"To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins." (Acts 10:43)
TRUE WORSHIP RESTS ON TRUE DOCTRINE On true doctrine rests the worship of the true and living God. From error in doctrine springs the worship of a false god. There is a tendency among many religious people to undervalue true doctrine, to exalt morality at the expense of the character of God and the teaching of our Lord, and to deny the importance of a sound creed. I do not doubt that a sound creed has often covered an unsound life. But when I hear it said, "Such and such do not believe the doctrines of grace and substitution, but they love the Lord and are saved," I wonder and ask, "What then was the Bible written for? Is it no infallible expression of the mind of God? Is it no standard of truth? Are we to believe what appeals to us and deny the rest? God forbid!"
God’s Word declares the oneness of truth and condemns every departure from the truth as a direct attack on God Himself! Do not tell me that a man’s heart is right with God when his head contains a creed of error and denies the Person and work of the Redeemer. –Horatius Bonar
I know that my Redeemer lives! What joy the blest assurance gives! He lives, He lives, Who once was dead; He lives, my everlasting Head! –Samuel Medley
FAITH, THE GIFT OF GOD It is a blessed thing to be enabled by the Holy Spirit to believe the gospel of Christ. The gospel is the good news that everything a holy God required for the salvation, acceptance, putting away of sin and declaration of sinners to be righteous before Him has already been accomplished by the work of Christ. He has redeemed His people by His blood, their debt of sin has been paid, everlasting righteousness has been brought in for them and God is forevermore satisfied. Divine justice will never lift a finger against those in whose stead the Lord Jesus was made sin, suffering the wrath of God for them. Oh how glorious it is when the Spirit of grace performs an almighty miracle within their hearts bringing them to willingly believe this gospel and lovingly lay hold of Christ for eternal life. We know that faith to believe the Savior is a result of "the operation of God, Who raised Him from the dead" (Col 2:12). Christ said, "No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44). "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). Both salvation and the faith to receive it are free gifts from the Lord.
Since none have the ability or the willingness to believe the gospel and since faith must be granted by God, we proclaim the pure gospel and leave it to the Lord to give faith to whom He will and when He will. False preachers tone down the gospel to make it less offensive to sinners thinking that if it can be made more palatable to the natural man he will be inclined to believe. The fact is, all who embrace a watered-down message have a false faith in "another gospel" (2　Corinthians 11:4), take shelter in "a refuge of lies" (Isaiah 28:17) and are therefore "twofold more the child of hell" (Matthew 23:15) than those who delivered it to them.
God’s servants set before their hearers the undiluted message of the sovereign grace of God and Christ’s successful redemption and rely on the Holy Spirit to do His work in the hearts of the unconverted. We proclaim the gospel and leave it to the Lord to make it effectual to whom He will. He has said of His Word, "It shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11). –Pastor Jim Byrd
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