THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH

The phrase the just shall live by faith is in the scriptures four times (Hab. 2:4, Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11, Heb. 10:38) The just shall live by faith must be important since it is in scripture four times, but what does it mean? Three things immediately spring to mind.

First the just shall live by faith means that a sinner is justified by the faithfulness OF Christ to obey the law as a man as the representative of His people and to make the sacrifice that puts away the sin of His people without any help from the sinner.

Second the just shall live by faith means that a sinner is justified through faith IN Christ without any of our works contributing in any way. A sinner is justified by relying on the Lord Jesus Christ to do all the work it takes to justify them.

Thirdly the just shall live by faith means that the justified ones live believing the Word of God. The justified ones believe everything the Word of God says. The justified ones believe every promise of God. They do not try to live on what they think God might do. They live relying upon what God says He WILL do in His Word.

Pastor

Strive to Enter In

The Lord said in Matthew 11:12, “The kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” While it is true that salvation is a work of God in which we are passive, men dead in sins do not actively seek the Living God. It is equally true that when God does give a dead sinner life, that one who was dead in sins becomes very active. He “strives to enter in at the straight gate” (Matt. 7:13). He earnestly “seeks God with all his heart.” He is “importunate”((insistence) in prayer (Luke 11:8). He seeks to “crucify the flesh” and “through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body” (Rom. 8:12-13). He is willing to “endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus” (II Tim. 2:10). The rest that the believer enters is not one of laziness, apathy, or indifference. If our belief in sovereign grace has let us to excuse our sin, justify our disobedience, dampen our enthusiasm, become indifferent to our responsibility, or make our love and zeal grow cold…. we have not understood sovereign grace. While all of our former religious activity does need to be killed, may God deliver us from using His grace to have a passive attitude that is not taught in Scripture!

Pastor Todd Nibert

The problem with sinners is not that we are unwilling to do something to save ourselves but that we are unwilling to do nothing that we might be saved by another. (John 3:19-20). Faith takes nothing from you, faith takes nothing done by you, faith demands you add nothing, only believe and continue believing, not in anything you have done or not done. Faith is casting your care, your whole self, your whole eternal salvation into the hands of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Clay Curtis

True Unity

Child of God, endeavor to keep the unit of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Eph. 4:3. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Ps. 133:1. Whatever differences we may have in the flesh, (Race, Culture, Language, Politics, Personalities) they are not only insignificant but irrelevant to our unity in Christ Jesus. Our Lord prayed, “that they all may be one; as thou Father are in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” Jn. 17:21. What a powerful testimony it is to the unbeliever to see that we all believe the same thing concerning the Lord Jesus and His successful work of redeeming His people, and that our conviction concerning the gospel causes us to overlook all other differences.

Pastor Greg Elmquist

“They were pricked in their heart..."

The best preaching is that which pricks our heart. This is the only kind of impression that is a saving impression. It is not if I please your ears, your eyes, your sense of smell, but if your heart is pricked. Many attempts are made to make people religious from the outside. It is done with clothes, and how you wear your hair. This is Wal-Mart salvation, for all I need for this kind of salvation I can buy at Wal-Mart. Some say salvation comes by eating or not eating, by drinking or not drinking. Again that is Wal-Mart salvation. Our Lord said, it is "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, that defileth a man." It is the heart which must be changed. If your conversion is produced in the flesh, it will only be concerned with fleshly things. Never be satisfied with a religion which does not affect your heart. Never be satisfied with worship that is not from the heart. If you are to be blessed by the hearing of this Gospel, then you must be pricked in your heart.