Mar 18
18
Christ is the way
Isaiah 35: 8: And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be
called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it;
Earthly Zion was where the city of Jerusalem was. It was the place where
the one altar and the one mercy-seat were. That was the one place where
the Lord in manifest glory communed with His covenant people. Therefore,
access to earthly Zion was the most important part of the believers life.
Eventually, Judah was carried away captive by Babylon. The true
believers longed to be redeemed from captivity and for a highway by
which they could return to Zion, to the tabernacle of the Lord, to
return into the presence of God. In due time the LORD raised up a king
who set the captives free; and as promised, the LORD gave them a highway
and the remnant returned to Zion with songs of rejoicing.
The good news of the gospel is far greater than a highway to some
earthly place here below. When sin entered the world and death by sin,
all mankind was taken into captivity in sin and separation from God. But
God had a remnant chosen in Christ. In the fullness of time, Christ the
King was raised up. He built the King’s Highway. And he is the Way. By
the Holy Spirit of God, every chosen child shall be newly born and
called into Christ the Way, kept in him. Every believer shall make our
pilgrimage in the Way from the sinful wilderness of Babylon to heavenly
Zion.
Clay Curtis
Strait is the gate and narrow is the way
“Enter ye in at the strait gate…Strait is the gate and narrow is the way
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” “Strive to
enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to
enter in, and shall not be able” (Matthew 7:13; Luke 13:24
The words above were spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ. And He said in
another place, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
Since then, HE is the “Strait gate,” “the narrow way,” and the “life:”
and since HE is received through simple faith and trust (Acts 10:43;
16:30,31; Rom. 10:1-17; John 3:14-16, 36), WHY is the entrance and way
of life described as being so strait, so narrow, so compressed, so
difficult?
Is it because men are so sinful and their sins so numerous that, with
such a load, they cannot squeeze into the kingdom of God? No, that is
not the difficulty. The most wicked and vile sinner who ever lived may
enter the “strait gate” with ease and walk comfortable and joyfully in
the “narrow way” . . . all the way to glory.
It is not because men cannot enter with their SINS, but because they
cannot enter with their RIGHTEOUSNESS! It is man’s supposed
righteousness – his self-righteousness – which will bar his entrance
into God’s kingdom. He must lay aside every fig leaf of
self-righteousness in order to be clothed of God and enter God’s
kingdom. Empty, bankrupt sinners are met and welcomed, and led through
the “Strait gate,” by FREE GRACE!
Maurice Montgomery.
The Way Some Call Heresy
“But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call
heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which
are written in the law and in the prophets…” (Acts. 24:14)
Someone recently referred to our congregation as a cult saying, “They
don’t believe like most churches. They have this weird view of God as
sovereign in everything, even to the point of saying that He doesn’t
actually want to save everyone, and that Christ didn’t die for everyone.”
Isn’t it a shame that the state of affairs is such today that people
actually consider what we believe as heresy? Yet, we can take heart in
knowing that natural men have always considered the truth of God’s
sovereignty in all things as heretical. That is because the flesh is at
enmity with God. That is why they said of Christ, “He has a demon,”
(John 10:20). Look at the context! It was because He said that He came
to redeem those sheep that the Father had given Him and not everyone.
Our Lord concluded with these words, “But ye believe not, because ye are
not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know
them (from all eternity), and they follow me.”
If you are the Lord’s, why would men say anything less of you than they
said of Him? As the Apostle Paul testified, “That after the way which
they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all
things which are written in the law and in the prophets.”
Is anything but a sovereign God taught in Scripture? (Psalm 115:3) Then
I confess Him as He is! Do the Scriptures teach that my salvation is
because of His choosing me, not me choosing Him? (Psalm 65:4) Then I
give Him all the glory! Does the Bible say that I am dead in my sin and
that God must give me life in order to know the Lord Jesus and believe
on Him? (John 6:63-65) Then I bow to Him and agree with God.
Because the Bible teaches that God loves only those He has chosen in
Christ, will I then try to alter His Word to make His saving love
applicable to all? No! That is to pervert the Scriptures to my own
destruction, (2 Peter 3:17) I confess that the only way I or anyone else
can worship God is if He accepts me and receives me as His own. How does
He do that? By His sovereign electing grace, through the blood and
righteousness of Jesus Christ alone, whereby all that He has chosen are
made accepted in Him (Ephesians 1:3-7). Is this your confession of faith?
Don Bell
“I Am The Way”
John 14:6
The Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate, crucified, risen, exalted Son of
God says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me.” Christ is THE DOOR; you cannot enter into the
kingdom of God, but by him. Christ is THE WAY; you cannot come unto the
Father, but by him. Christ is THE TRUTH; you cannot know God or the
things of God, but by him. Christ is THE LIFE; you cannot live, but by
him. He alone gave you physical life. He alone can give you spiritual
life. He alone can bring you into everlasting life. Meditate on these
four, blessed words that fell from the lips of our Savior, “I am the way.”
Christ is THE ONLY WAY. There never has been but one way of salvation
and life, and that way is Christ. To him we must come, trusting his
blood atonement, his perfect righteousness, his heavenly intercession,
and his almighty grace as our Mediator. We must look to Christ alone for
acceptance with God (Gal. 5:1-4).
Christ is THE OLD WAY. He is the way ordained before the foundation of
the world, the way set forth in the Old Testament Scriptures, the way by
which Abel came to God, Enoch walked with God, Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord, and the way by which all the saints of all ages past
have worshipped the Lord God.
Christ is THE GOOD WAY. He is the good Shepherd and the good way. He is
the covenant appointed way (Heb. 13:20), the new and living way (Heb.
10:19-22), and the publicly, divinely approved way (Matt. 17:5).
Christ is THE BEST WAY. If there had been any possibility of any other
way it could never have been accepted, because Christ is the best way
possible. He is the way which glorifies God in all his attributes,
secures the salvation of all God’s elect with infallible certainty,
honors God’s holy law in its entirety, gives hope to helpless sinners,
and satisfies all the demands of the believer’s own conscience.
Christ is the Way. So let us WALK IN HIM, trusting his merits,
submitting to his rule, surrendering to his claims, seeking his will,
obeying his ordinances, and serving the honor of his name.
Don Fortner
If my wife asked me if I loved her, and I replied that I did in a sense,
it would not be received well. I hear preachers speak of God loving all
men in a sense, and sincerely offering mercy and forgiveness to all men
– that is quite simply not true! The apostles never told an unbelieving
crowd that God loved them and offered them forgiveness. The unbeliever
needs to know that he has offended a holy God by his sin and has become
God’s enemy by his hatred of God. But there is salvation in Christ! God
has made a way to be just and yet justify the ungodly. If you trust
Christ alone as your only grounds of acceptance, you will be saved. To
say there is a sense in which God loves is degrading to the character of
the love of God. To say He offers forgiveness puts my forgiveness
dependent on my acceptance or rejection of the offer. That is salvation
by works! -Todd Nibert
Sovereign or Superior Grace?
Many, I have found report to believe in Sovereign Grace. They speak of
their love for a God who sovereignly elected a people, a Christ who
sovereignly atoned for those particular people alone, and a Spirit who
sovereignly and successfully regenerates the same chosen people. In
their confessions, they boldly and uncompromisingly speak of the
“doctrines of grace” as gospel truth. Using scripture, reason, and
history, they can debate their position quite convincingly. They seem to
stand firm in their belief that ‘Salvation is of the Lord’. They write
eloquently about the old paths and gather for Bible conferences to
promote a restoration of sound doctrine. I am sure you can tell by my
tone thus far that I believe there to be a fly in the ointment. There
is, and it stinks to high heaven. The truth is that many of these
supporters of “Sovereign Grace” really only believe in a superior grace.
Their refusal to declare a man-centered, works religion as soul damning
heresy tells me that what they mean by sovereign is really only
superior. Their belief that a person can know the Lord Jesus Christ
through the ministry of a lie tells me that what they mean by sovereign
is really only superior. Their unwillingness to renounce their
experiences in arminianism as bogus tells me that what they mean by
sovereign is really only superior. Words are only as good as the
definitions we attach to them. If salvation is only by the sovereign
grace of God in Christ Jesus, then truly no lie can be of the truth.
Many “sovereign gracers” need to repent of two things. The pride of
thinking that they have superior truth when really they have not known
the Truth at all, and the fear of separating themselves from less
fortunate “brethren” who are really not brethren at all. -Greg Elmquist.
Salvation is of the Lord
My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation –Psalm 13: 5.
This is the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation is
of the Lord and His people do rejoice in Him (Phil. 3:7-9; 2 Tim. 1:9).
1). He is the Author of it, before there was a sinner there was a
Saviour; before Adam fell in sin, Christ stood as the everlasting Surety
(Heb. 7:22; 13:20 Rev. 13:8).
2). He is the Accomplisher of salvation, He bought us with His own blood
and righteousness (John 19:30; Acts 20:28; Heb. 1:3).
3). He is the Applier of salvation, He will have mercy on whom He will
(Rom. 9:13-16; Phil. 1:6).
4). He is the Administer of salvation, we are kept by His will and power
(John 6:37-39; 10:27-30; 17:2; 1 Peter 1:5).
5). He is the Advocate of salvation; He ever lives to make intercession
for us (Rom. 8:28-35; 1 Tim. 2:51 John 2:1-2).
Tom Harding