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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to
observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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March 28, 2010
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Contents:
1) Justified (Connie W. Adams)
2) God Belongs in the Center (Rusty Miller)
3) It Just Slipped Out ... Of What? (Bryan Matthew Dockens)
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-1-
Justified
by Connie W. Adams
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Rom.
5:1-2).
The Meaning of Justification
Justification means that the sinner is vindicated before God. He is
acquitted of his sin. He is declared righteous. This does not mean that
he has not sinned, "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God" (Rom. 3:23). The guilty sinner stands before God without excuse.
He is unable of himself to provide acquittal. He cannot make
himself righteous nor justify himself. That is the right of God. It is
sin which has separated man from God (Isa. 59:1-2). Man is the offender
and God the offended party. In order to have "peace with God" the
offender must be acquitted, justified, declared righteous.
The Source of Justification
But how can this be? Is the sinner powerful or wise enough to devise a
means of justification? "Oh Lord I know that the way of man is not in
himself (Jer. 10:23). Only God can justify. The Jew could not be
justified by the works of the law for Paul said, "But that no man is
justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident; for, The Just
shall live by faith" (Gal. 3:11). Neither Jew nor Gentile could be
justified by works of human merit. It is "not of works lest any man
should boast" (Eph. 2:9); and "not by works of righteousness which we
have done" (Titus 3:5). So, then justification does not originate in
man. It must come from God. According to Paul, it is God who purposed
to offer acquittal to those helpless and hopeless without his grace. He
called and justified those called that they might be glorified with
him. Indeed, "It is God that justifieth" (Rom. 8:30-33). It is offered
as a favor which the sinner did not deserve and could not provide. It
is therefore of grace. "For by grace are ye saved through faith" (Eph.
2:8). Man's dilemma was God's opportunity.
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see."
Having described the frightful condition of those who were "dead in
trespasses and sins," and having set forth the ultimate fate of those
suited only to receive divine wrath, Paul opens the window of hope to
the hopeless when he said, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus
(Eph. 2:4-7). Astounding! There we are guilty, having offended
our own Creator. What have we to offer? What can we think of to do?
What wise plan of our own will prompt God to forgive us and restore the
fellowship now shattered because of our sin? There is nothing we can do
to place God in our debt. We owe him everything but he owes us nothing.
Ah, but our God is "rich in mercy," his love is "great" and his
"kindness" is extended out of grace. What a God! He is able and willing
to justify us, count us righteous and treat us as if we had never
sinned. It boggles the mind to try and take it all in.
The Means of Justification
Having seen that justification can only come from God it is necessary
to determine whether or not this acquittal is offered unconditionally
or conditionally. It springs from the grace of God flowing out of the
wellspring of his rich mercy and great love. Will the grace of God save
every sinner, or will it save some sinners? If every sinner is to be
saved unconditionally, then we are at a loss to explain many plain
passages in the word of God. Jesus said that at the judgment (and why
would there need to be a judgment if justification is unconditional?)
some would "go away into everlasting fire" (Mt. 25:46). Paul said the
Lord would come "in flaming fire" and "take vengeance on them that know
not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" and said
they would be "punished with everlasting destruction from the presence
of the Lord" (2 Thes. 1:6-9). So then, not everyone will be justified.
Paul explained it for us in Romans 1:16-17. "For I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it
is written, The just shall live by faith." It is by means of the
gospel that God offers his favor to the sinner. "Whereunto he called
you by our gospel" (2 Thes. 2:14). Remember, he justified those
whom he called (Rom. 8:30) but here it is clear that he calls by the
gospel. This good news is the power he exerts to apprise the sinner
that his grace is offered. It is by means of the gospel that God
reveals his righteousness (justification, ASV) or acquittal (as Moses
E. Lard has it). The gospel tells us how God offers his favor to us.
But upon what ground does God offer to forgive the transgressor? In
every dispensation blood atonement has been required. The patriarchs
and the Jews under the law of Moses were required to offer blood
sacrifice for "without the shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb.
9:22). But the law was only a "shadow of good things to come" and it
"was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away
sins" (Heb. 10:1-4). Those sacrifices only typified the ultimate
sacrifice for sin when the Son of God shed his blood. "So Christ was
once offered to bear the sins of many" (Heb. 9:28). "How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God?" (Heb. 9:14). When Jesus took the cup, the night
of his betrayal, he said, "For this is my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Mt. 26:28). "And
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross" (Eph.
2:16). Here both Jews and Gentiles have "access by one Spirit unto the
Father" (Eph. 3:18). Paul sums it up for us when he said "Being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be the propitiation through faith in
his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this
time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3:24-26). The cross was the price
which had to be paid in order to make the grace of God accessible to
us.
Man's Part
The sinner must act out of faith to obey the will of God if he is to be
justified. "Therefore being justified by faith... " (Rom. 5:1). God
justifies, that is his part. But it is by faith and that is the
sinner's part. He must believe God. The gospel is the power of God unto
salvation unto "every one that believeth." "By grace are ye saved
through faith" (Eph. 2:8). God extends the favor and man responds in
faith. The question which must be resolved is whether saving faith is a
living or dead faith. "Faith without works is dead" (Jas. 2:26).
It was because Abraham believed God that he obeyed the instruction of
the Lord. The worthies of old who were all said to be justified by
faith in God, acted in demonstration of that faith (Heb. 11). "For in
Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision;
but faith which worketh by love" (Gal. 5:6). Christ is the "author of
eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" (Heb. 5:9).
God requires the sinner in faith to repent of his sins. "God
commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). Jesus said "He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved and he that believeth not
shall be damned" (Mk. 16:16). Neither faith, repentance nor baptism
nullify salvation by the grace of God. All of these are demanded of
everyone. God offers his grace and man responds in faith because Christ
shed his blood as a perfect sacrifice for sin. Justice has been met.
The alienated sinner now has peace with God. He is justified. To
quote a good friend and eloquent preacher, "I scarce can take it in!"
-- Via Searching the Scriptures, March 1992, Volume 33, Number 3
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God Belongs in the Center
In the early chapters of Numbers, we are treated to a layout of the
camp of Israel. Three tribes camped on the east side (2:1- 9), three on
the south (2:10-16), three on the west (2:18-24), and three on the
north (2:25-30). In the center of the camp, the Levites were to set up
the tabernacle (2:17). Why is this important? It means that God was at
the center of the camp, and God was to be their focus, at the heart of
everything Israel did. Dads, what about your camp? Is God set up at the
center? Is He the focus of all that you are trying to accomplish with
your family? Do your children understand that He comes first in all
that you do?
-- by Rusty Miller (via The Beacon, December 29, 2009)
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-3-
It Just Slipped Out ... Of What?
When excusing themselves for uttering profanities or curses, the kind
of words which should never escape our mouths (Ephesians 4:29), many
will say, "I'm sorry; it just slipped out." But what did those
corrupt words slip out of, exactly? Jesus explained, "For out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good
treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of
the evil treasure brings forth evil things" (Matthew 12:34-35). That is
to say, bad words don't "slip out" of good hearts; they come from bad
hearts. Therefore, "Purify your hearts!" (James 4:8).
-- by Bryan Matthew Dockens (via The Beacon, October 6, 2009
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel,
for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the
deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins
(Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ
(Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water
for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4;
Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith;
for,
if
not,
salvation
can
be
lost
(Heb.
10:36-39;
Rev.
2:10;
2
Pet.
2:20-22).
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CHURCH OF CHRIST
201 Rushing Road (at the Hampton Inn), Denham Springs, Louisiana
70726
Sunday services: 9:15 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 4 PM (worship)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
tedwards@onemain.com
tedwards1109@gmail.com
http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go (Gospel Observer website)
http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/audioser.html (audio sermons)
Directions:
Take the Denham Springs exit (exit 10) off of I-12. At the end of
the exit ramp, turn north. Go about a stone's throw to Rushing
Road. (You'll see a Starbucks, Circle K, and two other gas
stations; with each on each corner.) Turn left on Rushing Road,
and go less then 0.3 of a mile. Hampton Inn will be on the
right. We assemble in its meeting room, which is very close to
the reception counter.
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