Birthdays: Tim Hall – Jan. 26th – Brent Cox – Jan. 30th ; Molly Fuller – Jan. 31st
Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going to the pit, I have found a ransom. Job 33:24.
What is that which Christ has given for the ransom of men: and from scripture it appears that it was his precious blood; for as redemption is always ascribed to the blood of Christ, as the procuring cause of it, that must be the redemption or ransom-price; and the apostle Peteris express for it; he says, ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold —but with the precious blood of Christ (l Pet. 1:18, 19); a price sufficient to purchase the whole church of God, to expiate all their sins, and ransom their souls from ruin; and therefore may well be called precious blood;blood of great price and value: hence under the law so much regard was had to blood; it was to be covered with dust, and was not to be eaten, because it made atonement for the soul, though but in a typical way; for not the blood of bulls and goats, but the blood of Christ is our real atonement and ransom-price. Again, from a text before-mentioned it is clear, that it is the life of Christ that was given for a ransom; he came to give his life a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28): life, than which nothing is more dear and valuable, and especially such a life as Christ's was; a life entirely at his own dispose, which another man's is not, and which he laid down, and took up again of himself; it was not forfeited by any act of his own, or forced from him by another; it was what he freely laid down, and voluntarily gave into the hands of men, justice and death, in the room and stead of his people; and as a ransom-price for them; his life for theirs: moreover, it is said to be himself that is this ransom; who gave himself a ransom for all (l Tim. 2:6); and so it is often expressed, that he loved us and gave himself for us,that he might redeem us; andgave himselfan offering and a sacrifice, and offeredhimself without spot unto God (Titus 2:14; Eph. 5:2;Heb. 9:14), even his soul and body, his whole human nature; and this as in union with his divine person; which union ceased not when he became the ransom-price. And what is contained in this word himselfwho can tell? this we may be lure of, it was a sufficient ransom, whereby the law was fulfilled, and justice satisfied. This is a full ransom or redemption from sin, from all sins original and actual, from all the demerit of them; and in consequence of this men are freed from the dominion and power of sin, under which they were held captives, and will be from the being of it; for Christ has by his atoning sacrifice finished and made an end of sin, and put it away for ever, and perfected them that are sanctified: it is a complete ransom of them out of the hands of Satan: the Lord hath ransomed Jacob out of the hand of him that was stronger than he (Jer. 31:11); by virtue of this ransom the prey is taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive is delivered; and even captivity itself, or he that led others captive, is himself led captive by the Savior and Redeemer of sinners. This is a plenary ransom from the law, its curse and condemnation; Christ has redeemed his that were under it from it, being made a curse for them, and suffering its sentence of condemnation to be executed on himself; and therefore there is none to them that are in him; and they may boldly say, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died (Rom. 8:1, 34); and by dying he gave his life a ransom for them, and so secured them from the curse and condemnation of the law. In a word, it is a ransom from hell, and wrath, and the second death, to which men are liable through sin;
--- John Gill - Preached Oct. 13, 1754
Excerpts from “To My Friends – Strait Talk About Eternity”
By Randy Wages
Up the Creek without a Paddle
If God truly requires a perfect righteousness, then it would seem that we are surely “up the creek without a paddle.” That is, the Bible asserts that we must possess something, righteousness, that we have no possibility of producing. The fundamental reason we can’t produce righteousness is simple – we are sinners! That is what we are, our very nature. We all sin, or transgress the law, and find that it is impossible to produce the righteousness required by a holy God so as to attain and maintain eternal life.
If I Can’t Produce It,
How Does It Become Mine?
So, here we are, seemingly “up the creek without a paddle,” yet the Bible teaches that God is pleased to save multitudes out of Adam’s fallen race. We’ve learned that God’s law and justice must be perfectly satisfied for any to join His presence in heaven; therefore, a sinner, by definition, is disqualified. So if a sinner cannot produce the righteousness required by God, how does God mercifully save sinners?
Righteousness Imputed
To understand this is to comprehend the only valid ground or basis upon which a holy God can and does save sinners. The ground of salvation is the imputed righteousness of Christ! The righteousness of Christ is the merit of His entire work of redemption, His perfect satisfaction to God’s law and justice. The Bible teaches us that Christ became Incarnate – that is, He took into union with His Deity, a sinless humanity. Born of the Virgin Mary, Christ, the “seed” of woman, the God-man, was like us in His humanity (body and soul) except He was void of the sinful nature imparted to us from our father Adam.
God requires perfect satisfaction to His holy law. Christ, in His humanity, was put under God’s law so that He might fulfill it. Christ alone perfectly obeyed God so as to fulfill God’s requirement of sinless perfection. Furthermore, God’s justice requires that a suitable penalty must be extracted to answer for each and every sin of any that will be permitted into His holy presence in heaven. Before an infinitely holy God only a sinless sacrifice of infinite value is sufficient to pay this debt for sin. Christ, the God-man, obediently offered Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice at the cross of Calvary in fulfillment of this requirement for all who will enter heaven’s glory.
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