Still Unsaved

(Article for publication week of 12-26-2012 AD)

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved” (Jeremiah 8:20). We are coming to the end of another year, and many of you are still unsaved. Unsaved! Oh! What a terrible condition!

Some of you have had a prosperous year. You have prospered in your business and in your family, but you are not saved. God has given you His sunshine and rain, and His goodness has not moved you to seek salvation. What good will your temporal prosperity be if you remain unsaved?

Some of you have had sadness, tragedy and adversity this past year, yet your afflictions have not broken your heart in repentance. You remain unsaved. Should you remain unsaved, you will face eternal tragedy and sadness.

Some of you joined the church this past year, but you are still unconverted. Some of you taught Sunday School this year, but you are still unsaved. Some of you sang in the choir this year, but you are still unsaved. Some of you preached many sermons this year, and perhaps were an instrument of conversion to others, but you yourself are in the bond of iniquity and the gall of bitterness.

Some of you have lived very wicked lives this year. Though your sins have brought pain and suffering to yourself and others, you refuse the One Who can fix your terrible plight.

Why are you not saved? It is not because you have not been warned. I have warned you all year of the wrath to come through this column. Perhaps other ministers have preached Christ to you. I have set forth the way of salvation by grace alone, through faith in Christ Alone week after week. There are churches on every road in Simpson County, and some of them preach the true gospel. You have friends and kindred who have pleaded with you to repent and come to Christ, but you remain unsaved. You have folks who care enough for you to pray for your salvation, and yet you are lost. Christ has said, “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”, and yet you will not come to Him. You have no excuse to remain unsaved since the Saviour is able and willing to save, and you have been told the way of salvation through Him. There is only one reason you are unsaved- you are stubborn and rebellious and plainly say by your inaction “I will not be saved.” You, by your inaction declare that you love your sins and your self-righteousness more than you love Christ. You are declaring that you despise holiness, and prefer sin. This is the reason you are unsaved; you prefer it.

Will you ever be saved? Will you live another year and remain obstinate? You have no guarantee you will live another year. You have no guarantee you will see the last day of this year. If you remain as you are it will be forever said of you as it was of Judas Iscariot, “ it would have been good for that man if he had never been born!

Poor sinner, as far as I know, you do not have to remain unsaved. I plead with you to repent of your sins and trust in Christ Alone for salvation right now. Christ is able and willing to save the chief of sinners. I know because he saved this one.

Christ, the Only Way

(Article for publication week of 12-20- AD2012)

"Jesus saith unto him, 'I am the way,the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me" (John14:6).

The Bible is clear as a bell that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only way that a man can get to heaven. You cannot get to heaven on your own. You cannot get to heaven by some man. You cannot get to heaven by Mohammed. You cannot get to heaven by Confucious. You cannot get to heaven by the saints or the martyrs. You cannot get to heaven by anyone or anything except by the Lord Jesus Christ.

First of all, this is the way that God has ordained for sinners to be saved. It does no good to speculate as to whether our all wise and all powerful God could have saved sinners some other way. The fact is the scriptures plainly tell us that Christ is the only way for a poor sinner to be saved. The Bible, the inspired and inerrant and infallible word of God makes it clear that God has ordained salvation through His Eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ is not one of several ways to heaven, but the exclusive way. Dear reader, do not be fooled by the false prophets that tell you that you may choose your own way to heaven. It is popularly believed today that all religions ultimately lead to God, but this is a soul damning lie and those who are deceived thereby will end up in hell forever. Mark it down friend, the Bible says that everything and everybody outside of Christ will spend eternity in hell.

The Bible tells us that there is but one Mediator between God and man , and that is the Lord Jesus Christ (I Timothy 2:5). The Lord Jesus Christ is the God-Man Who is able to put one hand on God and the other on a poor sinner and bring him to God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Person in the universe that could make the atonement that was necesaary to put away our sins. He is the only One who could live a perfect and sinless life that would be imputed to a believer for his whole and sole righteousness. The only righteousness that can ever fit you to get to God and to heaven is the righteousness of Christ freely imputed to all who truly believe in Him.

Hear another text. Acts 4:12 , " neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved." Get it now, there is salvation in none but Christ. Hear John 10:1, "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some otherway, the same is a thief and a robber." Don't you see my friend that if you are trying to get to God and heaven some way but by Christ you stand condemned as criminal. How do you think you can stand before God when He says you are a thief and robber.

I urge you to get down off your high horse right now and repent of your sins and come to God through His Son and be saved. If you will call me at 601-927-5070, I will tell you how to be saved.

Perfected Forever

(Article for publication week of 12-12- AD 2102)

"For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14). If you are a believer in Christ this text says you are perfect. Of course we know that this perfection is not in ourselves, but in Christ Alone and His saving work. No one has reached a place where they can honestly say they are perfect in and of themselves. I John 1:10 plainly says, "if we say that we have not sinned. we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." Our Lord taught us to always pray "forgive us our sins" (Luke 11:4). Believers are perfect judicially before God because the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, though they are far from perfect in their own right.

It is by "one offering" that God's people are perfected- that is the offering of our Lord Jesus Christ made "once for all" (Hebrews 10:10). That is the only offering that ever has, or ever will make a sinner right before God. All the blood of the ceremonial offerings of animals under the Old Testament never took away anybody's sins (Hebrews (10:4), or perfected anyone. The Old Testament offerings pointed to the True Lamb of God Who would take away the sins of the world (John 1:29), but they never took away sins themselves. All those offerings were necessary because God had commanded them to teach believers and point them to the coming Saviour, but God never appointed any offering except that of His Son to perfect us (I Peter 1:18). Any pretended "offering" by any man today will not take away your sins. The offerings you give to the church will not take away sin. (Although God loves a cheerful giver and we are commanded to support the Cause of Christ as we are enabled by the Lord.) Note well our text says by ONE offering Christ perfected those who are sanctified. That is as clear as the nose on your face if you will just believe what it says! Christ accomplished the Great Atonement by a singular act. The Bible plainly says that salvation is all of the Lord (Jonah 2:9), it is in no sense a joint effort between God and man.

Now, notice who it is that has been perfected by the one offering made by Christ. Our text says it is those who are "sanctified." Lord willing, we shall have a series of articles on sanctification as soon as we finish with justification, but for now I want you to see that God sanctified His elect people in eternity. Ephesians 1:4 sweetly informs us that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be "HOLY and without blame before Him." "Without blame" refers to our justification, and "holy" refers to our sanctification. At the appropriate time, when we write on sanctification we shall , with the help of the Lord show you how that sanctification is positional, experimental, practical and progressive, but I want you to see today that our text is talking about positional sanctification. God chose His elect in Christ, before the foundation of the world and set them apart for His Own holy use. God sanctified His people in this sense from all eternity. By an eternal, and unalterable decree, God ordained the salvation of His Church. He gave His Son an innumerable (for man) number of folk as His bride. In this eternal decree, God set this vast host apart for His holy use. He chose them in Christ to finally be actually holy (II Thessalonians 2:13), but there was this setting apart by His Sovereign decree even before they had an existence in themselves. These sanctified ones are the ones that Christ has perfected forever by His one offering.

Next I want to point out that Christ made this offering to His Father. In chapter nine, verse fourteen of this same epistle we read, that Christ "offered Himself without spot to God." Christ did not offer Himself to men, nor to angels, not to devils, but He offered Himself to God. In other words, the death of Christ was a sacrificial offering to God the Father as a satisfaction for sin. And God has accepted this offering as the only payment that ever will have to be made to redeem us from our sins.

Finally, note well that Christ has perfected His people FOREVER. By His one and only offering, Christ secured eternal redemption for us. Dear readers, "forever" means just what it says! This text declares the eternal security and final perseverance of everyone for whom Christ died. Since we are perfected forever, it is impossible that any who are in Christ can ever fall away finally and be lost.

Perfected forever! What a grand and glorious gospel!

As Christ Loved the Church

(Article for publication week of 12-5- AD 2012)

“Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25).

The usage of the word “church” in our text is the same as we saw in last week’s Narrow Way article as the context clearly shows. The Church that Christ loved, and for which He gave Himself is the whole election of grace, that is, all that are now, have been , or ever will be gathered into Christ. The scriptures use the word “church” in two general senses. First as it is used here in our text, and then in other places to refer to a local and organized assembly of believers. One day we may write on the doctrine of the church, but this is as much as we need for our present business. Husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the Church.

It should be clear from a text like this that love is much more than feelings over which we have no control. Husbands have no choice but to love their wives, for Christ commands us so to do. I have known more than a few people who deserted their spouse with the announcement that they just didn’t “love them any more“. This is rank disobedience to the word of God, and therefore a great evil, for we are commanded to love our spouse (see also Titus 2:4 for the reciprocal duty of wives). Our Lord purposed to love His people in eternity and is bound and determined to love them forever.

Now, as I say, love is a command to be obeyed, not a feeling that may change. And this is most evident in that Christ is the example for us husbands to love our wives. “Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it.” Christ loves His church by providing for her, and caring for her, and by governing her. Christ loves His Church particularly and persistently. But above all, He gave Himself for her. That is he died for our salvation. Our Lord laid down His life to redeem His people from sin and save them with an everlasting salvation. Christ loved His Church sacrificially. He gave Himself !

Whatever may be said about our Lord’s general benevolence and goodness to the whole world (and there is much to be said), it is evident from this text that His saving love is set upon His Church. It should be evident that His saving love for His people is special and particular. The context of our passage clearly shows that. Just as a faithful husband loves his own wife in a way he loves no others, so Christ loves His church (to repeat for emphasis and clarity) which is comprised of all who are now, have been, or ever will be gathered into Christ.

Christ loved His people so much that He left heaven’s bright world to come into a sin cursed world to bleed and die for the salvation of all who would ever believe in Him (another way of describing Christ’s church). He gave Himself for us. That is He gave Himself as a Substitute for us. Christ’s church was under penalty of death with the whole Adamic race, but Christ gave Himself for us to satisfy the justice of God’s law. In giving Himself for us, Christ actually and definitely secured the salvation of every heir of promise. Every one that is in the True Church of Christ is saved because Christ died for them. And because Christ loves His people with an everlasting love they can never fall finally and be lost.

Much more could be written, and we hope we will be permitted so to do for the glory of our Great God, the advancement of His kingdom, and the eternal good of His people. May the Lord bless you all my, dear readers.

He Paid the Price

(Article for publication week of 11-28- AD 2012)

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His Own blood” (Acts 20:28).

Our text this week is the apostle Paul’s farewell address to the elders of the church at Ephesus. Here is the great duty of the true ministers of Christ- to feed the Lord’s people.

The first thing I want you to notice in our text is the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The text says that the Church was bought with the blood of God. Now, we know that it was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal and Coequal Son of God, the God man, Who shed His blood for our redemption. So it is evident that Paul was saying that Christ is and was truly and properly God.

Secondly, notice with me that the redemption made by Christ is spoken of in our text in economic terms. The Church was purchased with the blood of Christ, Who, as I say is clearly God. We have here the language of the marketplace. The atonement secured by Christ was a commercial atonement. There was a price that had to be paid, and the Lord Jesus Christ paid the price. This commercial, or economic aspect of the atonement is shown by other passages which speak of our sins in terms of indebtedness. For instance, our Lord taught us to pray, “forgive us our debts” (Matthew 6:12). We were indebted to God because of our sins. Christ paid our debt that we owed to the justice of God’s law.

Thirdly, please notice the high price of salvation. It took the blood of Christ, that is His death, to save us from our sins. The price of salvation is higher than any man can ever pay. We have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, not with silver or gold (I Peter 1:18). Nothing but the blood of Christ can ever wash away our sins. None of our good works can ever pay the price of redemption. Our tears of repentance will not pay, or help pay the debt of sin we owed. Our faith cannot pay the price. Rites and rituals, ordinances nor sacraments (so-called) will ever pay, or help pay the debt we owed. But the precious blood of Christ paid once and for all the debt that all the Church owed.

Fourthly, note well that Christ got what He paid for. He actually purchased His Church. He did not just make a down payment, and leave it to us to pay the rest. A thousand times “No”! Salvation is all of the Lord. It is not a joint effort between Christ and sinners. No! The full price of redemption was paid for every blood bought soul when Christ died on the cross.

Finally, I want to be sure who is meant here by the “church”. Our text has nothing to do with a denomination, or a group of churches, or even a local organized assembly. The “church” here in our text is the whole election of grace. Every heir of promise chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and called by the Holy Spirit is in the “church” of our text. Now, hold your seat and don’t go off on a tangent. I am not suggesting that the organized church is unimportant. I am not suggesting that Christians ought to hold the organized church in contempt. This is one of those ways that some have destroyed their souls by falling into a ditch on either side. There are multitudes who belong to a visible organized church who have no evidence of being saved. Then there are others who maintain that it is superfluous to belong to the church since salvation is in Christ and not the church. Both of these are dangerous errors. It is true that salvation is in Christ, not the church. But it is the duty of all believers to join a local assembly and submit to its doctrines and discipline. Lord willing, we will write on the doctrine of the church one of these days, but now I want you to see that often in the scriptures the “church” refers to all the elect of God. It includes all the Old Testament saints as well as all the New Testament saints. It includes the dying thief who never got baptized, and never joined the visible church. Christ paid the price for all the Father gave Him in the covenant of grace.

Christ paid the price in full. Praise the Lord!

The Death of Christ

(Article for publication week of 11-21- AD 2012)

“As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:15).

The reader is invited and encouraged to read the entire tenth chapter of John’s gospel. In this chapter our Lord declares Himself as the Good Shepherd of His sheep. In our text today the Great Shepherd says that He would lay down His life for His sheep.

No one could ever be saved apart from the death of Christ. We were under the sentence of death because of our sins. “The wages of sin is death,” we read in Romans 6:23. God is determined to punish sinners, and death is the only proper punishment for rebellion against God (which is what sin is). Physical and corporeal death is the wages of sin, and ultimately the second death in the lake of fire, that is eternal hell. Christ laid down His life that we would be saved from so great a death and have eternal life.

Now, Christ is the Only Person in God’s universe Who could have died for His sheep. Our text, and verse 18 show Christ to be properly God. The knowledge of the Father and the Son speaks of their relationship and coequality from all eternity. In verse 18, Christ declares something that no ordinary man ever could- that is He has power to lay down His life, and to take it again. This is because He is the God-Man (I Timothy 2:5). This also tells us that Christ died to make an atonement for sin, not just as a martyr for a good cause.

First consider that Christ died a substitutionary death. He died for His sheep. That is He died in their “room and stead” as has been oft repeated down through the history of the Church. Never forget that God will punish the sinner, or He will punish the sinners Substitute. Christ acted as a substitute for His sheep. That is, He eternally assumed all our obligations including our obligation to be punished for our sins. God transferred our guilt to the Shepherd of our souls, the Lord Jesus Christ, and punished Him instead of us.

Next, please note well, that this text plainly shows that Christ made a definite atonement for His people. That is He died for His sheep particularly. This text says that Christ actually and definitely and really made an atonement for His elect people, whom He calls in our text this week “my sheep.” I want you to see that Christ did not die in vain, but accomplished salvation for all for whom He died.

Poor sinner, your only hope is in the death of Christ Please know that if you are trusting in Christ Alone for your whole and sole righteousness, that you are one of His sheep, and that Christ died for you, and did everything necessary for your salvation. Salvation is not by our works in any sense, but by the work of Christ, exclusively. May the Lord bless His dear sheep to believe this wonderful gospel.

Death Abolished by the Work of Christ

The Narrow Way by Thomas Ray Floyd article for publication week of 11- 7--AD 2012

“Who (God) hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His Own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (II Timothy 1:9-10).

Surely it would take a multitude of articles and sermons to draw out all the wealth of this text. The text tells us that salvation is indeed all by God’s sovereign grace who chose His people in Christ before the foundation of the world and made all the arrangements necessary to bring them to eternal glory. But I wish to focus our attention this week primarily on the expression in verse 10 “Who hath abolished death.”

Christ has abolished death for His people. The curse of Adam brought upon all his posterity the sting of death (Genesis 3:19; Romans 5:12). But God Who is rich in mercy, had purposed from all eternity that His Eternal and Coequal Son should bear the awful curse for His elect people and abolish death for them. Thus our text tells us that in time Christ was manifest, that is He became a Man to redeem us from the curse of the law and all its evil effects. All the sins of all God’s people were transferred to Christ and He suffered as the Just Substitute to satisfy the just requirement of God’s law. Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day for our justification (Romans 4:25; I Corinthians 15:1-4). Thus He arose triumphant over the devil, sin, hell and the grave. So our text says that Christ “abolished death.”

First of all Christ has removed the sting of death for us. Death is indeed a monster. We are naturally afraid of death, for it appears to be an awful and final thing. Unbelievers certainly should fear death, for it will usher them into their awful eternal state. But believers have no need to fear death, for Christ has abolished all its evil effect. For believers death is the door that opens to heaven and immortal glory. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord we read in the fifth chapter of II Corinthians. As soon as believer closes his eyes in death, he is with Christ in paradise (Luke 23:43).

Secondly, Christ has abolished the Second Death for His people. Eternal hell is described in Revelation as the “second death.” The finally impenitent are doomed to eternal death. That is they are fixed in a state of conscious suffering forever. Thus to die outside of Christ is to spend eternity facing God as your eternal Judge and Executioner. Truly it can be said of everyone who is outside of Christ as our Lord said of Judas Iscariot, it would have been better if they had not been born. But Christ has abolished the second death for His people. It has no power over us. Again, Christ died for our sins. He fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law of God, and no one can lay any charge to the elect of God.

Thirdly, Christ has abolished death for the believer because He will raise up our bodies at the final day I Corinthians 15:52; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; John 6:39). Though our bodies must see corruption and return to dust, the Lord will gather up that dust and raise it up in a new body fashioned like unto our Lord. Our omniscient God knows where every atomic particle is, and regardless of how long our bodies have slept in the dust, it will be no hard thing for our omnipotent God to re-gather every particle of our formerly sin cursed bodies and raise them up incorruptible.

As one hymn writer so ably expressed it, “I face the monster death and smile”! Dear believer in Christ, you have no reason to fear death because all its evil has been abolished by Christ and He has taken away its sting. May the Lord bless His dear people to be delivered from all fear of death.

The Believer's Sins Forgotten

(Article for publication week of 11-7- AD 2012)

"And I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31: 34). Oh! What a glorious declaration by God Himself! He declares that He will not remember His people's sins.

First of all we need to see that this is a judicial statement. It is something that God wills, or purposes. We know that God is omniscient, and that He does not literally forget anything. All things are naked and open before His all-seeing eyes. God makes this declaration because He has eternally justified His people and not one charge can ever be brought against them (Romans 8:33). Christ has taken away our sins by His atoning death. Christ was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification (Romans 4:25). So, you see this is a judicial declaration that God makes when He says He will not remember the believer's sins against him as far as the justice of His law. And this is a vital Biblical concept in which the believer will be greatly blessed. There are so many blessings and comforts you will miss if you do not see the judicial aspect of your salvation. And there are many things in the word of God you will not understand without a clear grasp that justifification is a judicial act of God.

In my fellowship with the Lord's people through the years I have seen there are three things in particular that often disturb their peace and comfort. First of all many are concerned because of the enormity of their sins before they were converted. Some believers have been saved from particularly degraded sins. Now we know that there is no sin that is so small that it does not deserve eternal damnation, but we need always remember there are no sins so great they will not be forgiven those who truly repent. So dear child of God who has been saved from terrible and gross sins, let not your conscience be troubled because the blood of Christ has washed away all your sins forever.

Secondly, believers are often distressed by their sins since conversion. The child of God has been given them a new nature that loves the Lord and hates sin, and his great desire is that he would never sin again. His spirit is willing, but his flesh is weak. He is always repenting and sorrowing for his sins and learning from our Lord's Model Prayer, "forgive me my sins". The believer in Christ can draw comfort from our Lord's declaration that he has willed not to remember his sins. Be sure the death of Christ has taken away all your sins, past, present and future.

Thirdly, we know many of the Lord's people (including your poor writer) who are often troubled in their spirits about the day of judgment. Will the Lord bring up our sins against us at the final Day? After all the Bible says some sober things regarding the Day of Judgment. "we shall all give an account", and "we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." Your poor writer does not claim to have all the answers, but I draw my comfort from this week's text, "I will remember their sins no more." Justification is an eternal , immanent act of God's free grace, not a work that a sinner performs. Whatever the scripures may say about our final accounting before God, we can rest in the work of Christ and the judicial declaration that God has made. Whatever the Bible may say about God's gracious rewarding of His people in the day of judgment, He will never bring our sins up against us, for He judicially does not remember them. They have been expunged from His record . As a hymnwriter expressed it:

"Bold shall I stand in that great day
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
While through Thy blood absolved I am
From sins tremendous curse and shame."

The Conversion of the Dying Thief

(Article for publication week of 10-31- AD 2012)

“And Jesus said unto him, ‘Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise’ “ (Luke 23:43).

A dear minister of old astutely and accurately commented on this text, “the Bible gives us one account of a “death bed” conversion, so that none need despair, but only one that none might presume.” When a man dies who had no visible evidence (to us) of being saved, this account gives us hope that he could have been converted in his final hour. However, this is no basis for unscriptural presumption, nor unreasonable conjecture. You who are now unconverted, flee to Christ today, for indeed today is the day of salvation. Do not vainly imagine that you may have some final opportunity to repent and believe in Christ. But I repeat, we are not without hope even when a man dies in whom we saw no evidence of his being saved. God’s surprising grace may be discovered even at the final hour. Christians have good reason to always be hopeful, but never presumptive.

The account of the conversion of the dying thief proves to us that there are none too sinful for God to save them. The Lord Jesus Christ died for the chief of sinners. Though your sins be as scarlet, they indeed shall be as white as snow. Here was a sinner as sinful as he could be, but he cried for mercy in his last hour and Jesus showed him mercy.

We also see in this account that salvation is indeed all of sovereign grace. It was too late for the dying thief to go to church. It was too late for him to get baptized. It was too late for him to amend his ways, or attempt moral reform. It was too late to “do penance” (so-called). It was too late for this man to do anything to save himself, or help save himself. But it was not too late for Christ to have mercy on his poor soul. This man was completely helpless in the matter of the salvation of his soul. But friend, that is where you and I are. We are just as sinful as the dying thief, and just as powerless to do anything to save ourselves or help Christ save us. But praise the Lord, that is the kind of folks Christ saves- those who know they are vile sinners, and know that they have no merit of their own.

But I want to show you another thing about the dying thief’s conversion. That is, that there is no prescribed prayer for a sinner to repeat, or formula for true faith in Christ, in order to be saved. The dying thief just simply pleaded, “Lord remember me”! You see salvation is not in our praying, but it is in Christ Alone, the true object of saving faith. In fact when we read the various accounts of conversion in the scriptures, we see that no two sinners said or did the same thing when they were converted. One dear sister said not a word to the Saviour but simply lay at precious feet and wept (Luke 7:38). Dear readers, salvation is not in your praying, or weeping, or raising your hand, or signing a card, or shaking the preacher’s hand, but it is Christ Alone. Saving faith is simply looking to him and coming to him by faith, however it may be expressed verbally or nonverbally.

Now get this. The converted thief has been in heaven with Christ now for two thousand years, although he was a Christian but a few hours. What a glorious gospel! What a surprising conversion (every one is)! What a wonderful Saviour! I want you to know that every one who believes in the Saviour of the dying thief will also hear those blessed words, “today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” and shall be with Him forever. Thank the Lord for sovereign grace and the Saviour of Sinners.

Our Sins Purged

(Article for publication week of 10-24- AD 2012)

“Who (God the Son) being the brightness of His (God the Father‘s) glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself, purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3).

What can be done about your sins? This is the test of the worth of any religion, how does it teach us to deal with our sins? If your religion cannot tell you how your sins may be dealt with, it is worthless and vain.

The Bible tells us how a Christian’s sins are dealt with. They have been purged by the saving agency of Christ, and atoned for by His propitious death. Christ has made a full atonement for the believer’s sins, and they are no more charged to his account.

There is nothing else that can ever purge our sins, but the atoning death of Christ. A sinner could spend a million years in hell, and the fires of hell would never purge him from his sins. This is the reason that guilty sinners must spend eternity in hell, because their sins and the guilt incurred thereby cannot be taken away by the punishment of hell. A sinner could cry an ocean of tears of repentance, and that would not purge him from his sins. Indeed, a broken heart, and a contrite spirit are evidences of a gracious state, but sorrow for sin will not take away sin. None of the Old Testament animal sacrifices ever purged one sin. Those typical sacrifices only pointed men to the True Lamb of God who would purge His people’s sins. Rites and rituals can never purge our sins. But what none of these things could ever do, Christ accomplished by His death burial and resurrection. Christ is the only One and the only Way, and the only Agency that can ever purge you of your sins. This is the reason you must look to Him Alone for your salvation.

Now notice with me that the text this week says that Christ purged our sins “by Himself.” This was a work that only Christ could perform in the way that God’s Wisdom had ordained our salvation. According to God’s will and purpose it was only the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was both God and Man, Who could take care of our sin problem. Note well that our verse this week plainly declares the Deity of Christ. He was the very brightness of the Father’s Glory, and His express Image. He as God, who created all things, upholds all things by His sovereign power. This unique Person, the Eternal and Coequal Son of God was the only Person that God’s wisdom and purpose designed to be a sin bearer, and as One Who could purge our sins. This was a work that Christ did by Himself. Man’s efforts can contribute nothing to the work that has been accomplished by Christ. Our text says that Christ “purged” our sins (past tense). Nothing can be added to the work of Christ, and praise the Lord nothing can be taken away from it!

This is the way that God justifies a poor guilty, bankrupt sinner. He sent His Son to make a full atonement by His death, and thereby purge our sins. They’re all taken away! The believer’s sins are all taken away! Our text declares that Christ finished this work, for He has now sat down at His Father’s right hand. Christ has left nothing incomplete in this work. There is nothing for a sinner to do, but believe this glorious gospel and rejoice in Christ who has taken away our guilt by purging our sins. That will do to ride the river with.

The Uncondemnable

(Article for publication week of 10-17-2012 AD)

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:34).

This is a gloriously strong assertion of the justification of God’s elect. The believer in Christ is not only uncondemned, he is uncondemnable! What an encouragement to the believer in Christ! What a comfort to those under a load of guilt! The child of God cannot be condemned by anyone in the universe, because he is justified by God (verse 33).

Paul issues a bold challenge to every devil in hell. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Paul issues this challenge with the confidence that none can be condemned for whom Christ died. By His substitutionary death, Christ fully atoned for all the sins of God’s elect. Not one for whom Christ can ever be condemned, because Divine Justice was satisfied by the dying Saviour. Our sins were charged to Christ as our vicarious substitute, and we are fully absolved from the awful penalty they so richly deserved.

I pray that you would be enabled to believe this glorious truth of the efficacy of the death of Christ. Our text this week, and the larger passage in Romans 8:28-39, boldly asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ died efficaciously- that is His death accomplished all that God intended for it to accomplish. I want you to see that the scriptures teach that Christ did not die in vain, but that He was a glorious success in dying for His people. Not one lamb in Christ’s flock can ever be lost, because Christ died for His sheep and saved them to the uttermost.

“It is Christ that DIED”! We ourselves were under the sentence of death for our sins. But Christ agreed with His Father in an everlasting Covenant of Grace to become a Man and die a torturous death to redeem all the Father gave Him in eternity. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ eternally satisfied the perfectly strict justice of God, and God the Supreme Judge of the universe is satisfied. God is determined to punish sinners, but His glorious wisdom and mercy designed that elect sinners should have Christ as a Substitute. So God punished the Substitute and declared elect sinners “not guilty”!

Now God being strictly just, will not punish sin twice. He is not such an unjust Judge as would hold men in double jeopardy. (By the way, our judicial system being rooted in the Bible upholds this principle of not trying a person twice for a crime of which he is already found innocent.) He will punish the sinner, or the sinner’s Substitute, but He will not punish both. The sentence has been fully executed upon Christ, and so not one charge can be laid to the elect, and no one anywhere can condemn them. The believer in Christ is uncondemnable.

Christ died for all the sins of all His people fully justifying us before God. Christ died for all our sins past, present and future. The believer in Christ will never be punished for his sins because Christ was punished for us. (God’s Fatherly chastisement is another matter to be considered another time, but presently we are considering our judicial and eternal standing with God.)

Dear reader, if you are trusting in Christ Alone for salvation you are uncondemned- yea uncondemnable. God does not condemn you, for all your sins are forever taken away. And if the Judge of all the earth does not condemn you, who can? May the Lord bless His dear people to understand this glorious gospel.

Propitiation

(Article for publication week of 10-10- AD 2012)

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:10).

Fundamental to the doctrine of justification is propitiation. Propitiation means that God’s holy anger toward a believing sinner has been appeased. God’s justice has been satisfied by the death of Christ.

God is rightfully angry with sinners. Sin is an affront to His holy nature. It is nothing less than rebellion against the Ruler of the universe. Sin is treason against the Creator. In His righteous and holy anger, God is determined to punish sinners. Mark it down, God will punish you, poor sinner, unless His anger is turned away. The sharp sword of God’s justice hangs over you and will eternally and infinitely cut you down, unless God be reconciled.

Our text tells us that God’s love for His people moved Him to make a Covenant of Grace, whereby His Eternal Son agreed to be a propitiation for all the elect of God. It is not that we loved God, but rather that He loved us. Indeed, His love was set upon His elect from all eternity. God loved us before He ever created us. Though God loved His people unchangeably and eternally, He would not relax His Holy standard. God MUST punish sin. God is too holy not to punish sin. He is too just not to punish sin. Sin must be dealt with, and God’s holy justice must be satisfied.

So, our text says, the Eternal Father sent His Eternal Son to satisfy the justice of His broken Law. Christ was sent, because He eternally agreed with the Father about the matter of the eternal redemption of His elect. Christ said in John 6:38-39, “I came down from heaven, not to mine Own will, but the will of Him that sent me, and this is the Father’s will that hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day.”

God hath devised means whereby His banished be not expelled. He appointed His Son to be a Substitute for all that He purposed to save. God will either punish the sinner, or He will punish the sinner’s Substitute. The believer has Christ for His substitute! “The chastisement of our peace was upon Him” (Isaiah 53:5). In the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ suffered in His soul. This was the beginning of His sufferings, which would end in His death on the cross. God dealt with Christ as a sinner, because He was bearing the sins of His people. Divine justice was satisfied by the propitiation made by Christ as blow after blow of God’s justice was dealt to Him. God poured out His wrath upon His Own dear Son. Christ is an Infinite Person, so in a moment of time, he suffered infinitely for all who would ever look to Him by faith.

Since Christ was made a propitiation, God’s anger is eternally appeased regarding His people. The believer is at peace with God, because His justice has been satisfied by Christ. This is a wonderful Gospel indeed! Our God is reconciled! When you are able by grace to believe that, you will be the happiest person on earth. May the Lord give you faith to believe that today.

The Passive Obedience of Christ

(Article for publication week of 8-29-2012 AD)

“And being found in fashion as a Man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

It is by the obedience of Christ that believers are constituted righteous in the sight of God (Romans 5:19). The obedience of Christ is both active and passive. Christ actively obeyed the law to a jot and a title (Matthew 5:17-18). He always did those things which pleased His Father (John 8:29). This active obedience is imputed to the believer so that God reckons the believer has actively kept His law.

The obedience of Christ is also passive, as spoken of in our text here in Philippians 2:8. Christ was obedient unto death. As our Surety, Christ had obligated Himself to stand good for all our obligations. As rational creatures, we were obligated to obey the law of God and answer to Him for every transgression thereof. By breaking the law of God we were condemned and sentenced to death, the proper punishment for sin. By His passive obedience, Christ stood in our room and stead, as our Substitute, and died for us.

He “became obedient unto death.” The sword of God’s vengeance was raised to strike the terrible blow to Christ’s people. God had pronounced death as the proper punishment for those who broke His law (Genesis 2:17; Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 6:23). It was for the sins of His people that Christ died (I Corinthians 15:3). He had no sin of His Own, but it was for the sins of others that he died. He was just Himself, but He suffered for the unjust (I Peter 3:18). We were under the curse of the law, but Christ was made a curse for us, and so redeemed us from the awful curse (Galatians 3:13).

The death to which we were subject is physical, spiritual and eternal. Since sin is cosmic treason against the Infinite God, the only proper punishment is infinite death. This is the reason Hell is eternal. Eternity is not long enough to satisfy the wrath and hatred of an Infinitely Holy and Just God. After a million years in hell, the unsaved sinner is still under the penalty of the law. Hell will not purge him of his sin. And so Hell has to go on forever.

Since Christ is an Infinite Person, He was able to undergo the wrath of God and suffer eternal punishment in a moment of time. Christ is the God Man. His Manhood is joined to His Deity in such a way as it could be said that we were purchased by the very blood of God (Acts 20:28). All the sins of every elect sinner were put upon Christ and He became a sin Bearer.

Christ passively obeyed God by willingly dying for the sins of His people. No man took His Life, but He laid it down (John 10:18). He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” Christ became obedient unto death, even the cruel and ignominious death of the cross. He was numbered with us transgressors. He was treated by God as if he were a sinner Himself, though He was perfectly sinless.

It is by such perfect obedience that all who trust in Christ Alone are made righteous. Believers are justified by the active and passive obedience of Christ. As dear old Isaac Watts expressed it, “the best obedience of my hands dares not appear before Thy throne.

But faith can answer Thy demands by pleading what my Lord has done.”

The Active Obedience of Christ

(Article for publication week of 8-22-2012 AD)

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

It was by the disobedience of one man, Adam, that the entire human race was declared as sinners by God the Judge of all the earth. God imputed the sin of Adam to all his posterity because Adam was the federal head of the human race. Death reigns over all men, even though they had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression (Romans 5:14). Since all men are under the penalty of death for Adam’s transgression, it must be that they are counted as sinners by imputation. To be sure, all men are natural and practicing sinners, but all stand condemned in Adam, and that justly, for we are all in Adam seminally and representatively. All of us were involved in the Adamic Fall, and are implicated in the First Transgression. The “many” of the first clause of our text is the entire human race. God declared you were a sinner even before you were conceived because you belong to a fallen race, that is the race of Adam.

But glory be to God! He did not leave the whole human race in this fallen condition! According to His sovereign grace, God imputed the obedience of His Son to His elect people (the “many” of the second clause). Many (but not all) are saved by the obedience of Christ.

Your best obedience “dares not appear” (Isaac Watts) before God’s throne. But the obedience of Christ can and does stand before God without flaw. The Lord Jesus Christ obeyed the law of God perfectly and completely. He kept the law of God to a “jot and a tittle”. He kept the First Table of the law perfectly by loving God with all His being. He kept the Second Table of the Law perfectly by truly loving His neighbour as Himself. Christ kept the Ten Commandments in deed, thought and motive. He answered all the just demands of the Law by undergoing its full penalty. This active obedience of Christ is imputed to the believer in Christ (again, the “many” of the second clause). The believer in Christ is made, that is constituted righteous by the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ (the “one” of the second clause of out text this week).

The righteousness spoken of in our text can only be the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, for Christ is the only Man Who has ever truly obeyed God. His obedience is counted as righteousness for the elect sinner.

Now, perhaps some trembling soul is thinking, “am I one of the “many” who are made righteous by the obedience of Christ?” We can only point you to Christ for the answer to that question. Be sure the soul who quits his own righteousness, and trusts in Christ Alone for His whole and sole righteousness is among the “many” for whom Christ obeyed God and worked out a true righteousness.

It is by the obedience of Christ Alone that you are found righteous before God. It is not a matter of your imperfect obedience mixed with the perfect obedience of Christ, but it is by the obedience of ONE! I pray the Lord will bless you to believe that right now.

The Saints’ Righteousness

(Article for publication week of 8-15-2012 AD)

“In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is the name whereby He shall be called, ‘THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’ ” (Jeremiah 23:6). This is a wonderful prophecy of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the preceding verse will show. Even as the Lord gave dire prophecies to Israel and Judah through His prophet Jeremiah, He also gave to the true believers among them the promise of the coming of His Son Who would be their true righteousness.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the righteousness that God requires for His people. Our own righteousness will not do, but the righteousness of Christ will give us that which we need for a right standing before God.

The Lord Jesus Christ is our true righteousness. Being truly God, and truly Man in One glorious Person, He was able to work out a righteousness that was acceptable to the Thrice Holy Jehovah. Since He was made of a woman, but not of a man, He was not tainted by Adam’s Fall as every other man is. His humanity was joined to His Deity in such a way as He could by His active and passive obedience obey the law of God for His elect people. Being truly God, His righteous life is properly called the righteousness of God, the righteousness that is truly imputed to His people (Romans 3:21-26).

The Lord Jesus Christ is our (when I use the pronoun “our” I am talking to believers) whole righteousness. The righteousness that Christ provides His people is in strict accordance with the law of God. God requires that we love Him with all our heart , soul, mind, and strength, and none of us have ever done that. But Christ did love God with all His heart , soul, mind, and strength, and His obedience is accounted to the credit of His people. God requires that we love our neighbour as ourselves, and none of us have ever done that. But Christ did truly love His neighbour as Himself. Christ always treated everybody right. Again, the obedience of Christ is counted as the believer’s very own. God declares that His people have perfectly obeyed the Ten Commandments because Christ obeyed them ,and His obedience is imputed to us.

Furthermore, Christ is our whole righteousness because He underwent the wrath of God and was punished for our sins. He was the Righteous Who bore the sins of the unrighteous (I Peter 2:24, e.g.). The believer in Christ has a righteous record with God because Christ by His death, burial and resurrection took away all our sins, and by a sinless life gave us a sinless record.

But then, Christ is our sole righteousness. Get this now- salvation is not a joint venture between God and sinners. Salvation is of the Lord! God will have none of your righteousness, for it is all filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). You must be justified by the righteousness of Christ Alone. I once heard a pretty well known preacher on the radio claim that justification was by us doing all we can, and then Christ would make up the difference. That is not the gospel. It is another gospel which is not another (Galatians 1:6-7). Sadly , this is what multitudes of professing Christians vainly imagine, that is, that their own works or merits helps save them. Christ is a true believer’s sole righteousness. Note well, our text says,” the LORD our righteousness.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the believer’s whole and sole righteousness. Look to Christ Alone for you true justifying, saving righteousness.

If you will contact me this week I will send you absolutely free a back issue of the Free Grace Broadcaster, edited my dear friend and fellow servant, Elder Jeff Pollard, pastor of Mt. Zion Bible Church in Pensacola, Florida. This particular issue is on the theme of Imputed Righteousness and has some wonderful messages by Charles Spurgeon and others. I can be reached by phone at 601-927-5070 or by email at brickfloyd@bellsouth.net. May the Lord bless all my dear readers.

Imputation, not Impartation

The Narrow Way  by Thomas Ray Floyd  article for publication week of 7-25-2012 AD

      “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5).

      I told you last week that the same Greek word that is translated “impute” in Romans 4, is also translated “counted” in this great chapter that tells us that believers are justified by the righteousness of Another. Our text this week is one of those places. God counts a believer as righteous as Christ, though the believer in and of himself remains ungodly. God justifies the ungodly! Oh! What a glorious gospel!

      Dear reader if you suppose yourself to be a good person, my text does not apply to you. I would highly recommend that if you think yourself to be righteous, don’t read the Narrow Way any more! Go ahead and turn to the sports section or something else that interests you, for the gospel is only for sinners. But to those who know from the Bible and their own experience that they are helpless sinners, and ungodly in and of themselves, keep reading, for we have a message for the ungodly! The fact is all people are ungodly, but some haven’t found it out yet.

     Now, look again at our text. It says that God justifies the ungodly. This is because the believer is justified by the righteousness of Christ and not his own righteousness. The believer is justified by an alien righteousness, a righteousness not his own. We have no righteousness of our own whatsoever. We must be found as righteous as God to be right with Him. And this we have in the Lord Jesus Christ only.

     The righteousness of a believer is imputed, not imparted. There is an eternity of difference between the two. The righteousness of a believer is imputed to his record, not infused into him. If you will take the time to read and study Romans 3:20- 5:21, you will see that. This is the difference in working for salvation and in believing in Christ for salvation. God justifies a believer, because of Christ alone. I repeat- God justifies the ungodly.

     Now, to be sure, the Holy Spirit surely does impart a new nature to God’s elect when He regenerates them. But this is to be considered under sanctification, not justification, which we will (DV) do in due time. But first we need to see the critical truth of how we may be “just with God” (Job 9:2). A believer’s righteous standing before God, the Righteous Judge is not because of the new nature imparted in regeneration and continued in sanctification, it is because of Christ Alone. Our righteousness with God is not because of the gift of faith the Holy Spirit gives to the elect sinner, but again, because of Christ Alone. The blessed man is the one to whom God imputes righteousness apart from anything in himself, or anything he does. The only righteousness that will ever fit you for heaven is that which is imputed. When you believe that you are a blessed person!

     

Imputed Righteousness

(Article for publication week of 7-18-2012 AD)

      “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, ‘Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin’” (Romans 4:6-8).

      We have shown you in previous articles that none can be saved by their own personal righteousness (Romans 3:10; Isaiah 64:6). We have also proven that God justifies His people by His Own sovereign grace without any cause being found in the ones He justifies (Romans 8:33; 3:24). Justification is an eternal act of God’s free and sovereign grace, whereby He declares a believer righteous in His Own Eyes because of the righteousness of Christ Alone.

     Our text today is a reference from the thirty-second Psalm where David expressed his faith in God’s grace for his righteousness. The fourth chapter of Romans is fundamental to our understanding of justification, for here the Apostle Paul declares plainly that elect sinners are justified by imputed righteousness. The fourth chapter of Romans is clear that all believers are saved the same way, and that is by imputed righteousness.

    Imputation is a glorious concept, and the person who is favored to believe it is, as the Psalmist says, truly “blessed.” The same Greek word also is translated here in Romans four as “reckon”, and “counted.” The idea is that God counts, or reckons a believer as truly and perfectly righteous because of the righteousness of Another. The word “impute” means “to charge, attribute, or ascribe.” Theologically, it means to reckon to a person what is not his. You see, God counts a believer as righteous as Christ, although the believer is actually and completely unrighteous himself. The believer has no righteousness of his own, but he has a righteousness that is far better- the righteousness of Christ!

    Now the Psalmist David knew himself to be a wretched sinner, as every true believer in Christ also knows. He knew he could never be saved by his own works because he was such a vile wretch by nature. This every heaven born soul has been taught. The person who boasts of his own righteousness and supposes that he may be justified by something he does, or by some inherent righteousness of his own, is sadly deceived. But to those who have come to the end of themselves, and given up all hope of self-righteousness, the gospel declares the imputed righteousness of Christ for the sinner’s justification.

    Blessed is the man who is justified God’s way. Our text says he is indeed doubly blessed, for God positively declares him righteous, and negatively does not charge him with his sins. Thus we see what a glorious blessing it is to be justified by God by free grace alone in Christ Alone. God does not see any sin His people! All our sins have been covered the text says. The Righteousness of Christ completely covers all our sins!

    Blessed are you if by grace you are enabled to believe this glorious gospel that declares the righteousness of God in His Son that is reckoned to the account of all who believe in Him. Blessed is the believer in Christ!

Justified Freely

(Article for publication week of 7-11-2012 AD)

     “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Last week we showed you that it is God Who justifies a poor sinner (Romans 8:33). Justification is an eternal, sovereign, gracious act of God whereby He absolves an elect sinner of all His sins and declares that sinner righteous. Our text today clearly says that God justifies a person by His Own sovereign grace, and not because of any good that He sees in that person.

   

    The word “freely” in our text is translated from the Greek word “dorean.” The Holy Spirit used the same Greek word in John 15:25 that is translated in our translation “they hated me (Christ) without a cause.” Most people hated Christ, just as they do today. Only His elect people loved Him, and only they love Him today. But there was not then, nor is there now any reason why anybody should hate Christ. He was and is “holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners”. People hate Christ without any cause, because they love sin and hate righteousness. So, God justifies a sinner “without a cause” in the sinner! If the Holy Spirit would enable you to believe this you would jump for joy! God saves a person without regard to anything in the person himself.

     God does not justify a person because of any righteous act that person performs. God justifies a person “by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28). “By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves , it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).We have already seen in previous articles that all our righteousnesses are filthy rags, and there is none good, no not one. God justifies a person by grace through faith, and not because of any act that person performs.

  

    Nor does God justify a sinner because of some goodness He sees in the sinner, for there is nothing good in any person. In us, that is in our flesh there dwells no good thing (Romans 7:18). “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint” (Isaiah 1:5).

    Nor does God justify us because of the act of believing. Now, the scriptures plainly declare that no one can be saved apart from faith in Christ, but that faith is in no sense the procuring cause of our justification. Get it now, “God justifies a sinner, and He does it freely (without a cause in the sinner) by His sovereign grace. We shall have much to say in later articles of the necessity of faith in Christ, but this week I want you to see that if you ever have a righteous standing before God, the cause must be completely outside yourself. You must look to God and the grace that is in His Son, and not to yourself for your justification.

    Justification is, again an act of God’s free grace. It is in  no sense a cooperative act between God and sinners. I pray the Lord will bless you and gift you with justifying faith that you may believe this glorious gospel. May the Lord bless you all, my dear readers.

It Is God that Justifieth

(Article for publication week of 7-4-2012 AD)

       “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth” (Romans 8:33). For several weeks now we have been considering Job’s tremendous question in Job 9:2, “how shall man be just with God?” We have considered the eternal importance of the question, and shown clearly from the scriptures that man cannot be just with God by his own works or merits. We are now ready to proceed to the doctrine of justification itself.

       Our text for this week tells us that it is God Himself that justifies a person. Justification is an act of God. It is God Himself Who acts in justifying a person. We have already proven that a fallen man can perform no act that will give him a righteous standing before God. All our righteousnesses are but filthy rags; we have all sinned and come short of God’s glory; we are unprofitable servants; there are none righteous among the fallen children of Adam. Salvation is of the Lord, and is not a joint effort between God and man.

      Secondly, we see that justification is a covenantal act of the Triune God. Only the God of the Bible can justify a poor sinner. It is God that justifies. That is, the Triune, eternal, immutable, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign and Thrice Holy God of the Bible justifies His people. Justification is an act of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit Who are One in essence and purpose.

      Thirdly, Justification is a sovereign act of God. God is under no obligation to justify any of us. God will have mercy upon whom He will (Romans 9:15). Our text proclaims the absolute sovereignty of God in justification for it is His elect people that God justifies. Our justification rests on the strong foundation of God’s eternal decree of election.

      Fourthly, justification is an eternal act of God. Since it is God Himself who justifies, justification is something that is completely without a sinner. Indeed, there is no good thing in any sinner (Romans 7:18). Since the grounds for justification resides wholly in the Triune God, and there is no good thing in any of us, we must see that God does not justify us as a response to some act of our own. This is a vital scriptural concept that you need to embrace. Now, if justification is solely an act of God, and nothing is found in the sinner to move God to justify him, then this must be an eternal act of God.

     Finally, justification is a gracious act of God. God justifies us freely by His grace (Romans 3:24). Justification is by grace alone. This is the reason true ministers of the gospel often say “sovereign grace.” Justification is by the unmerited favour of God toward undeserving, ill deserving, hell deserving sinners. It is God that justifies!

Unprofitable Servants

(Article for publication week of 6-20-2012 AD)

       “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do’ “ (Luke 17:10).

       If a man did everything that God required of him, he would be nothing but an “unprofitable servant.” Dear reader, should you perform every duty required of you by the law of God you would have nothing for which you could boast. You would simply have done your duty. Should you faithfully obey the law of God in every point, it would add nothing to God’s essential glory, nor in any way help Him in accomplishing His great purposes.

      This is the reason that so-called “works of supererogation” are so ridiculous. It is impossible for anyone to do more than God requires. No one has ever gone “above and beyond the call of duty” concerning what God requires. The world’s largest cult has invented a mythical “bank of good works”, whereby they claim the so-called “works of supererogation” of “saints” (as defined by themselves), are stored up and can be added to the credit of those in purgatory. Of course all this is without any biblical support. Our text plainly teaches that no one can do more than God requires.

     But, in actuality, no one has ever even come close to doing everything God requires. We have already seen in previous articles that all our righteousnesses are “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64”6), that there are “none righteous” (Romans 3:10), and that all have sinned and “come short of the glory of God.” Our best obedience is so tainted by sin, that it cannot be counted as a good work that would be acceptable to God. After we have done our very best, we must repent that it comes short of what God requires. Dear reader, you and I must repent of our sins, but we must also repent of our supposed “righteousness.” As one dear brother of old has put it, “we must repent of our prayers, and pray over our repentance.”

    Now, if one who has done all that God requires is but an “unprofitable servant”, where does that leave you and me who have come short of what God requires? Don’t you see it leaves us condemned and unrighteous before a Thrice Holy God? Dear readers, I am trying to convince you that there is no hope of self-salvation. There is no possibility of justifying yourself before God by you own obedience. Our righteousness will not fit us to stand before the Judge of all the earth Who will do right.

     But thanks be to God! He has a Servant Who has done all that God requires for the justification of all who believe in Him. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 53:11 tells us that this Servant shall justify many by His knowledge. Dear reader, look not to your righteousness for salvation. Look not to the righteousness of any other sinner for salvation. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Righteous Servant.

Filthy Rags

(Article for publication week of 6-13-2012 AD)

       “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have carried us away” (Isaiah 64:6).

       Dear reader, do you realise what our text says about you? All of your best deeds do not impress God! In fact, the best you have ever done is only filthy rags!

      Now, I am sure that a few of you would recognise that your sins are loathsome to God, (although very few even recognise such a thing as sin any more), but you need to understand that your best obedience is also filthy to God.

     Note well, the text says ALL our “righteousnesses” (plural). The most noble act ever performed by a descendant of Adam is, as far as God is concerned (and His opinion is all that really counts), a filthy rag. All the great charitable acts performed by us are to God nothing but filthy rags. All of a man’s religious acts are nothing but filthy rags to God.

     I am labouring for the eternal good of your souls. I want you to see your desperately lost condition so that you will flee to Christ as a poor sinner to be saved His way. As long as you entertain any idea of your own personal righteousness, you will not come to Christ, and you cannot be saved.

     Look again at the text. The text says that we are all personally “unclean”. The word brings to our mind a poor outcast leper, loathsome to himself and everybody else. As far as your personal standing before God, this is what God thinks of you- a loathsome wretch. The Bible completely abominates the modern teaching of “self esteem.” You have no reason to have any self-esteem, because God esteems you as a filthy thing. You cannot be saved until you renounce all your self-esteem, and confess you are a filthy thing to God.

    You are personally filthy, and if you are trying to justify yourself before God, then it is like trying to cover your leprous flesh with filthy rags. This is what our text is telling us; we are filthy, loathsome sinners, and our best deeds of “righteousness” are, as far as God is concerned, “filthy rags.”

     Dear Reader, if you will ever be saved, you must renounce your sins. A few of you may believe that. But my text says, you must also renounce your personal righteousness. This is the reason so few are saved; they vainly imagine that they are actually a pretty good person. Oh! That you could see yourself as God sees you!

     Now, dear reader, your good deeds may be of some temporal benefit to yourself and others, and it is worse not to perform them, but I am talking about what good they do as far your justification before God and the eternal salvation of your poor soul. “The best obedience of my hands dares not appear before Thy throne” (Isaac Watts).

     Renounce your sins, and repent before God! And renounce your righteousness, and flee to Christ and ask Him to give you the robe of His righteousness to cover your nakedness. Ask Him to heal you of your filthy leprosy. I pray the Lord will have mercy on some.

Unrighteous

(Article for publication week of 6-6-2012 AD)

         “There is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10). The Epistle of Paul to the Romans is one of the most theological books in the whole Bible. The great Theme of this book is the Righteousness of God. Paul introduces this theme in chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. After his introduction, he begins to open up the great doctrine of justification. The first major section of Romans is from chapter 1, verse 18 through chapter 3, verse 20. In this section Paul shows us why we need the justifying righteousness of Christ, that being the fact that none of us have any righteousness of our own. After he shows us why we need a better righteousness than our own, he then proceeds to show us that justification is by grace alone through faith alone, in Christ Alone. But first he wants to be sure that we understand our desperately lost condition.

        Our text this week is a quote from the Old Testament. Paul had absolute confidence in the inspiration, authority and preservation of the scriptures. So he says, “it is written.” The 14^th  Psalm to which Paul refers speaks of God looking down on the people on the earth. And as God looks down on the human race, He says, “none righteous.” God looked down on the Jews, and He said, “unrighteous.” He looked at the Gentiles, and He said, “unrighteous.” God looked down on white people, and He said, “unrighteous.” God looked down on black people, and He said, “unrighteous.” God looked down on brown people, and He said, “unrighteous.” God looked down on Simpson County and He said, “none righteous.” God looked down on YOU, and He said “not righteous.” There are none righteous in God’s estimation.

        There is none righteous among the descendents of Adam and Eve. The most moral person on earth cannot stand in the Day of Judgment on his own standing. The most religious person that has ever lived cannot stand before God by his own merits. We saw last week that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”  Whatever you may think of yourself, or whatever others may think of you, God’s pronouncement is that you are unrighteous.

       “None righteous”! What an awful indictment of us all! We are in bad shape! God requires perfect righteous, and all of us, in and of ourselves are totally unrighteous. Not a person descended from Adam and Eve can ever say they are righteous. But there is a Person Who is perfectly righteous. The only Person Who is as righteous as God requires is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal and coequal Son of God. Poor sinner, your only hope for righteousness is in this Blessed Person. May the Holy Spirit give you faith to believe in Him for your whole and sole righteousness.

All Have Sinned

(Article for publication week of 5-30-2012 AD)

       “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The desperate need of our day is to get men lost. Note well, I did not say to get men saved, but rather to get men lost. The only kind of sinners that God saves are thoroughly lost sinners. Until you are convinced of your lost estate, you will never come to the Saviour of sinners for the salvation you so desperately need.

       Now, this is the way God always works. He gets a sinner lost so He can save him. This the dear Saviour Himself said, “I am come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). God kills before He makes alive; He wounds before He heals; He troubles the soul before He gives His peace to the soul.

       And so our text is sent to us to convince us of our lost condition. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Now some of you are very despicable sinners. Many of you are fornicators and adulterers. Many of you are drunkards and dope heads. Many of you are liars and thieves. Others of you are very refined sinners. You are perhaps quite moral in your outward behaviour (so you say), and perhaps are well thought of. Some of you are so good (so you think), you would never need the saving righteousness of Christ. But I say unto you that unless you are worshipping Christ and bowing the knee to Him, you are condemned as a wretched blasphemer. Some of you are members of churches, or religious organizations, but you are as proud as a peacock and have a heart full of covetousness. Some of you are Sunday School teachers and preachers, but you have never been really converted yourself. You have everybody fooled, and perhaps have yourself fooled, but you are not fooling God.

     But whether a despicable sinner, or a more refined sinner, you stand condemned before God. You despicable sinners look at the refined sinners and think they are “self righteous”, and they are, but what good will that do you when you are in Hell. You refined sinners look at the despicable sinners, and look down your nose at them, (which they surely deserve), but you will be no better off on the Day of Judgment unless you are saved God’s way. It will no doubt add to many people’s eternal misery to have to spend eternity with folks they despise.

    Dear reader, do you realise that YOU have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I am labouring for the eternal good of your soul, and you can never be saved until you come to the end of your wretched self.

     Our text tells us in a nutshell what sin is- coming short of the glory of God. If you are not doing everything for the glory of God you are condemned as a hell deserving sinner, whether a most despicable one, or a more refined (as you like to think) one. The “all “ of my text this week includes YOU.