Before the throne of God above

 

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

Words: Charitie L. Bancroft, 1863.Updated Music arranged by Vikki Cook and Sovereign Grace Ministries

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Before the Throne of God Above

The Key to Joy, Growth and Passion: Is Your Life Cross Centered?

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him Rev 1:7

In the embedded video clip from WorshipGod 2009 conference, CJ Mahaney’s explained why Sovereign Grace Ministry’s preaching focus and singing focus during corporate worship is always centered on and saturated with the Cross and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our corporate worship should be guided by the tone and focus of worship so clearly described in the Book of Revelation.  While a Holy God bid us to come boldly to Him at His Throne of Grace (Heb 4:16), all who are born of God  must always remember that we cannot approach God unacceptably except through a Mediator (1 Tim 2:5), through the Lord Jesus Christ  on the basis of what He has accomplished on the Cross

Read CJ Mahaney’s blog on this interview: Why So Many Cross-Centered Songs? by C.J. Mahaney

For the complete 70 minutes  video of C.J. Mahaney’s interview together with Bob Kauflin at the  WorshipGod09 conference, follow these links:

WG09 Interview Video

“Lessons Learned from Three Decades of Leading.”

In the book titled “The Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney with Kevin Meath“, CJ Mahaney wrote following in “The Most Important Truth Is the Easiest to Forget”:

THE ONLY ESSENTIAL MESSAGE

I hope to teach my son many other things as well, but the gospel is the one essential thing for him to know.

“The gospel,” writes Jerry Bridges, “is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history. Yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experiencing the joy of living by it.”

Author John Stott agrees. “All around us we see Christians and churches relaxing their grasp on the gospel, fumbling it, and in danger of letting it drop from their hands altogether.”

Sometimes the most obvious truths are the ones we need to be reminded of the most.

George Orwell once noted that “sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.” Perhaps the purpose of this book is to restate the obvious, yet oft-neglected, truth of the gospel, to bring it before you one more time.

On the other hand, maybe you’re thinking, “I already know this truth-I’ve known it for years.” That’s good, but let me ask you this:

Is your life cross centered?

The symptoms that arise from not being cross centered are easy to spot. Do any of these describe you?

• You often lack joy.

• You’re not consistently growing in spiritual maturity.

• Your love for God lacks passion.

• You’re always looking for some new technique, some “new truth” or new experience that will pull all the pieces of your faith together.

If you can relate to any of these symptoms, let me encourage you to keep reading. As you learn to live a cross centered life, you’ll learn:

• How to break free from joy-robbing, legalistic thinking and living

• How to leave behind the crippling effects of guilt and condemnation

• How to stop basing your faith on your emotions and circumstances

• How to grow in gratefulness, joy, and holiness

These aren’t the overhyped promises of an author wanting to convince you to read his book. These are God’s promises to all who respond to His wonderful plan of salvation.

Too many of us have moved on from that glorious plan. In our never-ending desire to move forward and make sure that everything we do, say, and think is relevant to modern living, too many of us have stopped concentrating on the wonders of Jesus crucified.

Too many of us have fumbled the most important truth of the Bible, and therefore we’ve suffered the consequences.

But it’s not too late to change. It’s not too late to restate and reestablish the obvious truth as the most important truth in your life.

The message that Paul had for Timothy is the same message God has for you. You need to rediscover the truth that first saved you. The key to joy, to growth, to passion isn’t hiding from you. It’s right before your eyes.

It’s the gospel.

O Church, Arise

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. Heb 10:35-36

O church, arise and put your armor on;
Hear the call of Christ our captain;
For now the weak can say that they are strong
In the strength that God has given.
With shield of faith and belt of truth
We’ll stand against the devil’s lies;
An army bold whose battle cry is “Love!”
Reaching out to those in darkness.

Our call to war, to love the captive soul,
But to rage against the captor;
And with the sword that makes the wounded whole
We will fight with faith and valor.
When faced with trials on ev’ry side,
We know the outcome is secure,
And Christ will have the prize for which He died—
An inheritance of nations.

Come, see the cross where love and mercy meet,
As the Son of God is stricken;
Then see His foes lie crushed beneath His feet,
For the Conqueror has risen!
And as the stone is rolled away,
And Christ emerges from the grave,
This vict’ry march continues till the day
Ev’ry eye and heart shall see Him.

So Spirit, come, put strength in ev’ry stride,
Give grace for ev’ry hurdle,
That we may run with faith to win the prize
Of a servant good and faithful.
As saints of old still line the way,
Retelling triumphs of His grace,
We hear their calls and hunger for the day
When, with Christ, we stand in glory.

Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

The Law of God Must Be Perpetual: No Abrogation, No Amendment.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31

Charles H. Spurgeon, in a sermon preached on May 21,1882 , said:

I. First: THE LAW OF GOD MUST BE PERPETUAL. There is no abrogation of it, nor amendment of it. It is not to be toned down or adjusted to our fallen condition; but every one of the Lord’s righteous judgments abideth forever. I would urge three reasons which will establish this teaching.

Charles Spurgeon

In the first place our Lord Jesus declares that he did not come to abolish it. His words are most express: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” And Paul tells us with regard to the gospel, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31). The gospel is the means of the firm establishment and vindication of the law of God.

Jesus did not come to change the law, but he came to explain it, and that very fact shows that it remains, for there is no need to explain that which is abrogated. Upon one particular point in which there happened to be a little ceremonialism involved, namely, the keeping of the Sabbath, our Lord enlarged, and showed that the Jewish idea was not the true one. The Pharisees forbade even the doing of works of necessity and mercy, such as rubbing ears of corn to satisfy hunger, and healing the sick. Our Lord Jesus showed that it was not at all according to the mind of God to forbid these things. In straining over the letter, and carrying an outward observance to excess, they had missed the spirit of the Sabbath law, which suggested works of piety such as truly hallow the day. He showed that Sabbatic rest was not mere inaction, and he said, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” He pointed to the priests who labored hard at offering sacrifices, and said of them, “the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless.” They were doing divine service, and were within the law. To meet the popular error he took care to do some of his grandest miracles upon the Sabbath-day; and though this excited great wrath against him, as though he were a law-breaker, yet he did it on purpose that they might see that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, and that it is meant to be a day for doing that which honors God and blesses men. O that men knew how to keep the spiritual Sabbath by a easing from all servile work, and from all work done for self, The rest of faith is the true Sabbath, and the service of God is the most acceptable hallowing of the day. Oh that the day were wholly spent in serving God and doing good! The sum of our Lord’s teaching was that works of necessity, works of mercy, and works of piety are lawful on the Sabbath. He did explain the law in that point and in others, yet that explanation did not alter the command, but only removed the rust of tradition which had settled upon it. By thus explaining the law he confirmed it; he could not have meant to abolish it or he would not have needed to expound it.

In addition to explaining it the Master went further: he pointed out its spiritual character. This the Jews had not observed. They thought, for instance, that the command “Thou shalt not kill” simply forbade murder and manslaughter: but the Savior showed that anger without cause violates the law, and that hard words and cursing, and all other displays of enmity and malice, are forbidden by the commandment. They knew that they might not commit adultery, but it did not enter into their minds that a lascivious desire would be an offense against the precept till the Savior said, “He that looketh upon a woman to lust after her committeth adultery with her already in his heart.” He showed that the thought of evil is sin, that an unclean imagination pollutes the heart, that a wanton wish is guilt in the eyes of the Most High. Assuredly this was no abrogation of law: it was a wonderful exhibition of its far-reaching sovereignty and of its searching character. The Pharisees fancied that if they kept their hands, and their feet, and their tongues, all was done, but Jesus showed that thought, imagination, desire, memory, everything, must be brought into subjection to the will of God, or else the law was not fulfilled. What a searching and humbling doctrine is this! If the law of the Lord reaches to the inward parts who among us can by nature abide its judgment? Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. The ten commands are full of meaning–meaning which many seem to ignore. For instance, many a man will allow in and around his house inattention to the rules of health and sanitary precaution, but it does not occur to him that he is trampling on the command– “Thou shalt not kill,” yet this rule forbids our doing anything which may cause injury to our neighbor’s health, and so deprive him of life. Many a deadly manufactured article, many an ill-ventilated shop, many a business with hours of excessive length, is a standing breach of this command. Shall I say less of drinks, which lead so speedily to disease and death, and crowd our cemeteries with untimely graves? So, too, in reference to another precept: some persons will repeat songs and stories which are suggestive of uncleanness–I wish that this were not so common as it is. Do they not know that an unchaste word, a double meaning, a sly hint of lust all come under the command, “Thou shalt not commit adultery”? It is so according to the teaching of our Lord Jesus. Oh, talk not to me about our Lord’s having brought in a milder law because man could not keep the Decalogue, for he has done nothing of the kind. “His fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor.” “Who may abide the day of his coining? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap.” Let us not dare to dream that God had given us a perfect law which we poor creatures could not keep, and that therefore he has corrected his legislature, and sent his Son to put us under a relaxed discipline. Nothing of the sort. The Lord Jesus Christ has, on the contrary, shown how intimately the law surrounds and enters into our inward parts, so as to convict us of sin within even if we seem clear without. Ah me, this law is high; I cannot attain to it. It everywhere surrounds me; it tracks me to my bed and my board; it follows my steps and marks my ways wherever I may be. No moment does it cease to govern and demand obedience. O God, I am everywhere condemned, for everywhere thy law reveals to me my serious deviations from the way of righteousness and shows me how far short I come of thy glory. Have thou pity on thy servant, for I fly to the gospel which has done for me what the law could never do.

“To see the law by Christ fulfill’d,
And hear his pardoning voice,
Changes a slave into a child,
And duty into choice.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ, in addition to explaining the law and pointing out its spiritual character, also unveiled its living essence, for when one asked him “Which is the great commandment in the law?” he said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” In other words, he has told us, “All the law is fulfilled in this: thou shalt love.” There is the pith and marrow of it. Does any man say to me, “You see, then, instead of the ten commandments we have received the two commandments, and these are much easier.” I answer that this reading of the law is not in the least easier. Such a remark implies a want of thought and experience. Those two precepts comprehend the ten at their fullest extent, and cannot be regarded as the erasure of a jot or tittle of them. Whatever difficulties surround the ten commands are equally found in the two, which are their sum and substance. If you love God with all your heart you must keep the first table; and if you love your neighbor as yourself you must keep the second table. If any suppose that the law of love is an adaptation of the moral law to man’s fallen condition they greatly err. I can only say that the supposed adaptation is no more adapted to us than the original law. If there could be conceived to be any difference in difficulty it might be easier to keep the ten than the two; for if we go no deeper than tile letter, the two are the more exacting, since they deal with the heart, and soul, and mind. The ten commands mean all that the two express; but if we forget this, and only look at the wording of them, I say, it is harder for a man to love God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength, and his neighbor as himself than it would be merely to abstain from killing, stealing, and false witness. Christ has not, therefore, abrogated or at all moderated the law to meet our helplessness; he has left it in all its sublime perfection, as it always must be left, and he has pointed out how deep are its foundations, how elevated are its heights, how measureless are its length and breadth. Like the laws of the Medes and Persians, God’s commands cannot be altered; we are saved by another method.

To show that he never meant to abrogate the law, our Lord Jesus has embodied all its commands in his own life. In his own person there was a nature which was perfectly conformed to the law of God; and as was his nature such was his life. He could say, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” and again “I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” I may not say that he was scrupulously careful to keep the law: I will not put it so, for there was no tendency in him to do otherwise: he was so perfect and pure, so infinitely good, and so complete in his agreement and communion with the Father, that he in all things carried out the Father’s will. The Father said of him, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” Point out, if you possibly can, any way in which Christ has violated the law or left it unfulfilled. There was never an unclean thought or rebellious desire in his soul; he had nothing to regret or to retract: it could not be that he should err. He was thrice tempted in the wilderness, and the enemy had the impertinence even to suggest idolatry, but he instantly overthrew the adversary. The prince of this world came to him, but he found nothing in him.

“My dear Redeemer and my Lord,
I read my duty in thy Word;
But in thy life the law appears
Drawn out in living characters.”

Now, if that law had been too high and too hard, Christ would not have exhibited it in his life, but as our exemplar he would have set forth that milder form of law which it is supposed by some theologians he came to introduce. Inasmuch as our Leader and Exemplar has exhibited to us in his life a perfect obedience to the sacred commands in their undiminished grandeur, I gather that he means it to be the model of our conversation. Our Lord has not taken off a single point or pinnacle from that up-towering alp of perfection. He said at the first, “Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart,” and well has he justified the writing of the volume of the book. “God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law”; and being for our sakes under the law he obeyed it to the full, so that now “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.”

Once more, that the Master did not come to alter the law is clear, because after having embodied it in his life he willingly gave himself up to bear its penalty, though he had never broken it, bearing the penalty for us, even as it is written, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” If the law had demanded more of us than it ought to have done, would the Lord Jesus have rendered to it the penalty which resulted from its too severe demands? I am sure he would not. But because the law asked only what it ought to ask–namely perfect obedience; and exacted of the transgressor only what it ought to exact, namely, death, as the penalty for sin–death under divine wrath, therefore the Savior went to the tree, and there bore our sins and purged them once for all. He was crushed beneath the load of our guilt, and cried, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death,” and at last when he had borne–

“All that incarnate God could bear,
With strength enough, but none to spare,”

he bowed his head and said, “It is finished.” Our Lord Jesus Christ gave a greater vindication to the law by dying, because it had been broken, than all the lost in hell can ever give by their miseries, for their suffering is never complete, their debt is never paid; but he has borne all that was due from his people, and the law is defrauded of nothing. By his death he has vindicated the honor of God’s moral government, and made it just for him to be merciful. When the lawgiver himself submits to the law, when the sovereign himself bears the extreme penalty of that law, then is the justice of God set upon such a glorious high throne that all admiring worlds must wonder at it. If therefore it is clearly proven that Jesus was obedient to the law, even to the extent of death, he certainly did not come to abolish or abrogate it; and if he did not remove it, who can do so? If he declares that he came to establish it, who shall overthrow it?

“The Perpetuity of the Law of God”

---

A Message Delivered on May 21, 1882 by C. H. Spurgeon

Related Posts:

The Perfect Law of God Must Stand Forever

The Heart of Every Real Christian is Most Reverent Towards the Law of the Lord

Misunderstanding Grace : “outside the law” is not the same as having no law

Misunderstanding Grace: Easy to miss the path and go far astray from the truth

Misunderstanding Grace – Antinomianism’s primary error is confusing Justification with Sanctification

Misunderstanding on the teaching of Grace

You Are The Shepherd, I Belong to You.

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me John 10:14

You Are the Shepherd

Chorus
You are the Shepherd, I belong to you
When I walk on rough ground, you will guide me through
You know my name, you know my voice
Before I was born I was your choice
Show me how to follow, Lord keep me close to you
You are the Shepherd, I belong to you
Repeat as soloist

Choir
Open eyes, to see you are the way
Open ears to hear you are the truth
Open hearts to know you are the Lord of life
For every land you hold a special plan

Soloist
Show me how to follow, Lord keep me close to you
You are the shepherd, I belong to you
Choir
Show me how to follow, Lord keep me close to you
You are the Shepherd, I belong to you.

By: Keith and Kristyn Getty
Copy right 2002 Thankyou Music /MCPS Adm. / King sway Music

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. John 10:14-16

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:3-14

Before the Throne of God Above

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

Words: Charitie L. Bancroft, 1863.

Updated Music arranged by Vikki Cook and Sovereign Grace Ministries

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ Makes a Difference How Every Child of God Should Prepare to Die

C J Mahaney

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 1 Cor 15:17-20

In this sermon titled “The Resurrection of Jesus”, C J Mahaney discussed about the fear of dying and the fear of death and a Christian’s blessed hope in the fact and faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ by God. He also shared his own experience concerning a near death experience  and how every child of God should prepare to die by leaning on the hope of  the  Resurrection of Jesus.

As a child of God, whose sins is completely forgiven and who is washed by the blood of Christ and who is sanctified by indwelling Holy Spirit, facing imminent death should not a terrifying experience because a Christian knows it is only a step to be received into the arms of the Heavenly Father. My blessed assurance is rest solely upon God’s amazing grace which He has purposed for His Glory. It is a divinely given faith in my unchangeable Savior’s promise of eternal life and my Heavenly Father’s satisfaction in the finished atonement work of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus Christ, the sinless One, duly punished for my sins.  It is a divinely given faith on the fact that God has raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and my divinely given faith in Jesus’ own words.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said “Because I live, ye shall live also.” John 14:19 and “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2-3

The Truth of the Cross: Jesus Christ taking God’s curse and wrath in the place of sinners

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us' Galatians 3:13

‘If it is true that the cross is of central importance to biblical Christianity, it seems that it is essential for Christians to have some understanding of its meaning in biblical terms. That

R C Sproul

would be true in any generation, but it’s particularly necessary in this one. I doubt there has been a period in the two thousand years of Christian history when the significance, the centrality, and even the necessity of the cross have been more controversial than now. There have been other periods in church history when theologies emerged that regarded the cross of Christ as an unnecessary event, but never before in Christian history has the need for an atonement been as widely challenged as it is today.’ R. C. Sproul, The Truth of the Cross

“I’ve heard sermons about the nails and the thorns.  Granted, the physical agony of crucifixion is a ghastly thing.  But thousands of people have died on crosses, and others have had even more painful, excruciating deaths than that.  But only One received the full measure of the curse of God while on a cross. Because of that, I wonder if Jesus was even aware of the nails and the thorns.  He was overwhelmed by the outer darkness.  On the cross, He was in hell, totally bereft of the grace and the presence of God, utterly separated from all blessedness of the Father.  He became a curse for us so that we one day will be able to see the face of God. God turned His back on His Son so that the light of His countenance will fall on us.  It’s no wonder Jesus screamed from the depths of His soul.” R. C. Sproul, The Truth of the Cross

“Nowhere in Scripture is the reality of God’s wrath more sharply manifested than in the forsaking of His Messiah. To be cursed of God is to be cut off from His presence and all of His benefits. The Incarnate Christ who enjoyed intimate personal fellowship with the Father, such as no man had ever enjoyed, was suddenly and completely cut off. Once the sin of man was imputed to Him, He became the virtual incarnation of evil. The load He carried was repugnant to the Father. God is too holy to even look at iniquity. God the Father turned His back upon the Son, cursing Him to the pit of hell while on the cross. Here was the Son’s ‘descent into hell.’ Here the fury of God raged against Him. His scream was the scream of the damned. For us.” R.C. Sproul, Tabletalk magazine, “My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?” (April 1990), p. 6.

‘The figure of a cross is the universal symbol of Christianity. The concept of atonement reaches back to the Old Testament where God set up a system by which the people of Israel could make atonement for their sins. To atone is to make amends, to set things right. Both the Old and New Testaments make it clear that all human beings are sinners. As our sins are against an infinite, holy God who cannot even look upon sin, atonement must be made in order for us to have fellowship with God. Because sin touches even our best acts, we are incapable of making a sufficient sacrifice. Even our sacrifices are tainted and would require a further sacrifice to cover that blemish, ad infinitum. We have no gift valuable enough, no work righteous enough to atone for our own sins. We are debtors who cannot pay their debts. In receiving the wrath of the Father on the cross, Christ was able to make atonement for His people. Christ carried, or bore, the punishment for the sins of human beings. He atoned for them by accepting the just punishment due for those sins. The Old Testament covenant pronounced a curse upon any person who broke the law of God. On the cross, Jesus not only took that curse upon Himself, but He became “a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). He was forsaken by the Father and experienced the full measure of hell on the cross.’ R.C. Sproul, Essential Truths  of The Christian Faith, 1992, 137-138

“On the cross, God’s wrath was poured out on Christ. God did strike Him, smite Him, and afflict Him – but not for any evil in Christ.” R. C. Sproul, The Truth of the Cross

‘Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned–every one–to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all……By oppression and judgment he was taken away; … he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? …….although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. ‘ Isaiah  53:4-6,8,9

“If all that happened was the single transfer of our sins to Jesus, we would not be justified…..We must see that the righteousness of Christ that is transferred to us is the righteousness He achieved by living under the Law for thirty-three years without sinning.”  R. C. Sproul, The Truth of the Cross

‘Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. ‘Isaiah  53:10-12

‘Atonement involves substitution and satisfaction. In taking God’s curse upon Himself, Jesus satisfied the demands of God’s holy justice. He received God’s wrath for us, saving us from the wrath that is to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10). A key phrase in the Bible regarding the Atonement is the phrase, “in behalf of.” Jesus did not die for Himself, but for us. His suffering was vicarious; He was our substitute. He took our place in fulfilling the role of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. While the Father’s wrath is real, it should be noted that the atonement Christ made was not a case of the Son working against the Father’s will. It is not as if Christ were snatching His people out of the Father’s hand. The Son did not persuade the Father to save those whom the Father was loathe to save. On the contrary, both Father and Son willed the salvation of the elect and worked together to bring it to pass. As the apostle Paul wrote, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19).’ R.C. Sproul, Essential Truths  of The Christian Faith, 1992, 137-138

To Download FREE MP3 Sermon “The Curse Motif of the Atonement” by Dr R C Sproul delivered  at the T4G08:

The Curse Motif of the Atonement (from Ligonier Ministries)

The Curse Motif of the Atonement (from T4G’s site)

To view or listen to a short video extract from the sermon “The Curse Motif of the Atonement” by Dr R C Sproul delivered  at the T4G08 Session V:

Related Post: The Essence of Gospel Evangelism Is To Proclaim the True Doctrine of the Cross by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Essence of Gospel Evangelism Is To Proclaim the True Doctrine of the Cross

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24

Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote:

Martyn Lloyd Jones

The essence of evangelism is not merely to talk about the cross but to proclaim the true doctrine of the cross. There are people who talk about it, but they do so in a purely sentimental manner. They are like the daughters of Jerusalem, whom the Lord Himself rebuked, weeping as they thought of what they called the tragedy of the cross. That is not the right way to view it. There are those who regard the cross as something which exercises a kind of moral influence upon us. they say that its whole purpose is to break down our hard hearts. But that is not the biblical teaching as to its meaning. The purpose of the cross is not to arouse pity in us, neither is it merely some general display of the love of God. Not at all! It is finally understood only in terms of the law. What was happening upon the cross was that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was enduring in His own holy body the penalty prescribed by the holy law of God for the sin of man. The law condemns sin, and the condemnation that it pronounces is death. “The wages of sin is death.” The law pronounces that death must pass upon all who have sinned against God and broken His holy law. Christ says, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” One of the ways in which the law has to be fulfilled is that its punishment of sin must be carried out. This punishment is death, and that was why He died. The law must be fulfilled. God cannot put it to one side in any respect, and the punishment cannot be put on one side. God in forgiving us — let us say so clearly — does not do so by deciding not to exact the punishment that He has decreed. That would imply a contradiction of His holy nature. Whatever God says must be brought to pass. He does not go back upon Himself and upon what He says. He has said that sin has to be punished by death, and you and I can be forgiven only because the punishment has been thus exacted. In respect to its punishment of sin God’s law has been fulfilled absolutely, because He has punished sin in the holy, spotless, blameless body of His own Son there upon the cross on Calvary’s hill.  Christ is fulfilling the law on the cross, and unless you interpret the cross, and Christ’s death upon it, in strict terms of the fulfilling of the law you have not the scriptural view of the death upon the cross.

From: Martyn Lloyd-Jones -“The Sermon on the Mount” (Eerdmans, second edition in one volume, 1971, 1976), 167-168.

For a related post:  The Truth of the Cross: Jesus Christ taking God’s curse and wrath in the place of sinners

Vastness of The Universe: Showcasing The Majesty of God The Creator

Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Isa 66:1-2).

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place (1 Kings 8:27-29).

God is immensely bigger than anything existing or what you can even imagine. The God of the Bible is a BIG God. He is not contained by space, that even “the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain” Him (1Kings 8:27). God fills His entire creation, they cannot contain Him (Jer 23:23 – 24). Lets ponder and meditate on  this truth about the infinite vastness and immenseness attribute of God. Consciously, lets put the brake on our busy lives, take the time to  meditate constantly  on this wonderful truth about God. When we grasp the true vastness of heavens, the truth about God’s infinite vastness and immenseness humbles us as we truly behold His greatness and glory and power and dominion. It is important to keep this truth in mind, for John Calvin said “men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.”. When we seek to see and understand the vastness of the universe, we will be awe by this truth about God. We will be blessed when we catch a glimpse of His awesome power and glory! Then and only then, true worship can come forth from frail and insignificant creatures. God, THE Creator, He created the earth and the entire universe. He understands the stars  and the black holes, for He made them. God is the source of infinite wisdom, we need to search no where else. When we need true wisdom, we look to Him for “if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him”.

As created beings, we ought to be humble when God revealed Himself within the scriptures and when we believe Him, we will be blessed by Him. God, though infinitely vast and immense, is near to those “who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word”, it brings great peace, rejoicing and wonder into the core of our being. We shall then respond like David in that “such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.”  (Psalms 139:6).  It will always be great joy to hear  and believe the good news in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel that God, by His grace and mercy, has appointed  one and only one way, one truth and one life that sinners, like you and me,  may be reconciled to Him. He is forever a Holy and Just God.  As only those who are pure in heart will get to see God. Sinners on our own effort and strength have no hope, we can’t have the purity in our hearts because our sins and unrighteousness condemned us.  However, God has made it possible for sinners to come to Him, it is only through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  Through Jesus Christ’s great accomplishment at Calvary, God has made a Way.  It is through God the Son’s  finished work on the cross bearing their sins and atonement, God can  redeem sinners to be His children that they might know Jehovah and behold His glory, the infinitely, immensely big God, the great “I AM”  Who  is near His children and Who  hears the prayer and pleading  of those who cry out to Him (1Kings 8:28-30).

See a related post: We are not the centre of the Universe, God is.

Who is God and how are we saved? – Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Muslims

Thabiti Anyabwile has a unique perspective of explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Muslims

In these video clips from the Muslim – Christian dialogue held in Dubai 2009, Thabiti Anyabwile explained the Gospel of Jesus Christ and specifically “Who is God and how are we saved?”. This is third dialogue/debate in a series organised by the Muslim Student Association and Christian Fellowship Club from the University of Wollongong in Dubai.

Thabiti Anyabwile, currently senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman, has a remarkable testimony of being converted to Islam while being a nominal Christian, and then God called him to a true saving faith in Jesus Christ. Being a former Muslim and is now a Christian pastor, Thabiti Anyabwile has a unique perspective of explaining to Muslims the Gospel of Jesus Christ and specifically “Who is God and how are we saved?” with some very useful insights.

Related Post:

Who is Jesus Christ ? – A former Muslim explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Who is Jesus Christ ? – A former Muslim explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Thabiti Anyabwile, a former muslim, explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Thabiti Anyabwile, currently senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman, is a native of Lexington, North Carolina. Thabiti Anyabwile has a remarkable testimony of being converted to Islam while being a nominal Christian, and then God called him to a true saving faith in Jesus Christ. Being a former Muslim and is now a Christian pastor, Thabiti Anyabwile has a unique perspective of explaining to Muslims the Gospel and specifically “Who is Jesus Christ ?” with some very useful insights from Islam which he once held to.

Thabiti Anyabwile began serving as elder/senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman since August 2006. He served previously as an elder/assistant pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, and as an elder at Church on the Rock in Raleigh, NC.  Thabiti Anyabwile has a strong professional and academic background in community psychology, with special interest in the history and development of the African American church. Thabiti holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in psychology from North Carolina State University.

In these video clips, Thabiti Anyabwile explained “Who is Jesus Christ” at a dialogue/debate was organised by the Muslim Student Association and Christian Fellowship Club from the University of Wollongong in Dubai.

Related Post:

Who is God and how are we saved? – Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Muslims

A Good Time to Thank God for John Calvin.

John Calvin born 10 July 1509 - 500th Anniversary

“Among all those who have been born of women, there has not risen a greater than John Calvin; no age before him ever produced his equal, and no age afterwards has seen his rival. John Calvin propounded truth more clearly than any other man who ever breathed, knew more of Scripture, and explained it more clearly.” – C H Spurgeon on the John Calvin

“There is no soul living who holds more firmly to the doctrines of grace than I do, and if any man asks me whether I am ashamed to be called a Calvinist, I answer—I wish to be called nothing but a Christian; but if you ask me, do I hold the doctrinal views which were held by John Calvin, I reply, I do in the main hold them, and rejoice to avow it.” C H Spurgeon on the doctrines of John Calvin


“The old truth that Calvin preached, that Augustine preached, that Paul preached, is the truth that I must preach to-day, or else be false to my conscience and my God. I cannot shape the truth; I know of no such thing as paring off the rough edges of a doctrine. John Knox’s gospel is my gospel. That which thundered through Scotland must thunder through England again.”— C H Spurgeon on the doctrines of John Calvin

Two clips on John Calvin from Steve Lawson and John Piper:

1. Pastor Dr Steve J. Lawson speaking on John Calvin he found and wrote in his book “The Expository Genius of John Calvin” available from Reformation Press.

2. Pastor Dr John Piper speaking on John Calvin and why a Desiring God Conference in 2009 with a theme focusing on John Calvin right on the 500th year of his birth.

Misunderstanding Grace : “outside the law” is not the same as having no law

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Romans 6:1-2

Martin Luther, 1483-1546

‘In [Romans] chapter 6, St. Paul takes up the special work of faith, the struggle which the spirit wages against the flesh to kill off those sins and desires that remain after a person has been made just. He teaches us that faith doesn’t so free us from sin that we can be idle, lazy and self-assured, as though there were no more sin in us. Sin is there, but, because of faith that struggles against it, God does not reckon sin as deserving damnation. Therefore we have in our own selves a lifetime of work cut out for us; we have to tame our body, kill its lusts, force its members to obey the spirit and not the lusts. We must do this so that we may conform to the death and resurrection of Christ and complete our Baptism, which signifies a death to sin and a new life of grace. Our aim is to be completely clean from sin and then to rise bodily with Christ and live forever.

St. Paul says that we can accomplish all this because we are in grace and not in the law. He explains that to be “outside the law” is not the same as having no law and being able to do what you please. No, being “under the law” means living without grace, surrounded by the works of the law. Then surely sin reigns by means of the law, since no one is naturally well-disposed toward the law. That very condition, however, is the greatest sin. But grace makes the law lovable to us, so there is then no sin any more, and the law is no longer against us but one with us.

This is true freedom from sin and from the law; St. Paul writes about this for the rest of the chapter. He says it is a freedom only to do good with eagerness and to live a good life without the coercion of the law. This freedom is, therefore, a spiritual freedom which does not suspend the law but which supplies what the law demands, namely eagerness and love. These silence the law so that it has no further cause to drive people on and make demands of them. It’s as though you owed something to a moneylender and couldn’t pay him. You could be rid of him in one of two ways: either he would take nothing from you and would tear up his account book, or a pious man would pay for you and give you what you needed to satisfy your debt. That’s exactly how Christ freed us from the law. Therefore our freedom is not a wild, fleshy freedom that has no obligation to do anything. On the contrary, it is a freedom that does a great deal, indeed everything, yet is free of the law’s demands and debts.’ Preface to the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans by Martin Luther, 1483-1546 Translated by Bro. Andrew Thornton, OSB

Related Posts:

Misunderstanding Grace: Easy to miss the path and go far astray from the truth

Misunderstanding Grace – Antinomianism’s primary error is confusing Justification with Sanctification

Misunderstanding on the teaching of Grace

The Heart of Every Real Christian is Most Reverent Towards the Law of the Lord

The Law of God Must Be Perpetual: No Abrogation, No Amendment.

The Perfect Law of God Must Stand Forever

Reflections on the Doctrine of the Trinity

the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." Mark 1:10-11

The Trinity being of the One and only living God is something a finite creature, which man is, cannot fully grasped or explained. It is the very being of the One everlasting and ever existing God, who is The Creator. How can we fully grasp or explain it ? However, the scriptures are abundantly clear that God has revealed Himself as such. To worship God in spirit and truth, in exercising our biblical faith, we need to know God as fully as He has chosen to reveal Himself, our reliance must be based on His written Word.

What do we mean when we say the Bible declare that God is incomprehensible? When the Bible states that God is incomprehensible, we mean God through scripture is saying that there is much about Him that is still mysterious. God is simply beyond our understanding and comprehension. Augustine of Hippo was trying and struggling hard to understand the Trinity nature of God without success until he recognized the humbling fact that as a finite creature he was merely trying “to cram the ocean of God’s truth about Himself into his little box of brains”.

“There is nothing that the Father is that the Son is not, except that the Son is not the Father.” * Quote from Notes on Hebrews 1:1-4 by David Linden

There is nothing that the Father is and the Son is that the Holy Spirit is not, except that the Holy Spirit is not the Father and the Holy Spirit is not the Son.

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Mat 3:16-17

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Cor 13:14

In the unity of the Godhead there be three Persons of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.
(Of God, and of the Holy Trinity. Chapter 2 – III. THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH -1646)

Here is a sermon by Pastor Alistair Begg expounding the Trinity truth based on the teachings as revealed in the bible.

Complete in Thee

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6

Complete in Thee! no work of mine
May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine;
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And I am now complete in Thee.

Refrain
Yea, justified! O blessed thought!
And sanctified! Salvation wrought!
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And glorified, I too, shall be!

Complete in Thee—no more shall sin,
Thy grace hath conquered, reign within;
Thy voice shall bid the tempter flee,
And I shall stand complete in Thee.

Complete in Thee—each want supplied,
And no good thing to me denied;
Since Thou my portion, Lord, wilt be,
I ask no more, complete in Thee.

Dear Savior! when before Thy bar
All tribes and tongues assembled are,
Among Thy chosen will I be,
At Thy right hand—complete in Thee

Author:          Aaron R. Wolfe, 1821-1902
Refrain, James M. Gray, 1851-1935
Musician:       Talmadge J. Bittikofer, 1892-

How Deep The Father’s Love For Us – Stuart Townend

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

How Deep The Fathers Love For Us -lyrics by  Stuart Townend
Video Credit: InvisibleAlly

Misunderstanding Grace: Easy to miss the path and go far astray from the truth

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. Psalms 119:18

Pastor Aiden Wilson Tozer

“The law was given to men through Moses, but it did not originate with Moses. It had existed in the heart of God from before the foundation of the world. On Mount Sinai it became the legal code for the nation of Israel; but the moral principles it embodies are eternal. The spring of Christian morality is the love of Christ, not the law of Moses; nevertheless there has been no abrogation of the principles of morality contained in the law. No privileged class exists exempt from that righteousness which the law enjoins.” A.W. Tozer

“Mercy is an attribute of God, an infinite and inexhaustible energy within the divine nature which disposes God to be actively compassionate. Both the Old and the New Testaments proclaim the mercy of God. We should banish from our minds forever the common but erroneous notion that justice and judgment characterize the God of Israel, while mercy and grace belong to the Lord of the Church. Actually there is in principle no difference between the Old Testament and the New.”

“In God mercy and grace are one; but as they reach us they are seen as two, related but not identical. As mercy is God’s goodness confronting human misery and guilt, so grace is His goodness directed toward human debt and demerit. It is by His grace that God imputes merit where none previously existed and declares no debt to be where one had been before. Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines Him to bestow benefits upon the undeserving. It is a self-existent principle inherent in the divine nature and appears to us as a self-caused propensity to pity the wretched, spare the guilty, welcome the outcast, and bring into favor those who were before under just disapprobation. Its use to us sinful men is to save us and make us sit together in heavenly places to demonstrate to the ages the exceeding riches of God’s kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

“We benefit eternally by God’s being just what He is. Because He is what He is, He lifts up our heads out of the prison house, changes our prison garments for royal robes, and makes us to eat bread continually before Him all the days of our lives. Grace takes its rise far back in the heart of God, in the awful and incomprehensible abyss of His holy being; but the channel through which it flows out to men is Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. The apostle Paul, who beyond all others is the exponent of grace in redemption, never disassociates God’s grace from God’s crucified Son. Always in his teachings the two are found together, organically one and inseparable. (Ephesians 1:5-7)”

“John also in the Gospel that bears his name identifies Christ as the medium through which grace reaches mankind: “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” But right here it is easy to miss the path and go far astray from the truth; and some have done this. They have compelled this verse to stand by itself, unrelated to other Scriptures bearing on the doctrine of grace, and have made it teach that Moses knew only law and Christ knows only grace. So the Old Testament is made to be a book of law and the New Testament a book of grace. The truth is quite otherwise.

The law was given to men through Moses, but it did not originate with Moses. It had existed in the heart of God from before the foundation of the world. On Mount Sinai it became the legal code for the nation of Israel; but the moral principles it embodies are eternal. The spring of Christian morality is the love of Christ, not the law of Moses; nevertheless there has been no abrogation of the principles of morality contained in the law. No privileged class exists exempt from that righteousness which the law enjoins.

The Old Testament is indeed a book of law, but not of law only. Before the great flood Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord,” and after the law was given God said to Moses, “Thou hast found grace in my sight.” No one was ever saved other than by grace, from Abel to the present moment. Grace indeed came by Jesus Christ, but it did not wait for His birth in the manger or His death on the cross before it became operative. Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The first man in human history to be reinstated in the fellowship of God came through faith in Christ. In olden times men looked forward to Christ’s redeeming work; in later times they gaze back upon it, but always they came and they come by grace, through faith.

We must keep in mind also that the grace of God is infinite and eternal. Instead of straining to comprehend this as a theological truth, it would be better and simpler to compare God’s grace with our need. We can never know the enormity of our sin. What we can know is that “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Who shall define the limitless grace of God? Its “much more” plunges our thoughts into infinitude and confounds them there. All thanks be to God for grace abounding!”

A W Tozer – The Mercy and the Grace of God (selective quotes, emphasis in bold are mine)

Related Posts:

Misunderstanding Grace : “outside the law” is not the same as having no law

Misunderstanding Grace – Antinomianism’s primary error is confusing Justification with Sanctification

The Heart of Every Real Christian is Most Reverent Towards the Law of the Lord

Misunderstanding on the teaching of Grace

Misunderstanding on the teaching of Grace

Romans 6:15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

In Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ “Studies in the Sermon on the Mount“, he commented that misunderstanding will arise when preaching with a “mighty emphasis upon grace”. An erroneous and dangerous misunderstanding led some to think and believe wrongly that the perfect moral Law of God, Decalogue or Ten Commandments, has no place in the life of a  believer:  New Testament’s grace has made the Old Testament’s moral law  redundant. This is not the truth taught by scriptures:

“There was never a man whose preaching, with its mighty emphasis upon grace, was so frequently misunderstood [as Paul]. You remember the deduction some people had been drawing in Rome and in other places. They said, ‘Now then, in view of the teaching of this man Paul, let us do evil that grace may abound, for, surely, this teaching is something that leads to that conclusion and to no other. Paul has just been saying, “Where sin abounded grace did much more abound”; very well, let us continue in sin that more and more grace may abound.’ ‘God forbid’, says Paul; and he is constantly having to say that. To say that because we are under grace we therefore have nothing at all to do with law and can forget it, is not the teaching of the Scriptures. We certainly are no longer under the law but under grace. Yet that does not mean we need not keep the law. We are not under the law in the sense that it condemns us; it no longer pronounces judgement or condemnation on us. No! but we are meant to live it, and we are even meant to go beyond it. The argument of the Apostle Paul is that I should live, not as a man who is under the law, but as Christ’s free man. Christ kept the law, He lived the law; as this very Sermon on the Mount emphasizes, our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. Indeed, He has not come to abolish the law; every jot and tittle of the law has to be fulfilled and perfected. Now that is something which we very frequently find forgotten in this attempt to put up law and grace as antitheses, and the result is that men and women often completely and entirely ignore the law.

But let me put it this way. It is not true to say of many of us that in actual practice our view of the doctrine of grace is such that we scarcely ever take the plain teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ seriously ?  We have so emphasized the teaching that all is of grace and that we ought not to imitate His example in order to make ourselves Christians, that we are virtually in the position of ignoring His teaching altogether and of saying that it has nothing to do with us because we are under grace. Now I wonder how seriously we take the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ . ” Martyn Lloyd-Jones – Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, i, p. 12 (emphasis in bold are mine)

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Mathews 5:17- 20

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void. Luke 16:17

Related Posts:

Misunderstanding Grace : “outside the law” is not the same as having no law

Misunderstanding Grace: Easy to miss the path and go far astray from the truth

Misunderstanding Grace – Antinomianism’s primary error is confusing Justification with Sanctification

The Heart of Every Real Christian is Most Reverent Towards the Law of the Lord

My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe - Hebrews 12:28

“My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness“

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who bore my pain;
Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace
And gave me life again;
Who crushed my curse of sinfulness
And clothed me in His light
And wrote His law of righteousness
With pow’r upon my heart.

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who walks beside;
Who floods my weaknesses with strength
And causes fears to fly;
Whose ev’ry promise is enough
For ev’ry step I take,
Sustaining me with arms of love
And crowning me with grace.

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To him who reigns above,
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace,
Whose ev’ry thought is love.
For ev’ry day I have on earth
Is given by the King;
So I will give my life, my all,
To love and follow him.

“My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness“
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2003 Thankyou Music

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My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness