The Gospel of the Bible Salvation of sinners is all about the glory of God (Rom 11:36, Col 3:11, 2 Thess 2:14) and it is in this salvation of sinners that all the divine attributes of God are gloriously revealed. The reconciliation of fallen sinners to a Holy God requires the infinitely powerful work of […]
Effectual Atonement Isaiah 53:10-12 What happened at Calvary? Did the Lord Jesus Christ redeem His people from all iniquity; or did he merely make them redeemable? Did He actually put away our sins; or did He merely make it possible for our sins to be put away? Did the Lamb of God reconcile us to […]
All true religion Jesus is . . . our sun, and without Him all is darkness; our life, and without Him all is death; the beginner and finisher of our faith; the substance of our hope; the object of our love. It is the Spirit who quickens us . . . to feel our need […]
Paying for admittance into heaven (Horatius Bonar, “Bible Thoughts and Themes”) “He saved us–not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy.” Titus 3:5 Ritualism, or externalism, or traditionalism are all different forms of self-righteousness; man’s self-invented ways of pleasing or appeasing God, or paying for admittance into heaven. These forms of […]
Stuffed Christians? Spurgeon’s, “Life’s Ever Springing Well” “We are all Christians.” “Why, we belong to a Christian nation; are we not born Christians?” “Surely we must be all right; we have always attended our parish church, is not that enough?” “Our parents were always godly; we were born into the church, were we not? Did […]
So many truly sincere and religious people (J. C. Philpot, “Answers to Inquiries”) “Cornelius and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.” Acts 10:2 Yet Cornelius and his family weren’t saved! (Acts 11:14) –A generous centurion build a synagogue. (Luke 7:3-5)–A young man keeps the commandments from his […]
Sheep or swine? (John Ensor) “The swine that has been washed returns to wallow in the mire.” 2 Peter 2:22 Sheep and swine can both end up in the mire. Yet the essential difference in their two natures is quite visible from the reaction each has to its fallen condition. While sheep do stray and stumble into the mire, […]
Shun them as they would the plague! (Arthur Pink) “Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them!” 2 Timothy 3:5 There are a multitude of such today! ”Having a form of godliness.” This means that they have a religious veneer. They bear the name of Christ, belong to some so-called evangelical […]
Head or Heart? (From Octavius Winslow’s, “The Coming of the Lord in its Relation to Nominal Christianity”) A person may have well balanced theology, and his general views of truth would be considered evangelical and orthodox. And yet, thus far may he proceed in the deepest ‘self deception’. With all this “form of knowledge,” this […]
Every religion except one puts you upon doing something in order to recommend yourself to God… It is the business of all false religion to patch up a righteousness in which the sinner is to stand before God. But it is the business of the glorious gospel to bring near to us, by the hand […]