One of the great mysteries of the gospel is how God can be just and justify a sinner. Anybody who knows anything about the character of God realizes He is HOLY. "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Host." God will never, neither could He, justify a single sin. "Everytransgression and disobedience received a just recompense (penalty, punishment) of reward" (Heb.2:2). God has and will punish sins. He must do it or cease to be an Holy God. Not one sin shall escape his Holy eye and his glittering sword of justice. And God has punished sins. He did it in his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, on Calvary’s tree. He was smitten of God and afflicted. For the transgression of his people he was stricken. Sin has been punished and put away in a manner in which justice is absolutely and eternally satisfied. Now God can, for the sake of Christ, save, justify, forgive, be merciful etc. The good news of the gospel is this: "Every sin will be adequately punished; blessed be God, not every sinner."
Pastor Bruce Crabtree
The more my sin troubles me, the more I look to Christ. When I look within, I find no hope because all I see is sin. When I look to the law, I find no hope, only condemnation. When I look to man’s religion, I find no hope, only sentimentality and motivation to do better, which cannot give hope to a sinful man. But when I look to Christ I find peace for my soul because “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (I John 1:7).
Every child of God loves that little word, “kept.” We rejoice to know that we are not kept by the work of our hands or the power of our will, but by the “power of God.” What comfort we find in knowing that it is God Almighty who keeps us through preserving grace. The child of God has been made to know that they cannot “keep” themselves for they are but dumb sheep who are prone to wander. God gives us an “incorruptible inheritance, one which is undefiled, that fades not away and is reserved (kept) in heaven FOR YOU, who are kept by the power of God through faith.” Our inheritance is kept for us and we are kept for our inheritance. This double keeping makes our inheritance doubly sure. Why? Because both are KEPT by the power of an Omnipotent God who works all things after the counsel of His own will. God saves us on purpose, He keeps us on purpose, and none can change, alter or prevent His purpose from always being accomplished. When God keeps us, we are KEPT!
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Pastor David Eddmenson
Without Me ye can do nothing.” – John 15:5
We should apply these words of our Savior as broadly as possible to all things spiritual. — “Without me ye can do nothing!” “Without me ye” cannot believe. “Without me ye” cannot pray. “Without me ye” cannot watch. “Without me ye” cannot learn, know, or understand anything spiritual. “Without me ye” cannot know the meaning of my Word. “Without me ye” cannot preach. “Without me ye” cannot worship. “Without me ye” cannot hear me speak by the gospel. “Without me ye” cannot persevere. “Without me ye” cannot withstand the devil. “Without me ye” cannot resist temptation. “Without me ye” cannot resist sin. “Without me ye” cannot stand. “Without me ye” cannot recover when fallen. “Without me ye can do nothing!” — “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16).
Outward circumstances, unaccompanied with inward grace, leave men just as they find them. Only Christ can change the heart. Only Christ can convert the sinner. Only Christ can save. “Without me ye can do nothing!”
As these words apply to all men, believers and unbelievers, they are especially applicable to preachers. Let every gospel preacher understand that the Lord Jesus is speaking to him, when he says, “Without me ye can do nothing.”
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