The Judgment, Mercy and Grace of God!

There are some Christians who cannot accept and will not accept that the Bible teaches that God chose only to give His Son for an Elect people and not for all people—that comes from having a view of God that because God is love, God has to give His Son for every individual who has ever lived. But you have to answer the question, why does God have to give His Son for every individual who has ever lived—God is not obliged to give His Son to anyone—if God wants to give His Son for only one person, God is righteous to do so—God has that right to do that. God does not owe anybody anything except judgment and an eternity in hell for the sins we have committed against Him. No one can demand salvation from God—we do not have that right, for the Bible says in Romans 3:23 LITV, for all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That is why it is called grace.  

So you see that salvation is by God’s mercy and grace in and through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—for His took the judgment of God for those who will put their faith in Him—it is a gift from God’s gracious hand. God has the right to whom He wants to by the good pleasure of His will to provide that gift of His mercy and grace to save them and to bring them into His family and make them sons and daughters of God. 

You might say that is not fair—why do you say that, for those whom Christ did not die for, they will continue to wilfully reject him as Lord and Saviour and they will receive what they deserve as a Christ rejecter, not mercy and grace but judgment and eternity in hell—they are only getting what they deserve—they are receiving their wages for their sin, For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a LITV). God is not be unloving when He passes over someone, no, He is a righteous and holy God who must judge them who reject Christ—God is love, absolutely, which means that God loves that which is right and holy and good, thus he must punish sinners who die in their sins without the Lord Jesus Christ—but for them whom God extended His love to by his mercy and grace through and in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, are loved by God in His Son, for Christ took their sins for them on the Cross and paid their sin debt in full and was buried and rose from the dead for their justification—they have been clothed in His righteousness.

If you are not a true believer in Christ, God commands you to repent and come to faith in Christ (see Acts 17:30-31)—if you disobey and continue rejecting Him, then there is no mercy or grace after death, only judgment, for the Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 LITV, And as it is reserved to men once to die, and after this judgment. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you do, it is because of the mercy and grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, and if you do not, it is because you wilfully reject Him. 

True Saving Faith in Christ

The Bible is very clear that a person is saved by the Grace of God alone through faith alone in Christ alone- The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-10 LITV For by grace you are saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, that not anyone should boast; for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before prepared that we should walk in them,  nothing we do, not by our works of righteousness, for the Bible says our works of righteousness are like a menstruous cloth in the sight of the Holy God, for the Bible says in Isaiah 64:6 LITV But we are all as the unclean thing , and all our righteousnesses are as a menstruous cloth. And we all fade as a leaf, and like the wind our iniquities take us away.  A believer is saved by the perfect Work of Christ, by His death, burial and resurrection - The Bible says in 1Corinthians 15:1-4 LITV But, brothers, I reveal to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand, by which you also are being kept safe, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you in the first place what I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised the third day, according to the Scriptures, - When a person come to Christ, he/she receives Christ's perfect righteousness, which is imputed to their account, which is shown in Romans 3:22 LITV even the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ toward all and upon all those believing; for there is no difference, - A believer is declared righteous by God in the righteousness of Christ. The Bible says in Romans 4:8 LITV Blessed are those whose lawlessnesses are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed the man to whom the Lord will in no way charge sin."  Christ has paid the sin debt fully for every believer in Him.

The Bible also teaches that nobody would ever come to the Lord Jesus Christ unless born from above (which means a spiritual birth). The Bible says in John 3:3 LITV Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, if one does not receive birth from above, he is not able to see the kingdom of God.  The Bible tells us in the same chapter, this is a work of the Holy Spirit- John 3:5-7 LITV Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, if one does not receive birth out of water and Spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God. That receiving birth from the flesh is flesh, and that receiving birth from the Spirit is spirit. Do not wonder because I told you, You must receive birth from above. If the Holy Spirit does not work in this way in an individual, a person will continue to hate God- continue to reject Christ- for the Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9 LITV The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is incurable; who can know it?  The Bible says in Romans 3:11 LITV There is none that understands, there is "not one that seeks after God. 

So, the Bible teaches a sinner is saved by Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and not by any works we do, but the Bible also says that a person who has true saving faith, will produce good fruit- good fruit will come forth. The Bible says in Philippians 1:6 LITV being persuaded of this very thing, that the One having begun a good work in you will finish it until the day of Jesus Christ. 

The Bible says in 1John 3:9-10 LITV Everyone who has been begotten of God does not sin, because His seed abides in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. When the Bible says, 'does not sin' and 'not able to sin', it means one who is born again does not habitually practice sin, and he/she is not able to habitually practice sin like they did before salvation- it does not mean sinless perfection, for the Bible says in 1John 1:8 LITV If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, but speaks of practice, which is seen in verse 10, By this the children of God and the children of the Devil are revealed: Everyone not practicing righteousness is not of God; also the one not loving his brother.  A person who is habitually practicing sin is not saved- they have never known the Lord Jesus Christ- never been saved. The Bible says that Christians are a new creation- 2Corinthians 5:17 LITV So that if anyone is in Christ, that one is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new! 

Obviously, when a person comes to Christ, they are a babe in Christ, and they need to mature in the faith- even matured Christians will continue to be sanctified through their Christian life, which will be completed at glorification- the Bible says in 1John 3:2 LITV Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it was not yet revealed what we shall be. But we know that if He is revealed, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is, but God continues to work in the lives of His people in Christ, like we have already seen in Philippians 1:6, through His Word 2Timothy 3:16-17 LITV Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, so that the man of God may be perfected, fully furnished for every good work, by the power of the Holy Spirit John 14:26 LITV but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and shall remind you of all things that I said to you. 

To conclude, a saved person does not look to their works for salvation, but to whom they have their faith in for salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ, but when a person comes to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and trust in Him alone to save them by His death, burial and resurrection, the good fruit will naturally come, not to get saved, but because they are saved, and be evident of a regenerate person in Christ, who has a true saving faith in God, who is now a spiritual man (having the Spirit), and not a natural man (without the Spirit of God). 

Salvation is of the Lord

God's Wisdom and Man's Foolishness

I like to listen to radio programs where they discuss about various topics (not all topics), and listen to what people have to say on them, but one of the problems is the increasing number of radio presenters who blaspheme the Name of the Lord. I have switched off programs on different stations because of the blaspheming. 

Not only that, but there are times when a radio presenter will talk about Christianity, and they have no idea what they are talking about. It is amazing that when it comes to Christianity many people (including radio presenters) think they are experts, but they sound foolish to the ears of people who know Christ and His Word.

The Bible says in 1Corinthinas 2:14LITV, "But a natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

The Bible tells us that the natural man, one without the Spirit of God, an unbeliever, can not know the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know them, and because the truth (God's Word), which is not foolishness, but precious, is foolishness to the natural man, an unbeliever, he will speak foolish things to oppose the truth and defend the lie.

Paul the apostle wrote in 1Corinthians 1:18LITV, "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those being lost, but to us being saved, it is the power of God."

The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not foolishness, but the wisdom of God, and how blessed we are who know the Lord, the One who opened our spiritual eyes to see the beauty of His Gospel.  Amen.

What About Romans 5:8?

Jesus will save people from every tribe, 
tongue, people and nation (Rev. 5:9)

There are  Christians who believe that Romans 5:8 means Christ died for all, every individual.

Let us look briefly at Romans 5:8,

v. 7 and 8 LITV, For with difficulty one will die for a just one, (for perhaps one even dares to die for the sake of the good one), 8. but God commends His love to us in this, that we being yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Paul wrote, God commends His love to "us" in this, that "we" being yet sinners, Christ died for "us". Obviously the pronouns "us" and "we" are speaking about the same people in v. 8. Let us carry on into verse 9.

Much more then, being justified now by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Notice the pronoun "we" again in verse 9. Reading v. 8 in its context, Paul is making a connection between v. 8 and v. 9, and referring to the same people  in v. 8 and v. 9 with his usage of "we" and "us", and the Bible says in v. 9, the "we" have been justified by His blood, and shall be saved from the wrath through Him. Who is justified by Jesus' blood, and shall be saved from the wrath of God?

The Bible says in Romans 5:1 LITV, Then being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The same "we" in 5:1 (and you can follow it all the way through to Romans 5:11) is the same "we" and "us" in v. 8. which speak of the believing ones in the Lord Jesus.

It is very clear Paul refers to the Elect of God when he wrote in v.8 "Christ died for us". He is not referring to every individual, but His chosen people, who will come to faith by the grace of God and be justified, and be saved from His wrath.

The Bible says in Revelation 5:9 LITV, And they sing a new song, saying Worthy are You to receive the scroll, and to open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood purchased us to God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

Entering Through the Narrow Gate by Pastor Elisha John

A powerful sermon preached by pastor Elisha John of Grace Baptist Church Stratford London called 'Entering Through the Narrow Gate' (Matthew 7:13-14)~ click on the link to go to the Church's Website, to listen to the sermon
http://www.gbcsl.org/listen/?sermon_id=29