REDEMPTION

Redemption is the ransom of chosen sinners out from under the curse of God’s broken law and offended justice by the sacrificial, substitutionary, sin-atoning death of our Lord Jesus. Redemption is the satisfaction of justice by the blood of Christ and the deliverance of God’s elect from all possibility of condemnation (Eph. 1:7; Gal. 3:13; Col. 1:14; I Peter 1:18-20). The redemption of our souls by Christ’s shed blood also includes and guarantees the redemption (deliverance) of our souls from the bondage and dominion of sin (Isaiah 53:10-11); and the redemption of our bodies from the grave at the resurrection (I Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:14; 4:30). All who were redeemed by the blood of Christ must and shall be saved by God’s grace in him.

Pastor Don Bell

Born of God

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loveth Him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of Him” (1 John 5:1).

All who are born of God believe that Jesus is THE CHRIST. The title of Christ signifies anointed and includes all the offices of the Son of God. To believe Him to be the Christ is to believe Him to be the THAT PROPHET Moses said should come, the one who would declare the whole mind of the Father. It is to believe Him to be THAT PRIEST who should come after the order of Melchisedec and make atonement for our sins and intercede for the transgressors. It is to believe Him to be THAT KING whom God hath set over all things.

This believing is more than a mere assent to the fact or acknowledgment of it; devils have done as much (Lk. 4:41). Rather, it is to believe with the heart (Rom. 10:9-10) and to look to Him, receive Him, and trust Him as our righteousness; to lay hold of Him as our fountain of life; and to continue through all of life to find in Him all we need.

Such faith is far beyond the reach of the human mind; it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). Those who believe are “born of God.” This faith is the result of regeneration, not the product of natural wisdom.

Pastor Henry T. Mahan (Bulletin 1983)

Three Fruits of False Preachers

“Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20: 30).

Look at these three fruits of false preachers:

1). They once sat under the faithful preaching of Christ amongst God’s saints, “Also of your own selves shall men arise.”

2). In order to differentiate themselves from the gospel and those they once called brethren they change a few points of doctrine from the truth they claimed to have been saved under, “speaking perverse things.”

3). The intent is not Christ’s glory nor the good of God’s people but themselves, “To draw away disciples after them.”

Pastor Clay Curtis

Hezekiah Prayed For The People.

“But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people” (2 Chron. 30:18-20).

I must admit and confess that I have been critical of those that have said in my hearing, “The good Lord blessed me.” But that is the very words that Hezekiah used when he interceded and prayed for Judah and Israel to observe the Passover that had been so long neglected; probably over 200 years (2 Chron. 30:5). And the Lord heard his prayer, pardoned, forgave and healed the people, for Christ’s sake (Eph. 4:32; Heb. 7:25-26; 1 Peter 3:18).

We know that the scriptures teach that, “There is none good but one and that is God” (Matt. 19:17). Many times in the Psalms we read that the Lord is good, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” (Psalm 34:8; 100:5; 135:3).

So the next time I hear someone use those words, “The good Lord,” instead of being critical, I am going to use that as an opportunity to tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ who is good, longsuffering and merciful. The Lord did so with Moses, “The LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth (Ex. 34:6).

Christ is truly the only one who is good, because He is God (John 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:16). Thank you Lord for such a Saviour as this, the only true God and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, the only just God and Saviour, there is none else (Isa. 45:21-22).