirit. This first thing to remember is that we must never seperate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ).

The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration, etc.) is the work of God in Christ and is by grace alone. Election is the superstructure of our ordo salutis, but not itself the application of redemption. Regeneration, the work of the Holy Spirit which brings us into a living union with Christ, has a causal priority over the other aspects of the process of salvation:

• God opens our eyes, we see.
  
• God circumcises/unplugs our ears, we hear.
• Jesus calls a dead and buried Lazarus out of the grave, he comes.
• In the same way, the Holy Spirit applies regeneration, (opening our spiritual eyes and renewing our affections), infallibly resulting in faith.

All the benefits of redemption such as conversion (faith & repentance), justification, sanctification and perseverance presuppose the existence of spiritual life. The work of applying God's grace is a unitary process given to the elect simultaneously. This is instantaneous, but there is definitely a causal order (regeneration giving rise to all the rest). Though these benefits cannot be separated, it is helpful to distinguish them. Therefore, instead of imposing a chronological order we should view these as a unitary work of God to bring us into union with Christ. We must always keep in mind that the orders occur together or happen simultaneously like the turning on of a light switch or a faucet. But God turns on the light/faucet, so to speak. All aspects of the work of God continue together throughout the life of a Christian.

Historically in the Church there has been disagreement about the order of salvation, especially between those in the Reformed and Arminian camps. The following two perspectives of God's order in carrying out His redemptive work reveals the stark contrast between these two main historic views. Keep in mind that both viewpoints are based on the redemptive work which Christ accomplished for His people in history:

In the Reformed camp, the ordo salutis is 1) election, 2) predestination, 3) gospel call 4) inward call 5) regeneration, 6) conversion (faith & repentance), 7) justification, 8) sanctification, and 9) glorification. (Rom 8:29-30)

In the Arminian camp, the ordo salutis is 1) outward call 2) faith/election, 3) repentance, 4) regeneration, 5) justification, 6) perseverance, 7) glorification.

Notice the crucial difference in the orders of regeneration and faith.

While the Reformed position believes spiritual life is a prerequisite for the existence of the other aspects of salvation, the Arminians believe that fallen, natural man retains the moral capacity to receive or reject the gospel of his own power. Even with the help of grace he still must find it within himself to believe or reject Christ. This has broad implications and raises questions like why does one man believe and not another? You might also notice that, according to Arminians, election is dependent on faith, not the other way around. This is no small matter ...understanding the biblical order, while keeping in mind its unitary process, is crucial and has a profound impact on how one views God, the gospel, and the Bible as a whole.

"Union with Christ begins with God's pretemporal decision to save his people in and through Jesus Christ. This union, further, is based on the redemptive work for his people which Christ did in history. Finally, this union is actually established with God's people after they have been born, continues throughout their lives, and has as its goal their eternal glorification in the life to come. We go on, then, to see union with Christ as having its roots in divine election, its basis in the redemptive work of Christ, and its actual establishment with God's people in time." -Anthony Hoekema

Source: the above is sourced from Monergism.com

An encore presentation

JOHN OWEN ON LIMITED ATONEMENTthe unlimited sufficiency of the cross for the elect

FOR WHOM DID CHRIST DIE?
by John Owen

The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either:
1. All the sins of all men;
2. All the sins of some men, or;
3. Some of the sins of all men.

In which case it may be said:
1. That if the last be true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so, none are saved;
2. That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth;
3. But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins?

You answer, "Because of unbelief."
I ask, Is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it be, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!"

this has been an encore presentation

YOUR WEEKLY DOSE OF GOSPEL...the security of being justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. -Romans 5:1-2

ATONEMENT

"therefore having been justified by faith"

(justification)

Justification is the heart and soul of the gospel. It is the Atlas, as Packer says, which bears on its shoulders the weight of all other Christian doctrines. To be justified means to be declared righteous by God. That the judge of the entire universe declares a man or a woman has right standing before Him. He is no longer under the judgment of God, no longer under the wrath of God, he is now the friend of God; more that that, he is the child of God; he is the son of God. God has fully and completely accepted him as righteous. That only happens by faith and faith alone. And that’s, of course, the great reformation truth. That God declares the sinner righteous on the basis of faith and faith alone.

As 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith so rightly states:

1. Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing Christ's active obedience unto the whole law, and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteousness by faith, which faith they have not of themselves; it is the gift of God. (Romans 3:24; Romans 8:30; Romans 4:5-8; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:30, 31; Romans 5:17-19; Philippians 3:8, 9; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12; Romans 5:17)

2. Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. (Romans 3:28; Galatians 5:6; James 2:17, 22, 26)

3. Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are justified; and did, by the sacrifice of himself in the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty due unto them, make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God's justice in their behalf; yet, inasmuch as he was given by the Father for them, and his obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead, and both freely, not for anything in them, their justification is only of free grace, that both the exact justice and rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. (Hebrews 10:14; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; Isaiah 53:5, 6; Romans 8:32; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:26; Ephesians 1:6,7; Ephesians 2:7)

4. God did from all eternity decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did in the fullness of time die for their sins, and rise again for their justification; nevertheless, they are not justified personally, until the Holy Spirit doth in time due actually apply Christ unto them. (Galatians 3:8; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Timothy 2:6; Romans 4:25; Colossians 1:21,22; Titus 3:4-7)

5. God doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified, and although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God's fatherly displeasure; and in that condition they have not usually the light of his countenance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance. (Matthew 6:12; 1 John 1:7, 9; John 10:28; Psalms 89:31-33; Psalms 32:5; Psalms 51; Matthew 26:75)

But, of course, it is more than just the declaration. The reason God can declare the sinner stands right before Him is because He imputes to him (credits to him) the righteousness of Jesus Christ—which is a perfect righteousness. This righteousness is complete lacking nothing. It is the culmination of the active and passive obedience of Jesus Christ. He fulfilled the Law through perfect obedience to all of its standards by His sinless life and fulfilled its penalty by virtue of His vicarious, penal substitutionary death on the cross. It is in Christ’s righteousness that we are fully made "right with God." God was completely satisfied with the once for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Heb. 2:17; Roms. 3:24-26). He was raised from the dead for our justification. He had accomplished the covenant of redemption determined in times past eternal (2 Tim. 1:9-10) and has ascended to and is exalted at the right hand of the throne of God.

The substitutionary, atoning work was perfectly accomplished and the justice of God was completely satisfied.

That is why, the gospel never
begins with man and his needs,
but with God and his glory.
The issue of the gospel is not
how do we get sinful people to a holy God;
but how does a holy God come to sinful people
without violating His holiness and justice?
And the answer is the cross—
the once for all atoning and sacrificial
work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:23-25a, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness…”

Proverbs 16:6, “In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.”

Psalm 85:10, “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.”

Psalm 32:1-2, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

1 Corinthians 6:11, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

We are:

• Justified by His blood – Romans 5:9
• Justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ – Romans 5:1
• Justified freely by His grace – Romans 3:24
• Is not by works – Romans 8:3
• It is by God – Romans 8:33
• And is obtained by the resurrection of Jesus – Romans 4:25

On the cross of Jesus Christ, the sins of the elect have been punished; the penalty of sin atoned for; the guilt of sin expiated; God’s wrath against us and our sin propitiated; His holiness reverenced; His justice satisfied; His law fulfilled; His grace exalted; and sinners reconciled. It is not through a cooperation of the merits and/or good works of ourselves plus the grace of God by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ by faith. It is all of grace; it is all through Jesus Christ our Lord that the Sovereign Judge of the universe has made us right with Him; and we are justified.

With justification as the foundation of our salvation—the first great truth that represents the security of the believer in Jesus Christ is:

APPEASEMENT
We have “peace with God”
(propitiation)

The peace that Paul is speaking about here is not subjective peace, but objective peace. It is not a feeling, but a fact. Apart from salvation through Jesus Christ, every human being is at enmity with God, spiritually at war with Him (see v. 10; cf. 8:7), regardless of what his feelings about God may be. In the same way, the person who is justified by faith in Christ is at peace with God, regardless of how he may feel about it at any given moment. Through his trust in Jesus Christ, a sinner’s war with God is ended for all eternity.

As John MacArthur convictingly says,

“Most unsaved people do not think of themselves as enemies of God. Because they have no conscious feelings of hatred for Him and do not actively oppose His work or contradict His Word, they consider themselves, at worst, to be “neutral” about God. But no such neutrality is possible. The mind of every unsaved person is at peace only with the things of the flesh, and therefore by definition is “hostile toward God” and cannot be otherwise (Rom. 8:7).”

Not only are all unbelievers enemies of God, but God is also the enemy of all unbelievers. The Psalmist says that God is angry with the wicked every day (cf. Ps. 7:11). God is the enemy of the sinner, and that enmity cannot end unless and until the sinner places his trust in Jesus Christ. As Paul declared near the opening of this letter, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18).

To those who foolishly think God is too loving to send anyone to hell, Paul declared, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things [the sins listed in v. 5] the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 5:6); “and the Lord does hate all who do iniquity” (Psalm 5:5).

You see beloved, hell is not the absence of God,
but the wrathful presence of God
poured out for all eternity
upon Satan and all his hellish hosts,
and all who have rejected Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior of their lives in unmitigated fury and gaul.

But on the cross, Christ took upon Himself all the fury of God’s wrath that sinful mankind deserves. And those who trust in Christ are no longer God’s enemies and no longer under His wrath, but are at peace with Him.

In light of these truths, The Four Spiritual Laws could read like this:

LAW ONE: God is holy and has a plan for your life. His wrath abides upon all who do not believe in the Son and His eternal displeasure against all who reject His gospel of grace. But life and peace for all who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Lord and Savior. 

LAW TWO: There is nothing you can do in or by yourself to save yourself and have a right standing before God. Man is sinful, conceived in sin, by nature a child of wrath; and hopelessly lost; even our own righteousness is nothing but filthy rags to a holy God. All your good works are rubbish to Him as a means of salvation. You cannot escape the due penalty for your sin; His holiness and justice witnesses against you; His Law condemns you. You are guilty before God and apart from faith in Christ have no hope of eternal life.

LAW THREE: Jesus Christ came and died in our place to bring salvation, fulfill God’s law and all righteousness, to satisfy God's holiness and justice, to quench God's wrath, to destroy the works of the devil, and redeem for Himself people who in and of themselves are sinners and sinful into a right standing with God and to have peace with God forever. And by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus proved He is both Lord and Christ and secured our justification.

LAW FOUR: Repent of your sin, be reconciled to God, and confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior for eternal life and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. Love Him more than all other loves including yourself; believe solely on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. Salvation is through faith alone, by grace alone, in Christ alone, according to the Word alone, to the glory and praise of God alone. Once His love, mercy and grace are given to you, nothing or no one can ever take away your life which is hid in Jesus Christ - nothing can ever separate you from His love. This is God’s wonderful plan of salvation.

Amen?

Paul assured the Colossian believers:

“For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him [Christ], and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach” (Col. 1:19-22).

The Theme of Romans 5 is Reconciliation.
Reconciliation with God brings peace with God. That peace is permanent and irrevocable, because Jesus Christ, through whom believers receive their reconciliation, “always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). “For I will be merciful to their iniquities,” the Lord says of those who belong to Him, “and I will remember their sins no more” (Heb. 8:12; cf. 10:17). In fact, Christ not only brings peace to the believer but “He Himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:14).

ADVOCATE
through the “the Lord Jesus Christ”
(substitution)

Sin strikes at God and says,

“I don’t care what You said, I’ll do what I want. Sin is God’s would be murderer. Sin would un-God God if it could. Sin defiles the conscience. Sin is irrational and forfeits blessing. Sin is painful—it hurts. Sin is damning. Sin is degrading it mares the image of God and man. Like Samson, it cuts the locks of purity and leaves men morally weak. Sin poisons the springs of love and turns beauty in leprosy. Sin defeats the mind, the heart, the will, the affections and it has made a whole world of people—all of mankind—children wrath by nature; objects of God’s wrath. Sin brings man under the domination of Satan and his sick sin system, which he controls. Man and the world is a slave to sin, open rebellion and defiance to God and a slave to Satan" (author unknown).

“Through our Lord Jesus Christ”
(5:1; 11; 23; 6:23; 7:25; 8:39.)

1 John 2:1-2 says, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” The Greek word for advocate (parakletos) means helper - one who comes along side. John uses this same term in regards to the Holy Spirit in John 14:16.

But this word also carries the tone of a more legal nature. It was used in rabbinical literature who offered legal aid or one who intercedes on behalf of someone else. Undoubtedly in this context it signifies that Jesus Christ is our heavenly “counsel for the defense.” What hope we have in Christ once we are saved that when we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.

ACCESS
We have “access by faith”
(adoption)

After the Tabernacle was built, and later the Temple, strict boundaries were set. A Gentile could only go into the outer confines and no farther. Jewish women could go beyond the Gentile limit but not much farther. And so it was with the men and the regular priests. Each group could go nearer the Holy of Holies, where God’s divine presence was manifested, but none could actually enter there. Only the high priest could enter, and that only once a year and very briefly And even he could lose his life if he entered unworthily. Bells were sewn on the special garments he wore on the Day of Atonement, and if the sound of the bells stopped while he was ministering in the Holy of Holies, they knew he had been struck dead by God (Ex. 28:35).

But Christ’s death ended that. Through His once for all atoning sacrifice, He made God the Father accessible to any person, Jew or Gentile, who trusts in the merits of Christ alone accomplished in that sacrifice. The writer of Hebrews encourages believers to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

To make this truth graphic, when Jesus was crucified, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” by God’s power (Matt. 27:51). His death forever removed the barrier to God’s holy presence that the Temple veil represented. Commenting on that amazing truth, the writer of Hebrews says, “Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:19-22).

Ephesians 2:18, “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”

Ephesians 3:12, “in whom we have access with confidence through faith in Him.”

1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”

ANCHOR
We “stand in grace”
(sanctification)

Believers will often fall into sin, but their sin is not more powerful than God’s grace. They are the very sins for which Jesus paid the penalty. If no sin a person commits before salvation is too great for Christ’s atoning death to cover, surely no sin he commits after salvation is too great to be covered. In verse 10 of this chapter the apostle declares, “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

If a dying Savior could bring us God’s grace,
surely a living Savior can keep us in God's grace.

Look with me in 5:20, “The Law came in that the transgression might increase,” he writes; “but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” Standing in grace, we are in the sphere of constant forgiveness.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (Rom. 8:31-34).

What is grace?

“Grace is a provision for men who are so fallen that they cannot lift the axe of justice; so corrupt that they cannot change their own natures; so adverse to God tha they cannot turn to Him; so blind they cannot see Him; so deaf they cannot hear Him; and so dead, that He Himself must open their graves” (G.S. Bishop).

Jesus said, “all that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37). Charles Spurgeon said, “Our finite sin can never exhaust his infinite grace.” We are great sinners, but He is a greater Savior! Amen?

But this is not cheap grace beloved.
Romans 6:18 says, “Having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

“For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12).

We’re not only saved by grace, but sanctified by grace. 

ASSURANCE
We “rejoice in hope of the glory of God”
(glorification)

But the genuine Christian has no reason to fear the future and has every reason to rejoice in it, because he has the divinely-secured hope that his ultimate destiny is to share in the very glory of God. Jesus Christ guarantees the believer’s hope because He Himself is our hope (1 Tim. 1:1).

1 Peter 1:3-9 gives us these assuraning words of steadfast hope:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls." (emphasis mine).

Past, present and future sins have been swallowed up in victory by the once for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ at the cross. What wonderful cause for rejoicing and hope. Hebrews 10:10-12 says,

"By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.”

You know

“that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,” Peter reminds us, “but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Pet. 1:18-21).

And when our own perishable and mortal bodies one day are raised imperishable and immortal (1 Cor. 15:53-54), they will be fit to receive and to display God’s divine glory. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” (Phil. 3:20-21).

The Holy Spirit is also Himself a guarantee of the believer’s security.

“In Him [Christ], you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:13-14).

“But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).

The promise of our glorification in Christ Jesus Paul proclaims in Romans 8:29-30 when saying,

“we are predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” In Romans 9:23, God has so predestined us, “in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.”

I grew up thinking that one-day when my life is over and I am home with the Lord that there will be a giant rerun of my entire life for all to see… Every sin, every imperfection, every wrong deed I had ever done, thought of doing, or talked about doing would be played for all to see. I actually feared as a child going to heaven because of this kind of teaching. But when I read the Word of God, I see that the penalty of my sins have already been dealt with by Jesus Christ on the cross--completely and fully. He remembers them no more; He has separated them as far as the east is from the west; He casts them to the bottom of the sea... And isn't that good news? We will give an account for how we have lived here on earth in service to the Lord; but in regards to our sins--all of them—their guilt, penalty and God’s wrath against them have been already and entirely dealt with in Christ.

Through Christ, as Jude 24 says,

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever more.”

FINAL THOUGHT:

Rest in the truth of what our brother Charles Spurgeon has said:

“When Jesus gave himself for us, he gave us all the rights and privileges which went with himself; so that now, although as eternal God, he has essential rights to which no creature may venture to pretend, yet as Jesus, the Mediator, the federal head of the covenant of grace, he has no heritage apart from us. All the glorious consequences of his obedience unto death are the joint riches of all who are in him, and on whose behalf he accomplished the divine will. See, he enters into glory, but not for himself alone, for it is written, “Whither the Forerunner is for us entered.” Heb. 6:20. Does he stand in the presence of God?—“He appears in the presence of God for us.” Heb. 9:24.

Consider this, believer. You have no right to heaven in yourself: your right lies in Christ. If you are pardoned, it is through His blood; if you are justified, it is through His righteousness; if you are sanctified, it is because He is made of God unto you sanctification; if you shall be kept from falling, it will be because you are preserved in Christ Jesus; and if you are perfected at the last, it will be because you are complete in Him. Thus Jesus is magnified—for all is in Him and by Him; thus the inheritance is made certain to us—for it is obtained in Him; thus each blessing is the sweeter, and even heaven itself the brighter, because it is Jesus our Beloved “in whom” we have obtained all.”

TWO VIEWS OF REGENERATION...we love Him because He first loved us

Why the gospel matters:

A Helpful Follow Up on Regeneration
When people ask me what is the heart of the doctrines of grace, I usually respond by saying one central essential thing: "salvation is of the Lord" (cp, Psalm 37:39; Jonah 2:9). That is the glory of our new life in Christ... it is all of Him; He saved us and not we ourselves. (Titus 3:5). It is all of grace (Eph. 2:8-9) for apart from we can't do anything (John 15:5); and before we are saved by His grace through faith in Christ alone, we were dead in trespasses and sin, by nature children of wrath, sons of disobedience, slaves to our own lusts, passions and desires (Eph. 2:1-3; Titus 3:3, Rom. 3:10-18).

John Hendryx has done an amazing, concise work on the two views of regeneration. I hope this will encourage you in the greatness of our Lord's saving work for His elect and that it would cause you to glory afresh in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

Defining the Terms
Monergism: The doctrine that the Holy Spirit is the only efficient agent in regeneration - that the human will possesses no inclination to holiness until regenerated, and therefore cannot cooperate in regeneration. Monergism is when God conveys that power into the fallen soul whereby the person who is to be saved is enabled to receive the offer of redemption. It refers to the first step (regeneration) which has causal priority over, and gives rise to, the spiritual ability to comply with all the other aspects of the process of being united to Christ, (i.e., the ability to apprehend the Redeemer by a living faith, to repent of sin and to love God and the Mediator supremely) It does not refer to the whole process that it gives rise to (justification, sanctification), but only the granting of the spiritual capacity to comply with the terms of the covenant of grace.

Synergism: "...the doctrine that there are two efficient agents in regeneration, namely the human will and the divine Spirit, which, in the strict sense of the term, cooperate. This theory accordingly holds that the soul has not lost in the fall all inclination toward holiness, nor all power to seek for it under the influence of ordinary motives." This unscriptural view is the greatest threat to a true understanding of salvation in the Church today.

The following comparison highlights some of the major points of difference in these systems:

Two Views of the Cause of Regeneration
Synergism
Faith is the cause that triggers regeneration

Faith and affections for God are produced by the old nature.

God and Man work together to produce the new birth. God's grace takes us part of the way to salvation, man's unregenerate will must determine the final outcome.

God is eagerly awaiting the sinner's will.

The persons of the Trinity have conflicting goals in accomplishing and applying salvation: The Father elects a particular people; The Son dies for a general people and the Holy Spirit applies the atonement conditionally on those who exercise their autonomous free will.

Restoration of spiritual faculties comes after the sinner exercises faith with his natural (innate) capacities. Has the ability to see spiritual truth even before healed. (see 1 Cor 2:14). Has spiritual capacity to receive the truth, prior God's granting any spiritual ability.

Monergism
Regeneration is the cause of faith. (has causal priority)

Faith is not produced by our unregenerated human nature. It is the immediate and inevitable product of the new nature.

God, the Holy Spirit, alone produces regeneration with no contribution from the sinner. (A work of God)

God effectually enables the sinner's will.

The persons of the Trinity work in harmony - The Father elects a particular people, Christ dies for those the Father has given Him and the Holy Spirit likewise applies the benefits of the atonement to the same.

"Light" itself is not enough for a blind man to see, his vision must first be restored. (John 3:3,6). Needs spiritual ability to receive truth prior to receiving it.

Two Views of Humanity
Synergism
The fallen sinner has the ability and potential inclination to believe even prior to the new birth

The Gospel is an invitation

Christ died for all our sins except unbelief

There is enough good left in fallen man to turn his affections toward Christ.

Sinner needs help, is spiritually handicapped.

Natural man is sick and disabled like a drowning man so God would be unfeeling if He didn't help by casting a rope.

Needs salvation from the consequences of sin - unhappiness, hell, psychological pain

The natural man is sovereign over his choice to accept or reject Christ - God conditionally responds to our decision.

Some fallen men either created a right thought, generated a right affection, or originated a right volition that led to their salvation while some other fallen men did not have the natural wherewithal to come up with the faith that God required of them to obtain salvation. Therefore salvation is dependent on some virtue or capacity God sees in certain men.

Man's nature & affections do not determine or give rise to his choices. He can still make a saving decision prior to the new birth while still in his unregenerate state. In this scheme God gives enough grace to place man in a neutral position which can swing either for or against Jesus. (An act of chance?)

Monergism
The fallen sinner has no ability or inclination to believe prior to the new birth.

The Gospel is not merely an invitation but a command (1 John 3:23)

Christ died for all our sins including unbelief

Fallen Man has a mind at enmity with God; loves darkness, hates the light and does not have the Holy Spirit. "There is no one who seeks God" (Rom 3:11); Sinner would never turn to God without divine enablement and new affections.

Spiritually dead sinner needs new nature (mind, heart, will), regeneration.

Natural man is spiritually impotent and morally culpable for both original sin and actual sins committed. Our inability is not like a physical handicap or a drowning man for which we would not be culpable but, rather, it is like a man who cannot repay a squandered financial debt. Inability to repay, therefore, does not relieve us of the moral responsibility to do so.

Needs salvation to remove the offense we've made against a holy God and from the power and bondage of sin.

The natural man can contribute nothing towards his salvation. Faith is a response rendered certain following the efficacious work of the Holy Spirit.

We respond to God's unconditional decision. (Acts 13:48)

No Fallen man will create a right thought, generate a right affection, or originate a right volition that will lead to his salvation. We would never believe unless the Holy Spirit came in and disarmed our hostility to God. Therefore salvation is dependent on God's good pleasure alone (Eph 1:4, 5, 11), not something He sees in us.

Man's nature determines his desires/affections and give rise to the choices he makes. "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit." Luke 6:43 Only Christ can "make a tree good and its fruit will be good."
(Also see John 8:34, 42-44; 2 Pet. 2:19).

Two Views of the Gospel
Synergism
Sinners have the key in their hands. Man's will determines whether or not Christ's death is efficacious.

It would be unjust of God to not give everyone an equal chance.

After God makes one's heart of stone into a heart of flesh the Holy Spirit's call to salvation can still be resisted.

Salvation is given to fallen sinners (unregenerate) who choose and desire Christ of their free will.

The grace of God is conferred as a result of human prayer

God has mercy upon us when we believe, will, desire, strive, labor, pray, watch, study, seek, ask, or knock, apart from his regenerative grace.

Commands to repent and believe the gospel imply the ability of the sinner to do so.

God helps those who help themselves.

Unregenerate man contributes his little bit.

Repentance is considered a work of man.

One of the greatest gifts God gives humans is to never interfere with their free will.

With Man's will salvation is possible.

Monergism
God has the key in his hand. God's eternal counsel determines to whom the benefits of the atonement apply.

If God exercised His justice then none of us would stand since each of us has rebelled against an infinitely holy God. He owes us nothing and is under no obligation to save any person. Regeneration is, therefore, an act of pure, undeserved mercy because the justice we deserved, He poured out on His Son (thereby turning His wrath away from us).

After God makes one's heart of stone into a heart of flesh, no person wants to resist. By definition our desires, inclinations and affections have changed so we willingly and joyfully turn in faith toward Christ.

Apart from grace, there is no fallen sinner (unregenerate) who fits that description. A desire for God is not part of the old nature.

It is grace itself which makes us pray to God (Rom 10:20; Isa. 65:1)

To desire and seek God prior to the new birth is an impossible supposition. (Rom. 3:11; 1 Cor 2:14) It is the infusion and quickening of the Holy Spirit within us that we even have the faith or the strength to will, desire, strive, labor, pray, watch, study, seek, ask, or knock and believe in the finished work of Christ.

The Command toward sinners to repent and believe does not imply ability. Divine intent is to reveal our moral impotence apart from grace (Rom 3:20, 5:20, Gal 3:19,24). The Law was not designed to confer any power but to strip us of our own.

God only helps those who cannot help themselves. (John 9:41)

Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy Cross I cling.

Repentance is a gift of God. (2 Tim 2:25)

The greatest judgment which God can inflict upon a man is to leave him in the hands of his own free-will. If salvation were left in the hands of the unregenerate sinners, we would indeed despair of all hope that anyone would be saved. It is an act of mercy, therefore, that God awakens the dead in sin to life since those without the Spirit cannot understand the things of God at all. (1 Cor 2:14)

With man's will salvation is impossible but with God all things are possible. (Matt 19:26; Rom 9:16; John 6:64,65) "Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." (John 3:6)

Note: God acts unilaterally, taking the sole initiative in a free act of sovereign grace toward the sinner—grace that is altogether prior to, and effectually produces, justifying faith. The response of faith from the sinner is penultimate as it stands next to the ultimate sovereign grace of God in Monergism. As the first act of a newborn baby is to breathe, so the act of faith is the first act of the regenerated sinner, in his/her new birth in Christ.

NOT LEFT TO PERISH...the comfort of divine hope

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; 

neither will thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 

(Psalm 16:10)

by C.H. Spurgeon

This word has it proper fulfillment in the Lord Jesus; but it applies also, with a variation, to all who are in Him. Our soul shall not be left in the separate state, and our body, though it see corruption, shall rise again. The general meaning, rather than the specific application, is that to which we would call our readers' thoughts at this particular time.

We may descend in spirit very low till we seem to be plunged in the abyss of hell; but we shall not be left there. We may appear to be at death's door in heart, and soul, and consciousness; but we cannot remain there. Our inward death as to joy and hope may proceed very far; but it cannot run on to its full consequences, so as to reach the utter corruption of black despair, We may go very low, but not lower than the Lord permits; we may stay in the lowest dungeon of doubt for a while, but we shall not perish there. The star of hope is still in the sky when the night is blackest. The Lord will not forget us and hand us over to the enemy. Let us rest in hope, We have to deal with One whose mercy endureth forever. Surely, out of death, and darkness, and despair we shall yet arise to life, light, and liberty.

NOTHING REALLY CHANGES EVERYTHING REMAINS THE SAME...despite all the technological advances

Technology is a wonderful tool given to us today. So may we use it, beloved, to proclaim "Jesus Christ and Him crucified..." and to "preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord..." Amen?

HT: Tom Ascol

SALVATION IS ALL OF GOD, ALL OF GRACE, ALL BY THE GOSPEL...man must believe the gospel to be saved... but

And when the Gentiles heard this, 

they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, 

and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

-Acts 13:48

"Yes, men believe the gospel to be saved. No question about it. I believe it, I preach it, I call all men to do it. 

I just know that no man will do it unless and until the miracle of regeneration takes place first. God must open the heart. God must enlighten the mind. God must grant faith. And when God draws one of His elect to Himself, He draws them to Christ through the gospel. The unfailing result of being drawn by the Father is looking to, believing in, coming to (all present tense actions) the Son. It is the nature of the new creature in Christ to believe in Him." -Dr. James White (Debating Calvinism, p. 305)

FOR WHOM DID CHRIST DIE?...for all whom the Father gave Him

A response to the recent John 3:16 Conference 

and commentary of David Allen.

"The Arminians say, 'Christ died for all men.' Ask them what they mean by it. Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of all men? They say, 'No, certainly not.' We ask them the next question: Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of any man in particular? They answer 'No.' They are obliged to admit this, if they are consistent. They say, 'No; Christ has died that any man may be saved if ?' and then follow certain conditions of salvation. Now, who is it that limits the death of Christ? Why, you. You say that Christ did not die so as infallibly to secure the salvation of anybody. We beg your pardon, when you say we limit Christ's death; we say, 'No, my dear sir, it is you that do it.' We say Christ so died that he infallibly secured the salvation of a multitude that no man can number, who through Christ's death not only may be saved, but are saved, must be saved and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved. You are welcome to your atonement; you may keep it. We will never renounce ours for the sake of it." -C.H. Spurgeon

“I have manifested your name to the people ewhom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but othey are in the world, and I am coming to you. qHoly Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now aI am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, fjust as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you ikeep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; myour word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And ofor their sake pI consecrate myself,* that they also qmay be sanctified* in truth.

¶ “I do not ask for these only, but also for those swho will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world wmay believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, tthat they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, gto see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” -John 17:6-26

"This is the most controversial of the five [points of Calvinism], because of Bible passages apparently teaching that Christ died for every individual. See, for example, 2 Cor. 5:15, 1 Tim. 4:10, 1 John 2:2. There are "universal" dimensions of the atonement: (a) it is for all nations, (b) it is a recreation of the entire human race, (c) it is universally offered, (d) it is the only means for anyone to be saved and thus the only salvation for all people, (e) its value is sufficient for all. Nevertheless, Christ was not the substitute for the sins of every person; else, everybody would be saved. For the atonement is powerful, efficacious. It does not merely make salvation possible; rather it actually saves. When Christ "dies for" somebody, that person is saved. One of the apparent "universal atonement texts," 2 Cor. 5:15, makes that point very clearly. Thus he died only for those who are actually saved. The biblical concern here is more with the efficacy of the atonement than with its "limitation;" perhaps we should call it "efficacious atonement" rather than "limited atonement," and, having then lost the TULIP, develop through genetic engineering a flower we could call the TUEIP. But of course efficacy does imply limitation, so limitation is an important aspect of this doctrine." - John Frame

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory." -Ephesians 1:4-14

"Let us remember, on the other hand, that while life is promised universally to all who believe in Christ, still faith is not common to all. For Christ is made known and held out to the view of all, but the elect alone are they whose eyes God opens, that they may seek him by faith. Here, too, is displayed a wonderful effect of faith; for by it we receive Christ such as he is given to us by the Father -- that is, as having freed us from the condemnation of eternal death, and made us heirs of eternal life, because, by the sacrifice of his death, he has atoned for our sins, that nothing may prevent God from acknowledging us as his sons. Since, therefore, faith embraces Christ, with the efficacy of his death and the fruit of his resurrection, we need not wonder if by it we obtain likewise the life of Christ." -John Calvin

"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

¶ Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day." -John 6:37-44

"Jesus took the judgment for those who believe ...for those who do not believe they will take their own judgment and the wrath of God awaits them because they hold the truth and suppress it...." - John MacArthur

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