Jan 16
11
The natural man is not getting any better —
The regenerate man cannot get any better.
AT ONE WITH GOD
John 17: 22, 23: “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”
The life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ made perfect atonement between those for whom he died and the Holy God. In Christ the believer is one with Christ and therefore one with God even as Christ is one with God. The greatest gulf that ever existed has been done away with in the perfect person and work of Christ Jesus the Lord. Knowing what great things Christ has accomplished for sinners in matters of satisfaction before the just God is it any small wonder that from believer to believer there is oneness? This atonement breaks down all barriers. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free; there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ. Our reconciliation is by one—Christ Jesus. Our union is in one body—the church—of which Christ is head. In each location where God has raised up a church there is but one place where his name is set forth in truth—why would God raise up more than one meeting house in one place when his people are in true agreement? In each true assembly there is but one faith—in the person and work of Christ Jesus our Lord. In each person there is but one goal—that Christ be honored and glorified in thought, word and deed. In Christ we are at one with God before the world. This oneness is a beacon that the world may know that [God] has sent [Christ] and hast loved [his people], as [God] hast loved [Christ]. Clay Curtis.
This Is Life Eternal
Darvin Pruitt
Eternal life is not a feeling or an emotion though these things may be affected by it. Eternal life is not doing things, willing things, or wanting things though it does produce in us the will and want to do certain things. John 17: 3 tells what this life is; “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” Eternal life is in knowing God; perceiving God; who can only be perceived in Jesus Christ. “And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son (perceives him as the Son of God) and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40).
The Hour Is Come
John 17:1,2 “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”
When God purposes to do a thing it is as good as done. He is Alpha and Omega. He knows the end from the beginning. Therefore Christ knew He was born into this world to die. Furthermore He knew it in eternity when He became the believer’s surety. All believers who died BEFORE Christ’s earthly ministry died knowing the hour would come when Christ would actually die as that spotless Lamb of God in place of spiritual Israel just as believers AFTER Christ’s ministry. This was that hour discussed in the covenant in eternity. We get a glimpse at the eternal covenant through this prayer of Christ Jesus.
How does God glorify Christ? By giving Christ power over all flesh. During the Lord’s work on earth He made the deaf to hear the blind to see, the lame to walk. He spoke come forth and the dead became alive. He made it known that no man would take His life but rather He would lay it down. None can do Him harm for He has power over ALL flesh. Even now, seated at the right hand of His Father, it is Christ who makes the deaf to hear the blind to see, the lame to walk. It is Christ who speaks and the dead become alive.
How does Christ glorify God? By giving eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him. This was the Son’s promise to the Father, to earn righteousness for those who knew nothing but sin and rebellion, for those who, by their own obedience, were not and could not be as holy as God is holy. All glory from God has been and always will be given to His only begotten Son. Likewise all glory from Christ has been and always will be to the Father. The Father and Son are, in all ways, one.
How did Christ give eternal life to as many as God gave Him? God will do nothing at the expense of His holiness. God loves His Son and as many as He gave the Son, there is no greater love, but His love is holy. Therefore because His law has been broken by all those that He gave to the Son then the penalty of that law must be exacted upon each and every lawbreaker else God is no longer just. He did not give a people to Christ and simply declare them justified. In order for God to justify, His law must be justly satisfied. So then, Christ promised in the covenant to have the sin of as many as God had given Him imputed to Himself and to bear the just judgement of God on their behalf. By letting no part of His broken law go unpunished God remains Just. By providing His only begotten Son as the true, spotless, sacrificial Lamb He is also the justifier. This gives greater meaning to Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and THE GOVERNMENT SHALL BE UPON HIS SHOULDER: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” The government upon the shoulder of Christ was the government of God. Christ fulfilled THE LEGAL OBLIGATION agreed upon in the covenant between God the Father and God the Son. By the finished work of Christ Jesus the Lord, God is the righteous just judge and the justifier of all who believe.
Consider what Christ accomplished by laying down His life for those that God gave Him. Christ did not give them the mere, possibility, that their sins be blotted out; nor did He give them the mere, possibility, that they might obtain righteousness before God. Instead Christ the Righteous Servant PRESENTS THEM SPOTLESS to God. According to God’s record they never sinned. Therefore, according to the holy character of God, all those He gave to Christ, all those that Christ washed white as snow, MUST be given faith to see this grace wherein they stand—anything less would mean God declares Christ’s work worthless. His name is Jesus for He SHALL, SHALL, SHALL, save his people. Christ did not make his people acceptable; He made them accepted.
Clay Curtis
Eternal Justification
Chris Cunningham
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.
Perhaps you have heard the “Doctrine of Eternal Justification” either denied or defended. The arguments for and against this formally established doctrine are a tribute to man’s uncanny natural ability to complicate the plain truth of God.
Of course justification is eternal. Justification is God considering a sinner to be sinless. How long has God considered His sheep to be sinless? We are sinless in Christ, and we have been in Christ since “before the foundation of the world,” according to our text. God has revealed Himself as the eternal, immutable God. We cannot consider Him, in light of scripture, as having changed His mind regarding His people, having considered them as guilty for a time and then as just, once Christ died. How does the eternal, immutable God consider something so “for a time
Some say that to speak of the eternal aspect of justification is blasphemous because (they say) it makes void the work of Christ on the cross. This is like saying our eternal election makes void the work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit in time. It is simply an unscriptural objection.
Abraham was justified long before Christ ever died (Rom 4). How? Did God sweep his sins under a rug until Christ came and died for him? No, God forgave him his sins on the basis of the eternal efficacy of Christ’s precious blood. Did the fact that Abraham was justified before God before Christ died, make His sin-atoning death unnecessary? Foolishness!
By not limiting God in His eternal estimation of us in Christ, are we diminishing the glory of the cross, an event that took place in time? Of course not! We do not trust a temporal event, but a timeless Person. It is Christ that died! Yet, we glory all the more in His death when we acknowledge the eternal benefits of it.
The basis of our justification is Christ in His redemptive work on the cross at Calvary. His precious blood is the price of our redemption. This being an event that took place in time in no way necessitates that God’s estimation of us changed in time. God was not waiting to see if Christ would indeed redeem us and reserving judgment concerning our condition before Him until He died. Because of what Christ did for me, the God Who declares the end from the beginning (Is 46:10), has declared me just, holy, sinless in Christ from the beginning. Praise Him, for His eternal grace in Christ Jesus, the slain Lamb!
COMFORT
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
(Isa. 41:10)
How graciously and tenderly the Lord speaks to His people. Knowing that they shall encounter many fears in this life, He quiets those fears with these words of comfort.
I am with thee: Be not dismayed. Here is the solid foundation of our confidence …His presence. He does not leave us to ourselves to face the trials of this world, the temptations of Satan, and the weakness of our flesh. “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” (Lev. 26:12)
For I am thy God. The covenant God through Christ Jesus, whose word, love, and power can be depended upon.
I will strengthen thee. The psalmist writes, “For He knoweth our frame; and remembereth that we are dust.” (Ps. 103:14). As weak and frail creatures, how needful that we be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. (Eph. 3:16)
Yea, I will help thee. Knowing that His faithfulness is sure, we have confidence in His promise, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. (Heb. 13:5-6). In all our afflictions and temptations, we have His word that He shall support His elect.
Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. The believer is convinced that if God would leave him to his own ability and will, he would surely fall. How comforting to realize that we are those Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Pet. 1:5). The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms (Deut. 33:27). What more do we need? We are upheld by Christ the Righteous, who is our Advocate with the Father and the Propitiation for our sins. Marvin Stalnaker