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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Continue reading about Imperfect Faith and the Perfect Sacrifice
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]