February 17, 2013
And In That Day
In that day which our Lord God made,
Jesus Christ came in the flesh.
In His body, He the off’ring,
He, our Lord, our Righteousness,
He, the sacrifice for our sin,
Paid the ransom with His blood,
Providing perfect salvation,
Giving rest to those He loved.
In that day of our salvation
The Root of Jesse does call
The Lord’s remnant from all nations,
With His Rod He comforts all.
Raised on High is Christ our Ensign,
Righteous God, our Faithfulness,
Though they’re in sin, He calls to them,
“Come to me, I’ll give you rest.”
In that day we will praise our God,
Jehovah, the Lord, our Strength.
The Lord Jehovah is our song.
He has done excellent things.
With joy shall we draw the water
From the wells of salvation.
Great the Holy One of Israel
In the midst of His nation.
(By Gary Spreacker, Tune: “Come Thou Fount" Pg.17)
Justification
Justification does not merely mean forgiveness. It includes forgiveness, but it is much bigger than forgiveness. It means in addition that God declares us to be entirely guiltless; He regards us as if we had never sinned at all; He pronounces us to be just and to be righteous. In doing so, He is answering any declaration that the law may make with respect to us. It is the judge upon the bench not merely saying that the prisoner at the bar is forgiven, but that he pronounces him to be a JUST AND RIGHTEOUS PERSON. In justifying us God tells us that He has taken our sins and our guilt and has "imputed" them to, "put them to the account of," the Lord Jesus Christ and punished them in Him. He announces also that, having done that, He now puts to our account, or "imputes" to us, the perfect righteousness of His own dear Son. The Lord Jesus Christ obeyed the law perfectly; He never broke it in any respect; He gave a full and a perfect satisfaction to all its demands. That full obedience constitutes His righteousness. What God does is to put to our account, to put upon us, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In declaring us to be justified, God proclaims that He now looks on us, not as we are, but as clothed with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. A hymn by the Moravian Count Zenzendorf and translated by John Wesley, expresses it thus:
Jesus, Thy robe of righteousness My beauty is, my glorious dress; Midst flaming worlds, in this arrayed,
- Martyn Lloyd-Jones
~~~ O ~~~
Some people would have us believe that if we preach pure grace it will lead people to licentious living. They say if we remove the law as a guide or motivation for Christian living, people will have nothing to keep them holy. They say to tell a person to just follow Christ doesn't provide enough structure and will lead people to careless living. Is that where the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ Jesus leads? Grace preachers have always been, and always will be, falsely accused of this devilish lie. The apostle Paul spent most of his time defending the gospel of grace against this lawmongers view of self-righteousness. "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid." Rom 6:15 No, grace does not lead to sin, grace leads to Christ. He is able by the law of love and faith to restrain our flesh and make us His workmanship.
- Pastor Greg Elmquist
Accept or Receive?
Nowhere in the word of God do we find most common religious catchphrase-" accept Jesus as your personal savior." Nowhere does it say that the Lord of all the universe is up for acceptance or rejection by mere mortals. Nowhere does it say that the sovereign Creator of all things needs to be accepted by the creature.
You see . . . We are on trial . . . Not God! We are the ones that will be either accepted or rejected, according to the will and pleasure of him who made us. It is God that must accept us" in the beloved." Accepting something or someone implies ability to accept or reject. Man, who is dead in sins, cannot accept but only reject that which is true and good. The natural man receiveth not the things of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he...” (I Cor. 2:14).
The Scriptures do however, speak of us receiving Christ (John 1:12-13). But there is a big difference in receiving something and accepting it. Receiving implies that a gift has been bestowed upon you. The gift of God's grace in Christ is unmerited favor bestowed upon you. All to whom God grants this unspeakable gift are made willing in the day of his power to receive it. They are made to see the irresistible beauty of Christ, and their desperate need of him, and humbly and gladly receive Him. Even their calling upon him, and asking for him, are God's gracious gifts (Romans 2:4). One cannot glory in receiving a gift, for even our receiving we have received; for "a man can receive nothing except it be given him from above" (John 3:27). The glass cannot glory for receiving the water that is poured into it.
Those who say they have accepted Jesus do not know and have not received the Lord Jesus Christ, and are not saved. For that is not the language of scripture nor of any child of God. The language of scripture and the testimony of every child of God is this: we have received mercy and grace from our God through the Lord Jesus Christ?
- Pastor Paul Mahan
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