June 28, 2020
Hymn of the Day
(tune: There is a Fountain, 222)
When first the God of boundless grace, Disclosed His kind design;
To rescue His apostate race, From misery shame and sin;
Quick through the realms of light and bliss, The joyful tidings ran;
Each heart exalted at the news, That God would dwell with man.
Yet midst their joys they paused awhile,
And asked, with strange surprise,
"But how can injured justice smile, Or look with pitying eyes?"
The Son of God attentive heard, And quickly thus replied;
"In Me let mercy be revered, and justice satisfied."
"Behold my vital blood I pour, And sacrifice to God;
Let angry justice now no more, Demand the sinner's blood"
He spake and heav'ns high arches rang,
With shouts of loud applause;
"He died," the friendly Angels sang,
And we repeat their joys.
Today's Hymns: Even Me #168, His Loving Kindness #9, Jesus, I Come #242
Special Dates: Jerry & Pat – 30 ~ Carolyn Bakker – 2
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For sin shall not have dominion over you:
for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 6.14
These words are a great comfort to the believer who is appalled at the sin in his life. It is true that some have used this text to crack the legal whip over believers saying such things as, "If you are a true believer, then sin will not have power over you like it once did." But Paul is not talking about power but authority. The word translated "dominion" is the same word Paul uses in in 7.1 where he wrote, "the law hath dominion over a man as long as he lives." So, having died with and in Christ, we are dead, and the law has no authority over us. Therefore, sin has no authority over us – we are "under [the authority of] grace."
Sin still has great power with us, else we would not sin so much. But it has no authority over us. Before we believed, we were under law. Therefore, sin had the authority to accuse, condemn, and kill us. But now that we have been removed from the jurisdiction of law, sin is deprived of any authority over us – it cannot accuse us, condemn us, or kill us.
Is this too bold? Consider what would happen were it not true? -Joe
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If you will confess with your mouth Jesus to be Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10.9
Shall we try to hedge Paul's words out of fear that someone will make ill use of them, claiming that they teach that man has the natural capacity to believe? No, we shall leave them right there as they are - exactly as the Holy Spirit inspired them, not removing the least ray of wondrous hope they hold out to sinners. It is not a message requiring great effort on the part of the sinner either to grasp its meaning or perform its conditions. Rather, it is a word that is near to us, a message that meets us right where we are – in need of salvation. It is the Word of Faith which the Lord and His apostles preached.
Let no man deprive you of the blessedness of a single word of the promises of God. Do not burden your heart with an attempt to understand theological concepts which have baffled theologians for centuries. Listen only to what God has said in His book. What parts you do not understand leave for another day. But those parts you do understand, which are "nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith," which Christ and His apostles preached, cling to them with all your heart as a man clings to a life preserver, knowing they are the words of the Living God who cannot lie. -Joe
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The Bible is the inspired word of God. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16). There are people who believe that and would argue for it yet have no saving benefit from that knowledge. Why? They are ignorant of the one message of this book…. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This is not the central theme of this book. Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the only theme (John 5:39). Without a heart understanding of that, there is no understanding of the Scriptures, even though you believe them to be inspired! -Todd Nibert
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When I look for evidences of salvation in my attitude and conduct, I fear that I am not saved. When I look to Christ only, I have full assurance. As soon as I think that I have assurance, it leaves. The Lord will not allow us to trust anything but Him. Christ alone! Nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. -Todd Nibert
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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 having 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. -D. Martin Lloyd-Jones
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The voice from the cross did not summon men to do, but to be satisfied with what was done, "It is finished." The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only perfect thing which has ever been presented to God on man's behalf. "It shall be perfect to be accepted, there shall be no blemish therein" (Leviticus 22:21). - Scott Richardson