The Need, Message, and Result of Christ (Luke 16:14-17:4)

"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. And He said to them,You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail. Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery. (vs13-18)

Our Lord Jesus is the King, the true glory of God, and the issue of chief concern of man. Rather than argue and debate, enter in. He alone can save you, and He demands full surrender. He only speaks by His word, and when the word roots itself in us, it produces love and forgiveness as fruit.

First, Christ is the issue between God and man, the number One thing (vs14-18). He alone can pay the sin debt, and you can't have Him until you're delivered from the law. You can't stand in your strength and grace, so only when Christ is all, when He alone puts away sin, then you can be saved from God's wrath. He says, to illustrate that we must be delivered from the law justly, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery with her”. Paul teaches us in Romans 7:1-4, “So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, through she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God”.

He paid the penalty, and we've done nothing. Let's be straight. We deserve damnation, except He paid for us, and now, we have fullness of Christ's grace. We are welcomed, loved, and blessed continually because of Christ and His obedience.

Secondly, if we don't believe the word, we won't be saved (vs19-31). He said, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead”. He speaks in the heavens, speaks in conscience, and He speaks everywhere saying that He is God, and yet He will not speak to men who refuse His word. He won't give some other proof. The word shows the Savior's need, the Savior's work prophesied, the Savior finishing the work, and the Savior in glory, sat down at God's right hand, producing Christians. Don't say you have no proof. You have logic, the word of God revealed, and the revelation of truth after truth. If you refuse to see, then you'll be blind, not because more is needed, but because you've rejected the only hope that you have.

Thirdly, if we've seen Christ truthfully and savingly, then we love the Son of God by loving sinners (Luke 17:1-4). He says, “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, I repent, you shall forgive him”. People sin against us, but we see Christ, obedient forever. They may hate and mock us, but we see ourselves plucking out His beard, sinning daily, and blaspheming God by our inconsistencies. Therefore, we say, “I will forgive, even as I’m forgiven”.

One thing about repentance and trials is that it delivers us from self-importance into humility with God and man. We've seen our failures, so we aren't so quick to condemn the failures in others.

Don't drive Christ away. Forgive.

Finally, the gospel is Christ exalting, according to the word, and unto good works.

“Having Obtained Eternal Redemption” (Heb 9:1-22)

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (vs11-12)

The Lord Jesus obtained eternal redemption, satisfied God's justice, and earned the guaranteed salvation of all that the Father gave Him in election and foreknowledge. Here, He is revealed as fulfilling the shadows of the law and accomplishing what the old covenant never could, which is real reconciliation, forgiveness, and inheritance from God.

First, the main point is the gospel, not the details of the old covenant, but the clear revelation of Christ (vs1-4). Of the law, we read, “Of these things we cannot now speak in detail”. Don't be distracted from Him. Little things in life don't matter.  He matters only.

Secondly, reformation, or straightening things out, was mandatory because the law couldn't remove sin (vs6-10). It was, “concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation”. It pictured a time coming, when Jesus would fulfill the symbols and reconcile sinners to God.  The old covenant's impotence necessitated the new.

Thirdly, blood redemption makes us serve God in the power of forgiveness (vs11-15). We read, “how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”  We see God's love by the Spirit who gives fruitful knowledge, causing us to love God and His people.  When love abates, the sinner is unforgiven, not walking by faith in redemption, and thereby powerless to do good. 

Don't despair.  Look honestly at Calvary, confessing your sins, and receive reconciliation.  It comes with love, power, and zeal (1 Tim 1:14).

Finally, death is how testaments are enforced, so death was required to loose the blessings God promised us (Heb 9:16-22). “For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives”. This testament is the blessings of the everlasting covenant, even life, faith, and love... even power over sin, and heaven to come. God died, giving up everything that He had – Himself - so that He could give us all that He has – Himself - in forgiveness, grace, and love. Death is how we get life, and death is the payment for sin.

The Sabbath and New Covenant in Christ (Luke 5:33-6:11)

“And no man puts new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish” (Luke 5:37).

Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath, the truth of the gospel, and the One that we follow, only.

First, the old covenant is done away, and we have the new  - “But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.  No man also having drunk old wine immediately desires new: for he says, The old is better” (Luke 5:38-39).  We are new creations in Christ, walking in newness of life, by the work Christ fulfilled for us.  He PUT AWAY the sins of the old covenant and brought in the blessings of the new - “And for this cause, He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might received the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator” (Heb 9:15-16).  We are not in two covenants or some mixture, but Christ is all, has fulfilled all, gets all the glory, and He is everything in right worship. God has put everything in the Son,  but you can't have Him and the law. You can't have Christ and any other way; it is Christ alone and Christ always, or it isn't God.

Secondly, the Lord rules the Sabbath, so that we follow Him and not Moses,  “And He said to them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5).  We are not under the law but under the law to Christ, so that obeying the Son is sufficient (1 Cor 9:20-21). The law of Christ is love.  All along, the spirit of the law was intended, and the spirit is exalted by the worship of God in Christ. By faith, we trust His sacrifice and effort, and by love, we show the holiness revealed in God.

We are Christ's, belonging to Him.

Thirdly, some are angered by the mercies of Christ  - “Then Jesus said unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? To save life, or to destroy it?  And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness; and communed with one another what they might do to Jesus” (Luke 6:9-11).  They want their religion and won't let go of their toys . They want their way of doing things, but they don't want God's way of doing things, whereby He shows mercy to sinners, so we can love.

It is not enough to love; it must be love FLOWING from the cross. It isn't enough to say “God is love”; it must be the love that is on God's terms by redemption accomplished for souls chosen beforehand - “Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him.  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).  It is not enough to be religious. Christ comes saying, “True religion is ME and being like Me”, and when men get upset because they'd rather have their way, it is because you're killing their hopes.

So many hate election because they feel insecure, like they may perish. But, the door is for all, and it's WIDE open - “God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities” (Acts 3:26). He won't cast you out. We should never fear grace, mercy, or any of the commands of God because He FREELY gives grace to obey. God is good, and His way is amazing grace.  He will save all who want saving on His terms.

Finally, don't be duped out of salvation by your religion. Don't hold to the law; hold to Christ.  Worship God rightly, and enjoy the mercies of the Savior, who makes you merciful too.

The Rule and Riddle - William Huntington (Highly Recommended)

The Rule and Riddle

This is the best thing I've read on the believer's freedom from the law.

http://www.williamhuntington.net/Works/Misc/603.htm#THE_LAW_NOT_OF_FAITH_BUT_OF_WORKS_

"Able Ministers of the New Covenant" (2 Cor 3-4:2)

The message of God’s glory is the saving message of the gospel.  The law is His glory to condemn the sinner, demanding PERFECTION equal to His character. But, in the GOSPEL, He sets forth Christ crucified for sinners, so that He gives us life eternal, perpetually cleansing and pardoning us, being faithful in love, in spite of our sins.

Paul commends himself to the Corinthians, not by letters of their approval, but by the fact they know Christ through his teaching.  He is God’s instrument in the new covenant, used to preach Christ in love.  He, like all God-sent preachers is graced by God, so that he is the “able minister of the new covenant” -  “Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you?  You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men;  clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.  And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,  who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (vs1-6)

The law’s glory is done away.  It is good to tell men of God’s standard and promise them wrath for not repenting, but the gospel’s glory is so far greater than the law, that it is like the sun to the moon, so that once risen, the other cannot be seen - “But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.  For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.  For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.” (vs7-11)

We approach God and live with Him, not by what I deserve by my promises and merit, but by what God has promised and Christ has earned for me.  And, this gospel of a “top down” God saving sinners is so hopeful that we use great plainness of speech.  If we tried to manipulate men and hide the truth, it wouldn’t help. But, we openly preach mercy to sinners because God uses mercy preached to bestow mercy and change people, manifestly revealing them as His, approved of and saved by Christ - “Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech: and not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished” (vs12-13).

The law’s glory is hidden by preachers, and Satan strives to assure men they aren’t as bad as scripture says… that God can be appeased by their best efforts. Yet, this VEILING of the law’s glory only shuts the door, so that people can’t trust Christ. As long as you think yourself anything more than hell-deserving and helpless, you will not turn to Christ.  But, when you do turn, then He will receive you, no matter the past -  “But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.  But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. “ (vs13-16)

The gospel’s glory isn’t merely God, but it is also God revealing Himself in a changing way, so that as we see Him gracious in Christ, we’re changed into His likeness.  As we see Him GIVING us eternal life, we become gracious people. As He FREELY forgives, just by  receiving the GIFT of eternal life, we become forgivers and lovers of men - “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.   But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.   Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.  But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Cor 3:17-4:2)

The gospel’s glory is Jesus Christ Himself who saves us by the Spirit, conforming us into His wonderful image.  We’re made faithful, manifesting ourselves as of God by what and how we preach, by the impact of holiness visible.

Which covenant are you under?  Are you under the gospel that gives you life, makes you righteous, and blesses you repeatedly and eternally?  Or, are you under the law, cursed of God, with no way out except the Savior?

Love is the End of the Gospel (1 Tim 1:1-11)

The Lord Jesus commands us to love as the result of the gospel: we’re to believe we’re loved and love others in return - “Now the end result of  the commandment [to preach Christ] is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and faith unfeigned” (vs5).

This isn’t a feeling, but it is the purpose of the gospel that MUST be preached - “As I besought you to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that you might charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying, which is in faith” (vs3-4). We are not to ponder, doubt, and debate our salvation; receive it FULLY and freely, even as God gives, and love others because you’re saved.

Paul was an apostle, sent by God, according to God’s command.  Each of us is COMMMANDED to serve the Savior, and He gives GRACE, mercy, and peace to all who preach in truth - “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord” (vs1-2).  We are not only graciously (freely) saved, but mercifully also, so that our misery and failures are relieved.  We are peaceful with God because He’s reconciled us, ever to be at peace with us, by the cross.  He punished the Savior, so He’ll never forsake us for any reason.

We who preach are preachers of the gospel!  The law is good to condemn, but it serves no purpose in producing holiness - “From which [gospel] some having swerved have turned aside unto vain talk; desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm (vs6-7). The gospel is God’s ONLY message to stir up faith, so make sure you hear it and your pastor is DEVOTED to the cause. Don’t be swayed by untruths, stories, and moral fables.  Hear the saving message of Christ - a God whom you must believe, who FREELY saves by faith alone.

This gospel PRODUCES the required love.  Just go out and love people as forgiven, even if sin stains your mind and you’ve fallen, again.  Love people as blessed of God, and know that your loving obedience will be blessed also.

Many preachers think they’re smart and talk loudly about keeping the law, but they have no clue. The law is for UNBELIEVERS who’re under the curse - “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and those that profane holiness, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for homosexuals, for men stealers, for liars, for oath breakers, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust” (vs8-11).  The righteous man lives by faith in the Son of God, receiving GRACE, mercy, and peace.  Our HOPE before God is real, so we live, not by rules that measure our merit, but by grace that reveals God’s infinite heart.

"Whosoever" (Rom 10:1-13)

If we’re saved, we want others to be saved too; it is the mark of the believer, that we believe God is a Savior, and we believe that men desperately need Christ - “Brethren, my heart‘s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved“ (Rom 10:1).  If we have no knowledge, our godly zeal is false fire; it won’t help the soul; it deludes us into thinking we’re safe, when we’re lost - “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.  For they being ignorant of God‘s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God“(vs2-3).

The righteousness of God is how He saves the sinner by what Christ has done, rather than by what the sinner has done for God. “Be merciful to me the sinner” is the cry of the justified (Luke 18:13-14). God declares those who BELIEVE on Him - who BELIEVE Christ for mercy - to be righteous. If we believe, then Christ JUSTIFIES us, and the law isn’t needed- “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes“ (vs4).   Faith and law are opposites.  Faith receives the Lord, while the law demands I contribute.  The law isn’t “BELIEVE” you should, or BELIEVE that someone has done it for you. The law is DO IT, and you’re saved. Don’t do it, and you die (Gal 3:10-12).  Romans 10:5 says,   - “For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which does those things shall live by them“ (vs5).  This isn’t justification; it is death deceiving all under the curse.

No one needs make Christ WILLING. He met our need already, rising again too.  He paid the debt, put sins away, and He saves the sinner willingly and from the heart. There isn’t pretense in Him!  He did all that was needful, and God said, “Well done”, by raising Him victorious, proving that we are saved graciously and rightfully by the blood - “But the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, Say not in your heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)”  There is no extra work, no last bit of effort needed. “Believe only” because the work is done.  Be saved by the work He finished, rather than helping God!

The word is near you.  It is in your mouth and heart; it is the word preached unto you right now. All you need to do is believe it, like 2+2 is 4 and live that way from now on.  Live upon the truth of your salvation, and it will work out - “But what says it?  The word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved (vs8-9).  

“The Lord Jesus” means that He’s King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the Master and the Boss, and we DO what He says, which is BELIEVE on Him and love as He gave us command (1 John 3:23).  We believe, by grace, and we love by grace, too. (vs9)

The heart - not the mouth, not the actions, not the show - but the HEART is where faith must reside. It can’t be pretense and fraud. We MUST trust the Lord to secure us from sin. We must BOW to His salvation and Him as Savior. God raised the Lord Jesus because He honored God the Father. We believe that His REWARD is evidence we’re SAFE by faith only - “For the scripture says, Whosoever believes on him shall not be put to shame” (vs11).  He says “Do this”, and you’ll be saved, so DO it. Don’t falter, wait, or miss out. Be saved GOD’S way by faith only.  If the heart is RIGHT with God, the mouth is tied to it also - “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation“ (vs10). Confess Christ willingly at all costs.

“Whosoever” includes you and everyone in the world who calls on the Lord. None is EXCLUDED for past or present sin. Salvation is yours absolutely and surely, “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him (vs12).  We won’t trust Him and starve, but He WILL fulfill the promise - For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (vs13).  

BELIEVE FIRST

To call is to say “Lord, save me”, “Lord, if you will, you can”, and “Have mercy on me, O Lord” (Matt 14:30; Matt 8:2; Matt 15:22). We ask Him to help us on His terms as subjects dependent on mercy. We have no merit, no claims of control.  We have only His goodness promised to us in the word. We ASK Him to do for us what we need and can’t deserve, but what He’s promised that He’ll do.  Deliverance is the result of calling.  Bless God.  I’m a sinner with many failures, and yet I’m SAVED from falling, saved from unbelief, and SAVED from my lusts and faults.  The Lord SAVES by paying the price, putting down the rebellion by giving us the Spirit, and by removing the rebellion eternally in the new heavens and new earth. We will dwell in righteousness to sin no more.

That Sin Might Become Exceedingly Sinful (Rom 7:7-13)

“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful” (vs12-13).

To convince us of sin, so that we need Jesus Christ, the holy law comes to reveal the evil that we are. It doesn’t come to reform us or to show what we can do; it comes to reveal that we need help undeserved, without price. God must do everything, and our mouths must be stopped in guilt before God (Rom 3:19-20).

Do you need Jesus Christ to save you from sin‘s penalty, power, and the pain of its stain? Or, are you ok on your own? There are two options here: I need Christ, or I don’t… and if I need Him, then I bow on His terms for the salvation He gives - “And [Pharaoh] made [Joseph] to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt“ (Gen 41:43).

Paul thought himself good until the law came, and then he was blind for three days and nights, “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died” (Rom 7:9).   The law stopped his boasting and revealed him to be a lustful beast, rather than someone that had honored God. Instead of “all these things have I kept since my youth”, it was, “O wretched man that I am, guilty, hell-worthy, undone” (Matt 19:20).   The law STOPS the mouth or the sinner goes to hell, asleep in sin - “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. No, I had not known sin, but by the law, for I had not known lust, except the law had said, You shall not covet“ (Rom 7:7).

Where are you? Alive or sleep? Are you conscience of your need and believing on Christ, or are you deceived into thinking it is OK with you?

If you trust Christ, then the law works in you. If not, then you’re deceived, even now, as you rest without Christ. You think it will work out, but it won’t.  You think your refuge will last, but it will not, “for the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it” (Is 28:20). You’ll pay for your sins, when you could have had a Savior.  You reject the blood of Christ, spitting on God’s holy Son, because you don’t know your need.  You say, “All these things have I kept from my youth up”, and you live proudly, when you’re cursed of God (Matt 19:20). You brag about your goodness and not being as bad as the next person, but except you repent, God’s wrath is on you.  Jesus says, “I tell you, No: but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).

You’re in Christ or condemned.  You’re guilty enough to believe on Him, or you stupid, blind, and lost, thinking yourself safe while you drive towards the cliff.  It is only a matter of time, and He will punish you, getting glory out of using you for hell (Rom 9:22-23).  You either FLEE to the Savior, or you are under wrath, hated by God, and left to yourself.

There is no safe ground but Christ.  Where are you?

You Do the Same Things (Rom 1:13-2:1)

“Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whosoever you are that judges: for wherein you judge another [to be wrong in what they do], you condemn yourself; for you that judges do the same things”(Rom 2:1)

Our only hope is Jesus Christ the Lord. No man stands meritoriously with God, because we’re worthy of wrath.  We have sinned and do sin against God, so we must be SAVED by Jesus bearing our sins, being justified by faith in Him, or we cannot stand - “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness“ (Rom 1:18). We are not GOOD enough to stand on our own, for there is none good but God (Matt 19:16-17).  We can obtain mercy, but we can’t say, “Pay me” and expect less than wrath.

(1) We are ungodly to the point of rejecting light -  “because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse: because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four–footed beasts, and creeping things.” (Ro 1:19-23 ASV) Even though we know that He’s true, we choose the way of sin, because we are cursed to love sin and to hate God as just penalty for our Adamic rebellion (Rom 5:12).  Now, we love evil and hate the good.

(2)  Only Jesus obeyed God, and if we’re saved, it’s because He paid for us and God views us RIGHTEOUS by faith - “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith“ (Rom 1:16-17).  Because Christ did everything to save the elect, the believer is JUSTIFIED freely and may have the blessing.  But, apart from this justification, wrath hovers over us and awaits our end, to punish us forever (vs18).

Men say, “I can stand on my own”, but do you see the list of crimes (Rom 1:26-32)? This is God’s point of view, that you and I are wicked next to Him, that we do things abominable, and even the things that we SEE in others and despise, we do ourselves, for all hate, sin, steal, lie, cheat, and murder, because this is in the heart of man, even if hidden in many actions - “For from within, ot of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickednesses, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23).

No one but the Lord pleases God.  Will you be saved, or will you perish, sinning against light - not only of nature (God in the stars), but also in grace?  Will you forsake the only hope you have? 

(3) Paul preached the gospel because the wrath of God was real, so he was indebted to save men, in response to Christ’s call and commission - “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also“ (Rom 1:14-15).  You and I are to preach the gospel to save hell-bound men, knowing that the issues are GREATER than our own personal happiness. Eternal souls are being saved and lost, and if you think sovereignty excuses responsibility, then you’re wrong. Sovereignty no more excuses the preacher from preaching and pleading, than it excuses the sinner from hearing and believing. We’re under orders, and because hell is eternal and hot, we are compelled to minister to men. Our mind isn’t, “The elect shall be saved, the rest blinded, and we will not care to trouble ourselves about it“. But, we strive to preach Christ and we beg God for opportunity to minister to SAINTS and sinners, so they can be saved.

The faith of the gospel saves, and all else is tragedy. Do you BELIEVE the Son and send His gospel to others, or do you think that you’ll escape some other way?

Law and Gospel: Holiness by the Spirit of God (W. Huntington)

The people had now an opportunity of trying both Sinai and Zion; many ran to and fro, and knowledge was increased. Some found it as I had done, the more law the more bondage, and the more gospel the more love. It served also to separate between servants and sons: some cleaved to the citizens of Jerusalem that now is, and is in bondage, which Christ calls citizens of this country, who feed with husks; and some cleaved to the citizens of Zion, on which mountain the feast of fat things is promised, and where God promises to destroy the face of the covering cast over all nations, and to swallow up death in victory. Never, I think, had Moses more disciples than at that time: but pulpit and press proclaimed little else but the law; but, as those who preached it knew not what they said, so those that published it knew not what they wrote, for not one that I read had ever experienced the application of it; and I knew that I was at a point in this, namely, that I retained the whole morality of the law, by enforcing holiness by the Spirit of God. The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us by the faith of Christ, and love to God and the brotherhood, by the love of God shed abroad in the heart; and all beside these is death.

"God the Guardian of the Poor and the Bank of Faith", Letter 2