IF WE BELIEVE GOD

The account in Romans of how Abraham was justified and received righteousness by faith was not recorded for his sake alone nor applicable only to him, but it is by faith that every believer is justified and sanctified. Righteousness shall be imputed to us, as well as to Abraham, IF WE BELIEVE GOD, Who is identi­fied in Rom. 4:23-25 by the fact that He raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. To believe for salvation is not to believe only in the existence of God, but to believe on Him in regard to His gospel! Saving faith involves the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was promised of God, sent by God, bruised by God, raised by God, and seated victoriously on the Father's right hand (Heb. 1:3).

Pastor Henry T. Mahan (bulletin 1994)

“Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:23-25).

“Accepted in the Beloved” Ephesians 1:6

These four simple words reveal the whole doctrine of salvation by grace. They contain the essence of the gospel of substitution. God our Father has made us, his elect people, all who believe, “accepted in the Beloved.” The whole of our salvation and acceptance with God is in Christ, our Surety, Substitute, and Representative. Those who clearly understand this great fundamental truth of the gospel will not greatly err in any other point of doctrine. Those who fail to apprehend this matter of the believer’s acceptance with God cannot see any other Divine truth clearly.

All believers are in Christ. We are in his hands as our Surety, in his heart as our Husband, and spiritually in his loins as our covenant Head and Representative. We are chosen in Christ in eternal election, made righteous in Christ by his obedience to the law of God as our Representative, redeemed in Christ by his sin-atoning death as our Substitute, and in him by vital union in regeneration, having his nature imparted to us by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit.

Our being in Christ is entirely the work of God’s free and sovereign grace. “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus.” God put us in his Son. Our being in Christ cannot be in anyway attributed to us. The cause of our being in Christ is God’s decree, that alone! Grace alone has given us an eternal, immutable, indissolvable union with Christ and made us one with him. Pastor Don Fortner (1950-2020)

Determined to Preach Christ

Any sermon that does not have Christ in the beginning, middle, and the end is a mistake in conception and a crime in execution. And I heartily say, amen! The apostle Paul never said, "Woe is on to me if I preach not," but "woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel.” And he told the Corinthians, “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Any man who stands before men and women in the name of God and does not plainly, clearly and consistently preach the Gospel of God's glory and grace in Christ Jesus is the worst sort of criminal! He is a deceiver and a murderer of the souls of men and women!

Pastor Scott Richardson

THE PROMISES OF GOD

“For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Cor. 1:20-22).

Paul is reminding the believers at Corinth and us today that all that God has promised us in His word is as certain and sure as His own name and character (2 Tim. 2:19). These promises were all made according to His own will and purpose (Eph. 1:11). The scriptures teach, that which God has promised He is able to perform (Rom. 4:20-21). All these precious promises display the qualities of God who gave them (2 Peter 1:3-4). Notice several particulars that the apostle points out.

1). The range and scope of these promises, "All the promises of God." There is not a need any guilty sinner has that the promises of God does not meet (Phil. 4:19). This ought to give every sinner great encouragement to look to the Lord Jesus Christ to supply our every need (Phil. 4:19). We are ungodly, Christ died for the ungodly (Rom.5:6). We stand naked before God's holiness, Christ provides a perfect robe of righteousness for us (Jer. 23:5; Isa. 61:10). We are hard hearted, God promises in the covenant of grace to give us a new heart (Ezk. 11:19). Are you weary and heavy laden with sin? Christ says, "Come unto me, I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). Are you thirsty for spiritual life? Christ says, "He is the fountain of the water of life" (John 4:14). Are you hungry for salvation? Christ says, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35).

2). These promises are certain and sure because they are in Christ Jesus. "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen." Is there pardon for sin in Christ? Yes, "Thou art a God ready to pardon (Neh. 9:17). Is there hope of salvation in Christ? Yes, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Is there forgiveness of sin in Christ? Yes, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Eph. 1:7). Is there justification in Christ? Yes, "Being justified freely through His grace" (Rom. 3:24). Every promise of God in Christ is sure to all who believe (Rom. 4:16).