What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Romans 4:1-5 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD. Jeremiah 23:32
It is vitally important that we only preach and only listen to the true gospel. There is no profit in a false gospel because salvation cannot be born from a lie. God’s elect are born again with the WORD OF TRUTH (James 1:18). True salvation requires The Truth, the Lord Jesus Christ. A false gospel will appeal to the flesh, and even give some comfort and confidence to the flesh by giving the flesh something to do to earn salvation. That false gospel may make a person more law abiding, but it will never lead to salvation because a false gospel never produces the new birth, never leads to surrender to Christ, and never leads to faith in Christ.
Let us pray for the grace to preach Christ out of a love for God. God will be glorified when Christ is preached. Let us also pray for the grace to preach Christ out of a love for the lost. The only way the lost will be saved is to hear Christ preached. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation (Eph 1:13).
WHAT IS YOUR GROUNDS OF ASSURANCE?
To those who struggle with assurance, saying, “There are so many times that I do not feel saved,” I would remind you that, before you came to Christ, there were many times you did not feel lost! Did your lack of “lost feeling” at that time mean that you weren’t lost? Of course not! For feelings have nothing to do with whether or not we are lost. Do you not see that it is the same with respect to whether or not we are saved? Martin Luther said it well when he wrote:
For Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God;
Naught else is worth believing.
There it is! God’s Word! There is our foundation. The Scriptures never instruct us to feel, but to believe. If you do not feel, believe anyway! It does not say, “For by grace are you saved through FEELINGS.” Feelings are a look inward, at ourselves. Faith is a look outward at Christ. Feelings change because they look at a changing object – ourselves. Faith never changes, for it looks at an unchanging object – Christ! May God grant you grace to look to Him.
Pastor Joe Terrell
Blessed is that ministry of which CHRIST IS ALL. One asked Brother Scott, “is Jesus Christ enough?” To which Brother Scott answered, ‘if He is all you got He is’. If Christ is ALL, then Christ is enough. ‘In Him dwelleth ALL THE FULLNESS of the Godhead bodily, and you are COMPLETE IN HIM..’ If we are complete in His fullness then who could ask or desire or speak of anything more than Christ?
Pastor Bruce Crabtree
Upcoming Bible Conference
Todds Road Grace Church – Lexington, KY – Nov 22-24
Scheduled speakers: Don Bell, Bruce Crabtree, Greg Elmquist, Don Fortner, Paul Mahan, Gabe Stalnaker, Frank Tate, and Joe Terrell.