CALL TO WORSHIP

(Tune: He Leadeth Me)

Hark! How the Gospel trumpet sounds!

Christ and free grace therein abounds;

Free grace to such as sinners be,

And if free grace why not for me?

The Saviour died and by His blood

Brought rebel sinners near to God;

He died to set the captives free,

And why, my soul, why not for thee?

Thus Jesus came the poor to bless,

To clothe them with His righteousness;

That robe is spotless, full and free,

And why, my soul, why not for thee?

Eternal life by Christ is giv'n,

And sinful men are raised to heav'n;

Then sing of grace so rich and free,

And say, my soul, why not for thee?

Today’s Speaker: Brother Mark Pannell will conduct the 11:00 am service today. Pray for him as he delivers God’s word.

Television Broadcast: Our Reign of Grace Television program is being broadcast every Sunday morning on WALB-TV @ 9 AM.

Radio Broadcast: Sunday morning at 10:30 am on Mix 107.7 FM

Web Sites: Visit our web sites at:

Reign of Grace: www.rofgrace.com

Sermon Audio: www.Sermonaudio.com\reignofgrace

Graduation: We would like to congratulate Kandice Drake. Kandice will be graduating from High School this Saturday, May 24th.

Birthdays: Nicki Jones – May 18^th ; Melissa Riggins – May 22^nd

OUR SINS IMPUTED TO CHRIST

When God imputed the sins of His elect to Christ, this was no mere pretense or “legal fiction,” as some claim. It was not God viewing Christ as guilty when, in reality, He was not guilty. God the Father truly and really “made HIM sin for us,” (2 Cor. 5:21), even though Christ remained sinless within Himself. His own personal sinlessness, and the fact that our sins did not contaminate or corrupt Him within, does not deny or even diminish the reality of His guilt based on our sins imputed to Him. He became truly and really guilty and condemned for us even though He Himself thought or committed no sin, not even one, and did nothing to earn condemnation. It was all based on our sins imputed (charged, accounted) to Him. How God saw His beloved Son on the cross, and what Christ suffered for us in the unfathomable agony of His soul unto death, was no pretense or “legal fiction.” Our sins were truly and really HIS sins (Psalm 69:5), not because He committed these sins, not because they were infused or imparted into Him, but because God imputed them to Him. The fact that our sins were imputed to Him did not lessen, diminish, or decrease the reality of His guilt and suffering. Christ suffered the full penalty of all our sins because He deserved to suffer this penalty unto death. He deserved this because He was made fully responsible and accountable for the guilt of our sins and the curse of the law against us (Gal. 3:13). When Christ went to the cross to die for our sins, He “committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously” (1 Pet. 2:23), not to a god who pretends. Christ bore “our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24), which means that He as Godman, in His human body, went to the cross having our sins upon Him (charged to His account). And it was by His stripes (the full punishment He suffered for our sins) that we are healed. Any view of the imputation of our sins to Christ that would be less than true, just, and real is a serious misunderstanding of our sins imputed to Christ.

—Pastor Bill Parker

IMPUTATION

“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” - II Cor. 5:21

To impute means to charge to one’s account. The sin of every believer was charged to Christ’s account, He was guilty, and God killed Him. The righteousness of Christ is charged to a believer’s account, he is now holy, and God accepts him. What I like about imputation is several things. First, it’s all God’s work. I don’t decide to accept or reject it, He just does it. Second, the bad stuff is gone forever, and the good stuff goes on forever. My sin imputed to Christ is put away forever, never to be heard of again. Christ’s righteousness imputed to me is eternal, always to be heard of in eternity. Brian the sinner is dead forever. Brian the righteous is alive forever…all by the grace of God, and only by the grace of God.

--- Brian DuFour

SUBSTITUTION AND SATISFACTION

By the grace of God, my intention is to keep setting forth from this pulpit the very heart and soul of the gospel: substitution and satisfaction. Christ died in the stead of His people (substitution) and fulfilled every divine requirement for their salvation (satisfaction). The declaration of these truths will glorify the Lord, put the enemy to flight, feed the church of Christ and be used of the Spirit to gather the lost sheep into the fold of salvation.

--- Pastor Jim Byrd

ABSOLUTELY CONTRADICTORY

Grace and works of any kind, in the point of acceptance with God, are mentioned by the apostle not only as opposites, or as contraries, but as absolutely contradictory to each other, like fire and water, light and darkness; so that the affirmation of the one is the denial of the other (Rom. 4:5; l l:5, 6). God justifies freely, justifies the ungodly, and him that worketh not.