"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:20-21)
GOD JUSTIFIED HIS ELECT "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth." (Romans 8:33) He against whom sin is committed, the Lawgiver, and the righteous Judge, justifies them from every charge; not by teaching them the way of justification, nor by infusing righteousness into them, or on account of any works of righteousness done by them, but by pronouncing them righteous through the imputation of the righteousness of His Son unto them: observe, that "God’s elect," as such, are the objects of justification; which proves the eternity of it; the speciality of it as belonging to particular persons, and the everlasting security and continuance of it. –John Gill **********
THE SECURITY OF THE SHEEP "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand." (John 10:27-29)
There is no stronger passage to be found in the word of God guaranteeing the absolute security of every child of God. They are His sheep, they follow Him, they have eternal life, they are in the hand of Christ, the Father gave them to Christ (John 6:37; John 17:2, 6, 9, 11, 12, 24), and they are in the Father’s hand. The sheep of Christ have a double security; they are in the hand of Christ, and they are in the hand of the Father. To suggest that any of His sheep could be finally lost is to blaspheme the Lord God Himself. –Henry Mahan **********
NON-IMPUTATION OF SIN "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." (Romans 4:8)
"Blessed" means well off, happy, to be envied. "The man" stands for every vessel of mercy chosen in Christ unto salvation, redeemed by His precious blood, regenerated by the Spirit, brought to faith in the dear Savior and destined to dwell with Him forever. "Impute" means to reckon, to charge to the account of. Concerning this blessed man, there is no doubt as to his guilt "for all have sinned" (Romans 3:23). The issue is not the man’s sinfulness, however, but the non-imputation of sin to him. This raises an important question: if God declares this man’s sin will not be reckoned to him, to whom then was it imputed? After all, if sin is not charged to this man, surely the justice of God demands it be reckoned to someone who must be divinely approved, someone capable of satisfying justice since the man owed a debt to God which he had no ability to pay. We know that the Lord cannot simply erase the indebtedness; satisfaction must be made to God since "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). While it is true that the blessed man has been cleared of all charges and stands righteous before God, yet the issue remains - to whom was his sin imputed and how was justice satisfied? Here is the gospel answer. Before the world began, in the covenant of grace, the Son of God stood as Surety for the blessed man becoming responsible and accountable for his sin. His sin was imputed to Christ and when He died on the cross as the man’s Substitute and God’s Sacrifice, He canceled the indebtedness, washed sin away and brought in everlasting righteousness. As the debt was reckoned to Christ and He paid it in full, so the righteousness Christ established has been imputed to the blessed man and he stands accepted and blameless before God. "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us" (Romans 8:33-34). Pastor Jim Byrd
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