Tag: Salvation
Who Am I?
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
~ Matthew 16:15-16 (NKJV)
This, beloved, is the only answer that will suffice in the eyes of God the Father. Jesus, you are the Christ, the promised Messiah, and not only this You are God’s own dear begotten Son. Peter’s confession is short, but it embraces all that is contained in our salvation. Jesus is not only the Son of Man, but Son of God, the living God in contrast to false gods and dead idols – Jesus is the only begotten Son of the one true and living God. It is in Jesus alone the sinner is loved, forgiven, justified, and reconciled to God the Father.
~ apl
A Complete Savior
The Plan of Salvation
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”
~ Romans 5:1 (NKJV)
The plan of salvation by Christ reveals God as willing to be reconciled. He is ready to pardon, and to be at peace. If the sinner repents and believes, God can now consistently forgive him, and admit him to favor. It is therefore a plan by which the mind of God and of the sinner can become reconciled, or united in feeling and in purpose. The obstacles on the part of God to reconciliation, arising from his justice and Law, have been removed, and he is now willing to be at peace. The obstacles on the part of man, arising from his sin, his rebellion, and his conscious guilt, may be taken away, and he can now regard God as his friend.
~ Albert Barnes, Notes on the Whole Bible
As Wide As The World
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30 (NKJV)
The poor and needy; the weary and heavy-ladened; the soul sick of sin and of the world; the sinner conscious of guilt and afraid to die, may come to Jesus Christ and live, the invitation is as wide as the world. The child and the old man may seek and find salvation at the feet of the same Saviour. No child is too young; no man is too old: no one is too great a sinner. Christ is “full” of mercy, and all who come shall find peace. O how should we, in this sinful and miserable world, borne down with sin, and exposed each moment to death – how should we come and find the peace which he has promised to all, and take the yoke which all [who have believed on Him] have found to be light!
~ Albert Barnes, Notes On The Whole Bible
A Work in Progress
The Soul Without Christ
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger…”
~ John 6:36a (NKJV)
I detain the Reader to observe with me the beauty and aptness of the similitude. As the common bread is the staff of the body, so Christ, the heavenly bread, is the life of the soul. And, as the body cannot subsist without daily food, so neither can the soul without her spiritual support in Christ. Yea, the soul hath more need for Christ, in his person, fullness, and grace, than the body hath for the bread that perisheth. For, put the case to the worst, that by reason of a famine of bread, the body languisheth and dieth, it is but a death a little premature, and which would otherwise have died in due time. But the soul without Christ, the bread of life, must famish forever, and though existing, lives only to eternal misery.
~ Robert Hawker, The Poor Man’s Commentary on John 6:22-39
At The Cross
It is at the cross where God’s Law and God’s grace are both most brilliantly displayed, where His justice and His mercy are both glorified. But it is also at the cross where we are most humbled. It is at the cross where we admit to God and to ourselves that there is absolutely nothing we can do to earn or merit our salvation.
~ Jerry Bridges (1929-2016)
One From Old
One from old, Whose love so bold, Death can't hold, His life extolled, Sin's blindfold, Feels so cold, Salvation told, Faith's remold, In Christ's fold, Streets of gold.
~ apl
A Lively Resemblance
A man fast asleep in a house on fire, and while the consuming flames are round about him, having his fancy sporting itself in some pleasant dream, is a very lively resemblance of the unregenerate soul.
~ John Flavel (1627-1691)
A Prayer Life 