Someone once said that the Bible is a blood stained book and that Christianity is a blood stained religion. Like it or not, ‘blood ‘plays a central role in our salvation. Thankfully, God has told us why He emphasizes the blood and it is as we understand what He says about this matter, that we get an insight into the very foundation of our peace with God.
In the Old Testament sacrifices, from the days of Abel onward, we are given the key to the meaning of the blood, and the explanation of the remission of sins. The great truth taught by God was, “Not without blood” (Heb. 9:7). From the beginning and for more than two thousand years, during the age of the patriarchs, there was but one great sacrifice, the burnt offering. In the time of Moses, this one offering was split into various parts; the peace offering, the trespass offering, the sin offering, etc (See the book of Leviticus). In all of these, however, the presence of blood and the fire preserved the fundamental nature of the original burnt offering. Why the blood? It was the sign of substitution. Why the fire? It was the representation of God’s wrath upon the substitute. By the time of the Temple we see each day, morning and evening a lamb sacrificed in the tradition of the ancient Burnt Offering (1 Chronicles 16:40).
Of course all these sacrifices pointed to the one final sacrifice who was yet to come. This is what John referred to when he pointed at Jesus saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Josephus, the Jewish historian when writing about John the Baptist, said – “When John the Baptist entered his ministry, that particular year 260,000 lambs were slain at the Passover!” Imagine that! – 260,000 lambs and yet their combined power could not take away one sin! But, listen to the contrast on that day when John lifted up his eyes and made his grand declaration,. He was saying, “Behold Yahweh’s lamb, the Lamb whom Yahweh Himself has provided (Gen 22:8). This is the true sacrificial lamb; this is the one who will be led as a lamb to the slaughter (Isa 53:7). This is the one with the power to remove the sins of the world. This is THE Lamb”
In all the sacrifices of the Old Testament the shedding of the blood was the infliction of death. The “blood was the life” (Gen 9:4); the blood made atonement for the soul (Lev 17:11).This blood shedding or life-taking was the payment for the penalty for sin; for “The soul that sins, it shall die“(Ezekiel 18:20), and “The wages of sin is death”(Romans 6:23). So when Christ hung upon the cross, He did so as the great offering for our sins. He poured out His soul unto death (Isa 53:12). This is God’s perfect ultimate and only Sacrifice with which He is satisfied forever!
Since the Father is satisfied with the doing and dying of the Son, so should we! Since Christ died for us, then we have the certainty of eternal life. Since has been punished in our stead that means that we cannot be punished. God being just will not punish Christ first, and then punish us afterwards for the same crimes. Our Savior died, the Lamb was slain and we are now free from every demand of God’s wrath. We can walk through this life secure. God is not out to get us. There are no thunderbolts from heaven being hurled at us. There are no flames of hell waiting for us since Christ has paid for and suffered for us. Do you believe this?
What mighty sum paid all my debt,
When I a bondsman stood,
And has my soul at freedom set?
‘Tis Jesus’ precious blood
What stream is that that which sweeps away
My sins just like a flood,
Nor lets one guilty blemish stay?
‘Tis Jesus’ precious blood
And that’s the Gospel Truth
Miles
www.milesmckee.com (please stop by and sign my guestbook)
Email: milesmckee@comcast.net
Miles McKee Ministries,
Box 541, Kingston Springs, TN, 37082, USA
Miles McKee Ministries
Po Box 8, New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland.
Permission is granted to republish the Wednesday Word on your Website, Blog or Church Bulletin on condition that no content of the actual message is altered.
We are funded by the free will gifts of those who love the gospel of Christ crucified and want to see it spread. Our goal is to soon move to the Republic of Ireland to preach the gospel of grace and plant churches. We need help to do this. Our moving and re-location costs are high. Please pray with us to this end.
To partner with us, please use either of the mailing addresses above or to safely donate online click or paste the following link and then the donate button
http://www.milesmckee.com/invest_in_our_ministry.html
Please forward the ‘Wednesday Word’ to your friends.
Tags: Wednesday Word
The Relationship of The Gospel
to the five points of Calvinism
http://www.gospelpedlar.com/Images/Gospel_and%205%20Points_cs4.pdf
The blood shedding of Israel’s sacrifices could not take away sins (Heb 10:4). Although the Old Testament sacrifices pointed towards the truth of the sinner’s substitute, these sacrifices were, in fact, more a “remembrance of sins,” than an act that took them away. The Old Testament sacrifices showed how, before sin can be forgiven, an innocent life must be taken. But then, the continual repetition of the sacrifices also showed the need for a more powerful sacrifice to fully and finally put away sin.
In the New Covenant, we discover that one man and one man only, the God/Man, has accomplished and finished the final blood sacrifice. In Christ, a perfect life has been presented as the sinner’s substitute. By His perfect death He has accomplished that which all the Old Testament sacrifices could never do (Heb 9:25-26). He has put away sins by the offering of Himself. He is enough!
And now for some more good news; God does not ask for two lives, or two deaths, or two payments. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many (Heb 9:28). In that he died, he died unto sin once”(Rom 6:10). ”He offered one sacrifice for sins forever”(Heb 10:12). It is finished! It is complete. Redemption has been accomplished!
There is no need, consequently, to repeat this sacrifice for the Father looks at the work of the Son and is satisfied. To suppose, as some do, that Christ can be offered each week or each day as a bloodless sacrifice is, therefore, plainly silly. There is neither need nor reason that He should be called off His throne and sacrificed once again for the sins of men.
When Jesus said: “It is finished,” (John 19:30) Righteousness and Peace kissed (Ps 85:10); redemption was accomplished and as one old preacher said, “Hell went into a panic.”
In the Greek language, Christ’s words “It is Finished” is actually one word ‘tetelestai’ (perfect passive indicative of teleo). This word can equally be translated, “Perfect.” Think about it. Christ, on the cross, when He considered all that He had accomplished in His doing and dying, weighed it against the purpose for which He had been sent and declared, “Perfect!” In the midst of the writhing pain, and the mocking, having accomplished our redemption, he leans back His head and says, “Perfect.”
Redemption is perfect, His work is perfect, His salvation is perfect, our acquittal is perfect, His grace is perfect and His mercy is perfect. “It is finished; it’s all perfect!”
The momentous events of Calvary can be remembered but they can never be repeated. His work of redemption is finished—it is perfect. “But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Hebrews 9:26). Christ Jesus doesn’t have to repeat something that is finished and perfect. A continual offering of Jesus as a sacrifice cannot put sin away because that work has already been accomplished (John 19:30). The sacrifice was made and accepted 2000 years ago. If sin was not put away then, it certainly has not been put away since, nor can ever be for there remains no more sacrifice for sin (Heb 10:26). Hear the good news; Christ has perfectly put away sin by the perfect sacrifice of Himself!
It is perfect!
And that’s the Gospel Truth
Miles
www.milesmckee.com (please stop by and sign my guestbook)
Email: milesmckee@comcast.net
Miles McKee Ministries,
Box 541, Kingston Springs, TN, 37082, USA
Permission is granted to republish the Wednesday Word on your Website, Blog or Church Bulletin on condition that no content of the actual message is altered.
We are fundedby the free will gifts of those who love the gospel of Christ crucified and want to see it spread. Our goal is to soon move to the Republic of Ireland to preach the gospel of grace and plant churches. We need help to do this. Or moving and re-location costs are high. Please pray with us to this end.
To partner with us, please use the mailing address above or to safely donate online click or paste the following link and then the donate button
http://www.milesmckee.com/invest_in_our_ministry.html
Tags: Wednesday Word
In the Old Testament the sinner transferred his guilt to his substitute by laying his hands on the animal he was to sacrifice (see Lev 4). This pointed towards how we are called to, as it were, lay our hand of faith upon on the Lord Jesus. When a man came and laid his hand on the head of the sin offering he was acknowledging that he was a sinner. Since, the sin offering was exclusively for sinners it, therefore, goes without saying that a man who felt he was sinless had no business being there.—— So with us, if we say we have no sin we are un-qualified for Christ’s saving power and grace (1 John 1:8). Christ died for sinners and no others.
In the Old Testament, the man who brought a sin offering before the Lord was saying, in effect, “I am a sinner and I must have my sin taken away for I am guilty in the sight of God. So I put my hand upon this animal, which is about to die, thereby confessing and transferring my sin to it as my substitute” (Lev 4:29). Think about it, many a feeble and diseased hand was laid on the head of the animal which was to be offered, but this neither altered the character of the sacrifice, nor made it less powerful. In addition, the priest would not turn the sinner away because he was weak and without strength nor would the sacrificial animal be refused because of some deficiency in the worshipper. The burnt offering was still the burnt offering and even the weakest touch established the connection between the worshipper and his substitute (Rom 5:6).
As for us, since God is righteous and just (Jeremiah 23:6) and we by nature are not and should, therefore, be condemned (Ps 109:7). But we have a substitute, the Lord Jesus, on whom we can lay our hand. Often, however, our faith lacks strength but, in His justice, the Father has forgiven us not because of the perfection of our faith but because of the perfection of our sin offering, the Christ of God.
When, therefore, we come to the Father, we don’t come pretending to be something that we are not; we don’t come to Him with our goodness or our supposed sanctification and obedience to recommend us. We don’t come to Him promising future self-improvement as a condition for mercy; nor do we present our repentance to induce Him to receive us. Instead, we come by faith alone in Christ alone. By faith we look away from our guilt to Christ’s shed blood, we look away from our disobedience to Christ’s perfect obedience, we look away from our unrighteousness to Christ’s righteousness, and trust Him and Him alone!
As unrighteous, imperfect people with imperfect faith we come in Jesus name to the righteous yet gracious God. Our faith may be imperfect, but because of the perfection of Christ, our sin offering, we find that Christ is not only our Savior, but is Himself our salvation.
When Isaac Watts, the great hymn writer lay dying he said:
“I am just waiting to see what God will do with me; —–If God should raise me up again, and use me to save a soul, that will be worth living for. If He has no more service for me, I can say, through grace, I am ready; I could without alarm, if God please, lay back my head on my pillow and die this afternoon or night. My sins are all cleansed through the Blood of Christ.” He then closed his eyes and died.
Here are a few lines of one of his hymns;
“My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of thine,
While like a penitent I stand,
And there confess my sin
My soul looks back to see
The burdens Thou didst bear,
When hanging on the cursed tree,
And knows her guilt was there.
Believing we rejoice
To see the curse removed;
We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice,
And sing His bleeding love.”
And that’s the Gospel Truth!
www.milesmckee.com (please stop by and sign my guestbook)
Email: milesmckee@comcast.net
Miles McKee Ministries,
Box 541, Kingston Springs, TN, 37082, USA
Permission is granted to republish the Wednesday Word on your Website, Blog or Church Bulletin on condition that no content of the actual message is altered.
We are funded through the faithful giving of those who love the gospel of Christ crucified and want to see it spread. Our goal is to soon move to Ireland to preach the gospel of grace and plant churches. We are praying earnestly for some folks to step up to help us with this. Please pray with us to this end.
To partner with us, please use the mailing address above or to safely donate online click or paste the following link and then the donate button
http://www.milesmckee.com/invest_in_our_ministry.html
Tags: Wednesday Word
In this day and age when the gospel is under attack from all sides we must be aware of certain gospel foundations. For example, we must be clear about what Christ being ‘made sin’ means. Was He made sin by imputation or by impartation? In other words, was Christ counted a sinner at the cross or was He physically made into one? The only answer which does justice to the Biblical evidence is that Christ was made sin by imputation and not by impartation. Here’s the problem, if Christ became wretchedly sinful in Himself then it follows that, because of the cross, we become perfectly righteousness in ourselves. Notice the following parallel, “he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor 5:21).” He was made sin we are made righteous. In other words, at the cross, Christ was legally treated as if He was actually sinful in Himself although, in Himself, He remained righteous, pure and untainted. Conversely, because of His finished work we are now legally treated as though we are perfectly righteous in ourselves—though, in actuality, we are not.
Christ was reckoned as sin that we might be reckoned as righteous. If, however, it was our sin ‘in Him’ that caused His damnation then it follows logically that His righteousness ‘in us’ is the cause of our acceptance — a favored doctrine of the Roman Church. But sin was not in Him; it was reckoned (imputed) to Him, laid upon Him, not infused into Him. His righteousness was in Him (Jeremiah 33:16) and we are treated as if we are righteous because the righteousness of Christ is reckoned to us (Isa 54:17).
This truth that sin was on Christ, but not in Him is pictured in Abel’s offering, the burnt offerings, the scapegoat and the transfer of sins to the innocent animals etc. Just as sins were imputed or reckoned to these animals, but not infused into them, so our sins were laid on Jesus, but not infused into Him (Isa 53:6). This is not to say that Christ did not suffer and feel the effects of our sin. He took our curse and damnation to the fullest extent, yet in no way did He become a sinner. Only a sinless perfect sacrifice could save us.
In Sunday School classes of the 1800s they taught the children that, at Calvary, there were three crosses and three dying men. One man was dying in sin (the unrepentant thief), another man was dying to sin (the repentant thief), but the man in the middle (Christ Jesus) was dying for sin. The children would then quote the following mantra, “One man had sin both on him and in him. Another man had no sin on him but sin in him; Christ Jesus had sin on Him, but none in Him.” Those children were taught more than some of our dear adults are today.
Our sins were not in Christ they were on him and as such He received our awful penalty. His righteousness is, likewise, not created in us, but placed on us and as such we receive His marvelous reward. Our sin brought Jesus to the cross (Isa 53) but His righteousness will bring us to heaven (Phil 3:8-9). Furthermore, when He suffered for sin the shame was entirely ours, but when we shall be glorified the glory shall be entirely His. When Christ died, there was nothing in Him worthy of death, yet death was his lot; similarly, there is nothing in us worthy of heaven, yet heaven is ours.
God executed His Son because our sin was on Him; likewise, God will glorify us because Christ’s righteousness is on us. Death deserving sin was imputed to Christ and heaven deserving righteousness is imputed to us (Isa 53:11).
And that’s the Gospel Truth
Miles
email milesmckee@comcast.net
Miles McKee Ministries,
Box 541, Kingston Springs, TN,
37082, USA
Permission is granted to republish the Wednesday Word on your Website, Blog or Church Bulletin on condition that no content of the actual message is altered.
We are funded through the faithful giving of those who love the gospel of Christ crucified and want to see it spread. Our goal is to soon move to Ireland to preach the gospel of grace and plant churches. We are praying earnestly for some folks to step up to help us with this. Please pray with us to this end.
To partner with us, please use the mailing address above or to donate online click or paste the following link
http://www.milesmckee.com/invest_in_our_ministry.html
Tags: Wednesday Word
It is written, “The soul that sins it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4).
The righteous demands of God made the death of Christ necessary. Because of this, the Eternal One, in grace and love, stooped to become human, to live and die in our place. This is excellent news!
Consider this, let’s say a man were to die for someone for whom there was no need to die, we should hardly call his death a proof of affection. On the contrary, we would probably consider it a pretty retarded way of showing devotion. However, to die for someone when there was really a need for dying is the test of true and genuine love. When someone dies to prevent our death we are confronted with a demonstration of love. As William Rees wrote,
Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.
If ever we were to be saved from eternal death, Christ Jesus had to die. Because of this, grace and righteousness combined and led the Everlasting One to the cradle and then to the cross. There at Calvary He died as the sinner’s substitute and thus made it a righteous thing for God to cancel our guilt and annul our death sentence.
Thomas Watson, the Puritan, said,
‘When we were rebelling—He was dying! When we had weapons in our hands—then He had the spear in His side! This is the very quintessence of love! “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!” (Romans 5:8). When we were engulfed in misery and had lost our beauty—then Christ died for us. O amazing love, which should swallow up all our thoughts!”
Had it not been for Christ’s death, grace and guilt could not have successfully met; God and the sinner could not have come near; righteousness would have forbidden reconciliation. However, in Christ, love working in concert with righteousness secured our salvation. Unless God had dealt with our sins righteously, by punishing our substitute at the cross, it would not have been right for Him to receive us or indeed, safe for us to approach Him.
But now, in Christ, mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed (Ps 85:10). Now through Christ, grace is righteous and righteousness is wrapped in grace. It is only when faith grasps both the righteous and gracious nature of the work of Calvary that the conscience finds true peace (Heb 9:14). Our reconciliation is anchored to the righteousness of God (Eph 2:13-16). This is exceedingly good news because a righteous reconciliation will stand every test and last throughout eternity.
The troubled conscience can only find true peace in the righteous grace of the gospel, as it understands that Christ died not for the good guys, but for the ungodly (Rom 5:6). Faith grasps that God justifies the ungodly (Rom 4:5). The righteous grace which comes to us through the cross tells us that there can be no condemnation for anyone who is saved by the righteous grace of God (Rom 8:1). The God of the gospel is just, yet the justifier of the ungodly (Rom 3:26)! This is good news! This is grace! God’s salvation, His divine gift, is freely lavished on us, in spite of our lack of character, for Christ’s sake alone.
And that’s the Gospel Truth
Miles
email milesmckee@comcast.net
Miles McKee Ministries,
Box 541, Kingston Springs, TN,
37082, USA
Permission is granted to republish the Wednesday Word on your Website, Blog or Church Bulletin on condition that no content of the actual message is altered.
Please forward this message to your friends.
We are funded through the faithful giving of those who love the gospel of Christ crucified and want to see it spread. Our goal is to move to Ireland by the end of this year to preach the gospel of grace and start churches. We are praying earnestly for some folks to step up and help us with this. Please pray with us to this end.
To partner with us, please use the mailing address above or to donate online click or paste the following link
http://www.milesmckee.com/invest_in_our_ministry.html
Tags: Wednesday Word
It’s one thing to feel good about the Gospel, but it is quite another to really grasp its ramifications. I’ve met many professed Christians, for example, who are ‘martyrs’ to a bad conscience. They know the words “saved by grace,” but suspect that grace means God’s lackadaisical kindness. Not having understood that the grace which saves is righteous grace, they have no foundation and no peace. The gospel they know does not minister calm to their minds or conscience (Jeremiah 6:14).
For true peace we, as gospel driven believers, always find ourselves going back to the cross for answers. The conscience says, “I know I’m a rat and that God is merciful, but what if He grows weary of me and forgets to be gracious?” The cross answers, ‘Christ Jesus was set forth as a wrath offering for sin, —— you are saved as a matter of not only grace but also righteousness (Rom 3:24-26) for it is as the God of Justice that the Lord saves’ (Isaiah 14:21).
Righteous grace is no new concept. In the Old Testament, the blood of the sin offering was sprinkled on the mercy seat. Justice and mercy were blended. The sinner was, therefore, saved, not only by grace, but saved righteously. Likewise, in the New Covenant, the God of the gospel graciously justifies the ungodly by ruthlessly punishing our sins in the person of the God/Man, Jesus Christ.
Although we are saved by grace alone the grace that saves is never alone for it is inseparably joined to righteousness. Our salvation and right standing with God now rest on the righteous and gracious work which God has already accomplished for us, outside of us, in the Person of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:24).
Two thousand years ago there was an objective, actual, historical event. God Himself broke into human history in the Person of His Son. He became our representative and was so identified with us that all which He did was not only done for us, but was exactly the same as if we had done it ourselves. When He graciously bore the punishment for our sin we were righteously punished in Him. When He arose, we arose. When He was exalted to the right hand of the majesty on high so were we (Eph 2:6)! It is finished! We can be at peace.
Have you ever had a troubled conscience? Here are some scriptures, tailor made for you. You may find it very helpful to personalize them.
“Christ died for our sins” (1 Cor 15:3).
“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities” (Isa 53:5).
”Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Heb 9:28).
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us (Titus 2:14).
He was “delivered for our offences and was raised for our justification” (Rom 4:25).
He “gave himself for our sins” (Gal 1:4)
”Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6).
“He hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb 9:26).
See also 1 Peter 4:1, 1Peter 3:18, 1 Peter 2:24.
Notice how the words, ‘Himself’ and ‘He’ appear frequently. This is because the gracious and righteous Lord Himself is our salvation.
Someone once asked Irenaeus, the defender of the faith in the 2nd Century, “Irenaeus, what has Christ brought that other religious leaders have not brought?” He answered, “He brought Himself.” That’s what makes our gospel different. God came here Himself to righteously and gracious deal with sin and sinners. This is good news for the troubled conscience.
And that’s the Gospel Truth
email milesmckee@comcast.net
Miles McKee Ministries, Box 541, Kingston Springs, TN, 37082, USA
Permission is granted to republish the Wednesday Word on your Website, Blog or Church Bulletin on condition that no content of the actual message is altered.
Please forward this message to your friends.
We are funded through the faithful giving of those who love the gospel of Christ crucified and want to see it spread. Our goal is to move to Ireland by the end of this year to preach the gospel of grace and start churches. We are praying earnestly for some folks to step up and help us with this. Please pray with us.
To partner with us, please use the mailing address above or to donate online click or paste the following link
http://www.milesmckee.com/invest_in_our_ministry.html
Tags: Wednesday Word
God is the God of all Grace (1 Peter 5:10). He is also the God of righteousness (Ezr 9:15). It is as we see that God saves us, not only because of grace, but also through righteousness (Isa. 45:21, Rom 4:5) that we enjoy His full and perfect peace (Isa 26:3).
At the heart of the gospel we discover that grace is, as Horatius Bonar terms it, “Righteous Grace.” Unless we understand this, we will be deficient in our knowledge of the Gospel. God justifies the ungodly (Rom 4:5) and does so as a matter of righteousness. Our great God and Savior recognized the awfulness of sin and righteously punished Christ as if He was the worst of sinners (2 Corinthians 5:21). Now He can acquit the sinner righteously since the sinner has already been punished in the person of His substitute. Christ has been righteously condemned as if He were us and justice has been satisfied.
Now the God of Justice righteously and graciously declares us not guilty. When we, therefore, approach Him we approach His throne as people who have been, not merely forgiven, but acquitted both as a matter of righteousness and grace.
In the Gospel we are not confronted with a vague forgiveness, arising out of some sort of paternal love on the part of a bemused God. That would be far from righteous grace. We’ve got to get to grips with this! We need to know both the righteous and gracious basis of our acceptance before God. Indeed, if we are not clear on this we have no gospel! If we take away either righteousness or grace from the gospel we have removed its very life-blood, and there is, as Spurgeon says, “Nothing left worth preaching, worth believing, or worth contending for.”
Righteous grace is at the heart and soul of the gospel: without it, the gospel is dead. Without righteous grace, there is no comfort for the troubled conscience. From first to last, everything in salvation is of grace and that grace comes to us righteously.
To further understand this we need to ask,
1) Did God recognize our absolute guilt, but chose instead to ignore it since He is our Father?
2) Or does God acquit us because He loves us and at the back of it all, He is very good-natured?
3) Or is God indifferent to sin?
4) Or did God’s absolute holiness demand that He took action against our sin punishing it at the cross of Calvary, 2000 years ago?
So, how say you? On what basis does God acquit us? Are we declared not-guilty because God is kind and tender? Or does God forgive us in a righteous, just and gracious manner? We must be clear on this. We must be clear that, at the cross, our sins were paid for by our substitute. Christ was legally cursed on our behalf (Gal 3:13). Our gracious acquittal is, therefore, based on the work of righteousness. It was righteousness that condemned us in the first place. It was righteousness that barred us from heaven and if ever we were to be saved it had to be done righteously.
Now that Christ has been righteously punished in our place, our condemnation has been righteously and graciously removed (Rom 8:1). Christ has died in place of the ungodly and has been righteously condemned. We have been declared righteous, not because the Lord is a nice guy, but because of righteous grace. Christ died and intercepted our well earned wrath as He purged and took our sin away (Rom 3:25, Heb 1:3, John 1:29).
Since the perfect righteousness of Christ has now been graciously imputed (reckoned) to us it would be, therefore, an unrighteous thing for God to condemn anyone for whom Christ died (Rom 4:22-25, Rom 8:34). This is righteous grace!
Enjoy these truths and you will be at peace.
And that’s the Gospel Truth
Miles
email milesmckee@comcast.net
Miles McKee Ministries, Box 541, Kingston Springs, TN, 37082, USA
Permission is granted to republish the Wednesday Word on your Website, Blog or Church Bulletin on condition that no content of the actual message is altered.
Please forward this message to your friends.
We are funded through the giving of those who love the gospel of Christ crucified and want to see it spread.
To partner with us, please use the mailing address above or to donate online click or paste the following link
http://www.milesmckee.com/invest_in_our_ministry.html
Tags: Wednesday Word
True and unimagined peace comes only as we understand God’s character. If we erroneously envision that God is always angry and frowning then we will never know perfect peace. If we falsely picture that we have to perform to gain His approval, then we will be in a continual uproar. If we mistakenly imagine that God, having purchased us by blood, will someday wither in His faithfulness and desert us then we will be tossed to and fro by every circumstance. However, to enjoy true peace reigning in our hearts we need to be fastened firmly to the rock of the gospel and the revelation it gives us of God.
Our understanding of gospel truth is vital for many reasons not least of which is that, being holy, the Holy Spirit will neither bless the worship of a false God nor the false worship of the true God. The living and true God is the, “the God of all grace”(1 Peter 5:10), He is the God of the gospel (Rom 1:1) and it is the love of this true God that the Spirit sheds abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5).
Nor does the Holy Spirit produce false feelings in us so that we can go around thinking wonderful things about ourselves, things which might establish a false confidence before the Lord. He continues to destroy every vestige of self-righteousness as He causes us see that we are saved from beginning to end by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The grace of God destroys all our supposed works and self-worthiness yet comes to us without cost to us or a cause in us. Grace is either absolutely free or it is not at all (Rom 4:4, 16; Eph 2:8-9; 2 Tim 1:9).
The object of the Spirit’s work is to bring us to such a gospel understanding of Yahweh that we can fully rest in Him. As He does this, He continues to show us our innate lostness and at the same time God’s immense goodness, power and grace towards us. He does not allow us false comfort by our feelings or even our faith. He does not cause us to place false hope in our supposed progress in the Christian faith, but rather works in us turning our eyes away from His own work and fixes our gaze on the love of God in Christ Jesus for us.
May the power of grace by the Spirit continually turn our eyes to see the cross and the Crucified One. ———–Who is this crucified One? He is God Himself; incarnate love hanging upon a cross. He is the God who created us, suffering and dying for the ungodly. Can you question His commitment to you? Can you ask anything further to bring you to the place of wholehearted trust and confidence? It is no wonder that we read, “Herein is LOVE, not that we love God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation of our sins.” (1 John 4:10). As the Puritan, Tomas Watson observed,
“The emperor Trajan tore off a piece of his robe to bind up one of his soldier’s wounds. But Christ tore off His own flesh for us! “He gave Himself for us to redeem us” (Titus 2:14). Christ gave Himself for us—what more could He give?
“Lamb of God, we fall before Thee,
Humbly trusting in Thy cross.
That alone be all our glory;
All things else are only dross.
Thee we own a perfect Savior,
Only source of all that’s good.
Every grace and every favor
Comes to us through Jesus’ blood.
All our prayers and all our praises,
Rightly offered in His Name—
He that dictates them is Jesus;
He that answers is the same.”
And That’s the Gospel Truth
Miles
Miles McKee Ministries
Box 541,Kingston Springs,
TN, 37082, USA
Permission is granted to republish the Wednesday Word on your Website, Blog or Church Bulletin on condition that no content of the actual message is altered.
Please forward this message to your friends.
We are funded through the faithful giving of precious people who love the gospel of Christ crucified.
To partner with us, please use the mailing address above or to donate online click or paste the following link
http://www.milesmckee.com/invest_in_our_ministry.html
Tags: Wednesday Word
There is nothing quite so stupid as someone attempting to do good works in order to earn God’s favor and acceptance (Matt 7:27, Job 9:20). Such behavior is unbelief in its worst form and also a severe form of ‘spiritual lunacy’ (Luke 24:25). Religious un-believers think God‘s standards are so low that He will accept any old decayed and fractured efforts as being equal to His own righteousness. If the poor man who is living like this knew himself as God does, he would no more try such nonsense than he would think of attempting to scale a sheer precipice using a piece of string.
But the religious, self-righteous unbeliever thinks that his good works can bring God into his debt. Take for example the case of the late lamented Edward Malloy of County Cork, Ireland. The inscription on his tombstone reads as follows,
“I. H. S.
Sacred to the memory of the benevolent Edward Molloy; a friend of humanity, the father of the poor; he employed the wealth of this world only to procure the riches of the next; and leaving a balance of merit in the book of life,he made heaven debtor to mercy. He died October 17th, 1818, aged 90.”
Amusing, but tragic!
I’ve always found that the most difficult people to reach with the gospel are the self-righteous—the ones who reject their need of a righteousness entirely outside of themselves (Romans 10:3). They deny their guiltiness and hold the foolish hope that they shall enter into heaven by some work of their own. Nothing but the power of the Holy Spirit can undo their foolishness!
Others, however, who know they are bad, humanly speaking, are potentially closer to heaven than the self-righteous for at least they know their sin has separated them from God. Knowing this, they can sue for mercy at the foot of the cross (1 Peter 2:24). The self-righteous, on the other hand, are in imminent danger because they equate their righteousness as being equal to that of God’s. In other words, they have an awfully low opinion of the Lord and understand neither His holiness nor the necessity of the cross. They may be good church people, but they are unbelievers. They are lost (Phil 3:18)!
Did you know that Hell is full of ‘good’ people? They were so ‘good’ that they saw no need of the Redeemer. Martin Luther said that although he scarcely ever preached a sermon without giving vent against self-righteousness he found “that still I cannot preach it down. Still men will boast in what they can do, and mistake the path to heaven to be a road paved by their own merits, and not a way besprinkled by the blood of the atonement of Jesus Christ.”
Self –righteousness, however, must eventually wither and die in the light of the cross. The cross teaches loudly and clearly that everything required for our safe passage to Heaven has already been accomplished. The cross shows us that our substitute’s finished work has entirely satisfied the Father. Our righteousness is now found in Christ alone (Phil 3:9).
Rejecting the righteousness of Christ, received by faith alone, the unbelieving self-righteous man projects a wretched misrepresentation of God’s character and thus slanders His gracious name. The self-righteous believe a lie and reject the truth. Their unbelief is an attempt to obliterate the cross and to destroy the gracious name of Christ. Unbelief worships another god, an unknown god, no indeed a non-existent god from whom comes no peace for the sinner and no rest for the weary.
May we be given grace to accept and trust entirely in the character of God as demonstrated in Christ crucified. May we yet learn to rest entirely on the One who saves to the uttermost (Heb 7:25)!
“Lay your deadly doing down
Down at Jesus’ feet
Stand in Him and Him alone,
Gloriously complete.”
And That’s the Gospel Truth!
Miles
Miles McKee Ministries
Box 541,Kingston Springs,
TN, 37082, USA
Permission is granted to republishthe Wednesday Word on your Website, Blog or Church Bulletin on condition that no content of the actual message is altered.
Please forward this message to your friends.
We are funded through the faithful giving of precious people who love the gospel of Christ crucified.
To partner with us, please use the mailing addresses above or to donate online click or pastethe following link
http://www.milesmckee.com/invest_in_our_ministry.html
Tags: Wednesday Word