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All That I was, My Sin, My Guilt
Author: Horatius Bonar Tune: Amazing Grace
1. All that I was, my sin, my guilt, My death, was all mine own;
All that I am, I owe to Thee, My gracious God, alone.

2. The evil of my former state, Was mine and only mine;
The good in which I now rejoice, Is Thine, and only Thine.

3. The darkness of my former state, The bondage -- all was mine;
The light of life in which I walk, The liberty -- is Thine.

4. The grace that made me feel my sin, It taught me to believe;
Then, in believing, peace I found, And now I live, I live.

5. All that I am, e'en here on earth, All that I hope to be,
When Jesus comes and glory dawns, I owe it, Lord, to Thee.

The Word is Blessed
A minister having to preach in the city jail was accompanied by a young man of fine mind and cultivated manners, but who was not a Christian. As the minister looked at the audience, he preached to them Jesus with so much earnestness as deeply to impress his companion. On their return home, the young man said, “The men to whom you preached today must have been moved by the utterance of such truth. Such preaching cannot fail to influence.” “My dear young friend,” answered the minister, “were you influenced? Were you impelled by the words you heard today to choose God as your portion?” “You were not preaching to me, but to your convicts;” was quickly answered. “You mistake. I was preaching to you as much as to them. You need the same Savior as they. For all there is but one way of salvation. Just as much for you as for these poor prisoners was the message of this afternoon. Will you heed it?” The Word so faithfully spoken was blessed of God.
--C H Spurgeon
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Substitution - The Basis of Our Salvation
God is Holy and, therefore, He will not look upon sin. God is Just and, therefore, He judges sin wherever it is found. But God is Love as well: God delighteth in mercy, and, therefore, infinite wisdom devised a way whereby Justice might be satisfied and mercy left free to flow out to guilty sinners. This way was the way of substitution, the Just suffering for the unjust. The Son of God Himself was the one selected to be the Substitute, for none other would suffice. Through Nahum, the question had been asked, “Who can stand before His indignation?” (Nahum 1:6). This question received its answer in the adorable person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He alone could “stand.” One only could bear the curse and yet rise a victor above it. One only could endure all the avenging wrath and yet magnify the law and make it honorable. One only could suffer His heel to be bruised by Satan and yet in that bruising destroy Him that had the power of death. God laid hold upon One that was “mighty” (Psa. 89:19), One who was no less than the Fellow of Jehovah, the Radiance of His glory, the exact Impress of His person. Thus we see that boundless love, inflexible justice and omnipotent power all combined to make possible the salvation of those who believe.
--Arthur W. Pink
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Facts about the Election of Grace
Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance (I Thessalonians 1: 4-5)
- An election which does not lead a person to believe the gospel, confess in his heart, confess Christ in baptism, and identify whole heartedly with the Lord's church is not the election of grace.
- Election which does not give a person a new birth, a new heart, a new nature to love Christ, to love one another and to live and express that love daily is not the election of grace.
- An election which does not result in a new walk, a new attitude, a new spirit of unity and fellowship is not the election of grace
- An election which does not make a person generous toward others, liberal in his support of the gospel ministry, liberal toward his house and other families and who had not learned that it is more blessed to give than to receive, is not the election of grace.
- An election which does not (in time) produce these fruits of the Spirit, a growth in grace, the knowledge of Christ, which delivers a person from a covetous spirit, the vanity of the flesh and the pride of self is not the election of grace.
There was a time when only God knew we were His elect! There came a time when we knew that we were elected by God! There comes a time when others know that we are His elect! --Henry Mahan

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