Look Only To Christ Jesus

We must look to Christ and Christ alone as the propitiation for our sins, and be careful that our faith is single and fixed only on Him. I have known preachers to emphasize a sense of sin and repentance to the point that some of their hearers find a sort of rest in their guilt, conviction, and feelings of unworthiness. IT IS CHRIST WHO GIVES US REST; it is not being the chief of sinners that gives us rest (Matt. 11:28-30).

I realize that those who come to Christ will indeed acknowledge their sins, will experience a genuine repentance before God, and will believe the gospel; but none of these things contribute in any way to the removal of sin nor to the redemption of the soul. This is the work of CHRIST ALONE. “When He had BY HIMSELF purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the majesty in heaven” (Heb. 1:3).

It is the Son of Man lifted up who heals. How LONG you have suffered, how SEVERE the wound, and how GREAT the pain has nothing to with the CURE!

Look to Him and be made whole (Isaiah 45:21-22).

Pastor Henry T. Mahan (bulletin 1987)

Without Christ We Are Nothing

There is an old saying, “God helps those that help themselves.” However, the word of God teaches us differently. The word of God teaches us that God helps those that cannot help themselves. “He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increaseth strength; (Isa. 40:29). Christ said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me and I in him, that same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Without Christ we are nothing and can do nothing that God can be pleased with. We cannot take our next breath nor breathe out a prayer that God will hear without Christ. We cannot know God without Christ. Christ is the key of knowledge, apart from Christ we know nothing and are nothing, period! Pastor John Chapman

A Ransom For Many

“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

The Son of God very specifically tells us that he gave his life “a ransom for many." It is nowhere suggested or implied in the Word of God that Christ made atonement for, redeemed, or ransomed the entire human race, many of which were already in hell when he died. Those for whom Christ died are described as “many,” not all, because these many are a distinct and peculiar people.

They are the "many" who are ordained unto eternal life (Acts 13:48). The "many" the Father has given to the Son (John 6:37-39).

The “many” whose sins He bore on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).

The "many" for whom His blood was shed for the remission of their sins (Matthew 26:28).

The "many" who are made righteous by His obedience (Romans 5:19).

The "many" sons, He, the Captain of their salvation, brings to glory (Hebrews 2:10). Pastor Don Fortner

Christ Gave Himself A Ransom For Many

“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28).

Our blessed God and Saviour gave Himself for the all of the sins of His covenant children and not for the sins of all mankind. We call that definite atonement or particular redemption or better yet, an effectual atonement for sin (Heb. 9:12, 26; Heb. 10:10-17).

When Paul writes 1 Timothy 2:5-6; “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all,” he is taking about the same “many”that they Lord Jesus Christ is taking about. Scripture must be interpreted in the light of other scriptures. Someone rightly said, “The best commentary on the scripture is the scripture itself.”

Paul is not teaching universal redemption, He is teaching exactly the same lesson the Lord is teaching, there is no conflict in the scriptures. If we would just read the record of the word of God we would see who the Lord tasted death for, His sheep (Heb. 2:9-18).

The Lord Jesus Christ is our complete ransom unto the holy justice of God; He is totally satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ for our sin; to enable God to be just and the justifier of those who are blessed and ordained to believe the gospel (Acts 13:48; Rom. 3:24-26).

Now just read the record of the word and believe what it says.

Here is the ransom price for the “many” found in the scriptures:

His people…Matt. 1:21…Isa. 53:8.

His sheep…John 10:15-18.

His church…Acts 20:28.

His elect…Eph. 1:3-7.

His bride…Eph. 5:25-27.

His sons…Heb. 2:10.