NO HANDS BUT YOUR HANDS?

When religious people try to motivate you to service by saying “God has no hands but your hands”, you can point out to them that they are describing an idol. David described idols by saying, “They have hands but they handle not” (Ps. 115:7). The true and living God directs all things with His sovereign hand. “He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou” (Daniel 4:35). The Savior sovereignly holds all of His sheep safely in His almighty hand. “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28). Thank God my salvation is in His hand not in mine!

A doctrine is not true because I believe it or because you believe it; it is true only if God says it! I do not ask you whether you believe what I preach; perhaps you do not. But I ask you to search the Scriptures and determine whether these things be so. I am not afraid to submit my belief in God’s immutable sovereignty, man’s total fall and ruin, God’s elective grace, Christ’s effectual atonement, the Spirit’s invincible call, and the perseverance of the sheep to the Word of God!

Pastor Henry Mahan

WAS CHRIST A SINNER?

Was Christ a sinner? For many years misguided people have loved to debate this question. The answer is absolutely not! Here is a more important question. Was the sin of God’s elect literally transferred to Christ? The answer is absolutely!

I know that no mortal man can fully understand the imputation of sin to Christ or the imputation of righteousness to God’s elect. That is just fine because our belief in substitution is not based upon what we can understand or logically explain. Our faith is based upon the Word of God. It doesn’t matter if I can understand something. The only thing that matters is what does the Word of God say?

There is no doubt that the Word of God teaches that the sin of God’s elect was literally transferred to Christ. The Word of God says Christ, who knew no sin, was made sin (I Cor. 5:21). The Word of God says Christ redeemed His people from the curse of the law by being made a curse for them (Gal 3:13). Sin was so literally transferred to Christ that in Psalm 40:12 the Savior called the sin of His people “mine iniquities”.

Sinners like us desperately need to be made righteous. Our only hope of being made righteous is Christ being made sin for us. The imputation of righteousness to God’s elect is only as real as the imputation of sin to Christ. I can only be made truly righteous if Christ truly took my sin and put it away with the blood of His sacrifice.

This glorious truth cannot be understood by worms like us. It can only be believed by God given faith. God give us faith to quit debating and start believing!

One mark of the children of God is that they love one another, and they love to associate with each other. That is why we have churches. Christ’s sheep do not like to wander alone; they love company. Some professors claim to get on best by themselves. But God’s people love fellowship. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.”