Category: Salvation

His Offending Creatures

~ A Prayer Life ~ 2 Comments

“The complete atonement which Jesus Christ has made for our sins, by the sacrifice of Himself, is the life and center of the evangelical system, and that which endears it so much to the hearts of those who believe. Here we see pardon procured, and the sinner saved, while sin is condemned and punished.

Here we see the most solemn display of justice and holiness, in conjunction with the freest exercise of mercy. Here we see sinful rebels delivered from deserved punishment, and advanced to a state of dignity and honor; and at the same time, the rights of that divine government against which they had rebelled inviolably preserved and maintained.

Through what Jesus Christ has done and suffered for us – we behold the righteous law of God magnified, in justifying those who had violated its precepts, and brought themselves under its curse. In the death of that Lamb of God, we perceive at once – the Almighty’s eternal abhorrence of that which is evil and His infinite love to His offending creatures.

~ John Fawcett

Hastening To Hell

~ A Prayer Life ~ 3 Comments

“Many have warned others so that they will not come to that place of torment, while they hastened to it themselves: many a preacher is now in hell, who has a hundred times called upon his hearers to use the utmost care and diligence to escape it. Can any reasonable man imagine that God would save men for offering salvation to others, while they refuse it themselves; and for telling others those truths which they themselves neglect and abuse? Many a tailor goes in rags who makes costly clothes for others; and many a cook scarcely licks his fingers when he has dressed the most costly dishes for others. Believe it, brothers, God never saved any man for being a preacher, nor because he was an able preacher; but because he was a justified, sanctified man, and consequently faithful in his Master’s work.”

~ Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor

Take Heed To Yourself

~ A Prayer Life ~ Leave a comment

“See that the work of saving grace is thoroughly wrought in your own souls. Take heed to yourselves, lest you be void of that saving grace of God which you offer to others, and be strangers to the effectual working of that gospel which you preach; and lest, while you proclaim to the world the necessity of a Savior, your own hearts neglect him, and you miss an interest in him and his saving benefits. Take heed to yourselves, lest you perish, while you call upon others to take heed of perishing”

~ Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor

The True Son of Man

~ A Prayer Life ~ 3 Comments

“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

~ Matthew 4:17

The Christian message has ceased to be a pronouncement and has become instead a proposition. Scarcely anyone catches the imperious note in the words spoken by Jesus Christ. The invitational element of the Christian message has been pressed far out of proportion in the total scriptural scene. Christ with His lantern, His apologetic stance and His weak pleading face has taken the place of the true Son of Man whom John saw—His eyes as a flame of fire, His feet like burnished brass, and His voice as the sound of many waters. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal our Lord as He really is, and He does not paint in oils.

~ A.W. Tozer

To Be As Christ

~ A Prayer Life ~ 1 Comment

O GOD,

Thy main plan, and the end of thy will
      is to make Christ glorious and beloved in heaven
  where he is now ascended,
  where one day all the elect will behold his glory
  and love and glorify him for ever.
Though here I love him but little,
  may this be my portion at last.
In this world thou hast given me a beginning,
  one day it will be perfected in the realm above.
Thou hast helped me to see and know Christ,
  though obscurely,
  to take him, receive him,
  to possess him, love him,
  to bless him in my heart, mouth, life.
Let me study and stand for discipline,
    and all the ways of worship,
  out of love for Christ;
  and to show my thankfulness;
  to seek and know his will from love,
  to hold it in love,
  and daily to care for and keep this state of heart.
Thou hast led me to place all my nature
    and happiness in oneness with Christ,
  in having heart and mind centered only on him,
  in being like him in communicating good to others;
This is my heaven on earth,
But I need the force, energy, impulses of thy Spirit
  to carry me on the way to my Jerusalem.
Here, it is my duty,
  to be as Christ in this world,
  to do what he would do,
  to live as he would live,
  to walk in love and meekness;
  then would he be known,
  then would I have peace in death.

~ Valley of Vision

A Leveling Doctrine

~ A Prayer Life ~ Leave a comment

“Knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.”

~ 1 Thess. 1:4

“Election is a leveling doctrine; it levels us all to the same position. Because we all are in that common position of ruin as descendants of Adam, there is nothing which can commend us to God. But therefore it is also possible for the greatest sinner to be saved. God does not look at us to find a reason why He should save us rather than others. He knows there is nothing to be found with us. But He has found everything He was looking for in His beloved Son! Because He has brought about a perfect redemption and obedient satisfaction to God’s law, God does not need anything from us. We may go unto Him and say, ‘Lord, nothing in my hands I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling.’ That is salvation.”

~ Cornelis Pronk

Do Not Marvel

~ A Prayer Life ~ 5 Comments

“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

~ John 3:7

This proclamation from our Lord Jesus to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 still stand as the watershed declaration that separates true followers of Jesus Christ from the rest of the world. Jesus’ words sets Christianity apart from all else. To be Christ’s disciple, to be adopted into the family of the Lord, to be established in covenant with Jehovah God, you must be born again.

So what does it mean when the Bible says one must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven? Well, this is where knowing the original language can be helpful. The word translated here “again” means “from above”. The phrase could be literally translated “You must be born from above, or from a higher place”. The idea Jesus was conveying is that of a spiritual birth.

To be born again, that is, from above, means we are transformed in our very being, in our principles, our feelings, and our manner of life. The beginning of this new life is called the new birth, or regeneration. It is so called because in many respects it has a striking analogy to our natural birth. It is the beginning of spiritual life. It reveals the light of the Gospel. It is the moment when we really begin to live with any purpose. Being born again is the moment when God reveals Himself to us as our reconciled Father, and we as adopted sons and daughters.

Though this new birth is a work of the Holy Spirit, we realize this glorious regenerating grace through our own personal repentance and faith. Through this new life we begin to experience the living God in our life. That is, through turning away from sin and turning towards Christ. There is no other way to be reconciled to God. My prayer is, dear reader, that you already know, or come to know Jesus’ words as your own, “You must be born again”.

~ apl

They Go Together

~ A Prayer Life ~ 4 Comments

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…”

~ Philippians 2:12

“You cannot take Christ for justification unless you take Him for sanctification… You can no more separate justification from sanctification than you can separate the circulation of the blood from the inhalation of the air. Breathing and circulation are two different things, but you cannot have the one without the other; they go together, and they constitute one life. So you have justification and sanctification; they go together, and they constitute one life.”

~ A.A. Hodge (1823-1886)

No Room For Crosses

~ A Prayer Life ~ 2 Comments

“Christ and His cross are not separable in this life, howbeit Christ and His cross part at heaven’s door, for there is no house-room for crosses in heaven. One tear, one sigh, one sad heart, one fear, one loss, one thought of trouble cannot find lodging there.”

~ Samuel Rutherford

Like Freed Slaves

~ A Prayer Life ~ Leave a comment

“When we submit to sin, yielding to its imperious demands, it is not a matter of yielding to the inevitable or reverting to type. We are foolishly, perversely allowing sin to dominate us when in actual fact it has neither the right nor the power to do so. We have been taken once and for all out of its territory, out of the state where it holds men and women captive and in chains. Therefore, when we submit to sin and temptation, as if it had mastery, we are like freed slaves going back into the house of their former bondage and obeying their old owner.”

~ Peter Lewis