Jun 25
24
Three Witnesses to the Believer’s
Saving Interest in Christ
1 John 5:8
“And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, the Water (the Word), and the blood: and these three agree in one.” The witnesses to Christ’s deity are first, the Word, then the blood, and then the Spirit. The witnesses to redemption’s accomplishment are first, the Father, then the Son, and then the Spirit. The witnesses to our saving interest in Christ are first, the Spirit, then the Word, and then the blood.
1. A saving knowledge of Christ begins with the revelation of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).
No one on earth can know and be firmly persuaded that he is one of God’s elect, one of those for whom Christ died, but by the special revelation of God the Holy Spirit. No man can, or should convince another of his salvation in Christ. Only the Spirit of God can convince (John 16:8-14). And if he convinces, you are convinced. He is called the Comforter, because he conveys to our hearts the comfort of our election, redemption, salvation, and eternal acceptance with God. — “For as many as are led by the Sprit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:14-17). At the time appointed, he manifests the glory of Christ’s Person and the merits of his work, creating faith in the hearts of elect sinners (2 Corinthians 4:6; Galatians 1:15; 2 Timothy 1:9-10; Titus 1:2-3; 1 Peter 1:18-20).
2. This saving knowledge of Christ is based upon the record of the written Word of God, symbolised by water (Titus 3:5).
The Spirit never operates independently of his written Word. He reveals Christ supernaturally in the hearts of men. But he reveals Christ only through the instrumentality of gospel preaching. He takes the record of God in his Word and makes it the voice of God in a man’s heart! He declares in our hearts that our redemption is accomplished by Christ’s obedience and death as our Substitute (Hebrews 9:12-14).
3. This saving knowledge of Christ is neither more nor less than faith in his blood.
Faith is the echo of my heart to the voice of God’s Spirit speaking to me by the gospel. The warrant of my faith is the Word of God alone. And the warrant of my assurance is faith alone (1 John 5:9-13). Faith fetches full assurance to the believer’s heart, not from within, but from without, from the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and the naked Word of God.
Don Fortner
“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Galatians 6:14
J.C.Philpot
An experimental knowledge of crucifixion with his crucified Lord made Paul preach the cross, not only in its power to save, but in its power to sanctify. But as then, so now, this preaching of the cross, not only as the meritorious cause of all salvation, but as the instrumental cause of all sanctification, is “to those who perish foolishness.” As men have found out some other way of salvation than by the blood of the cross, so have they discovered some other way of holiness than by the power of the cross; or rather have altogether set aside obedience, fruitfulness, self-denial, mortification of the deeds of the body, crucifixion of the flesh and of the world.
Extremes are said to meet; and certainly men of most opposite sentiments may unite in despising the cross and counting it foolishness. The Arminian despises it for justification, and the Antinomian for sanctification. “Believe and be holy,” is as strange a sound to the latter as “Believe and be saved” to the former. But, “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord,” is as much written on the portal of life as, “By grace are you saved through faith.” Through the cross, that is, through union and communion with him who suffered upon it, not only is there a fountain opened for all sin, but for all uncleanness. Blood and water gushed from the side of Jesus when pierced by the Roman spear.
“This fountain so dear, he’ll freely impart;
Unlocked by the spear, it gushed from the heart,
With blood and with water; the first to atone,
To cleanse us the latter; the fountain’s but one.”
Joseph Hart
“All my springs are in you,” said the man after God’s own heart; and well may we re-echo his words. All our springs, not only of pardon and peace, acceptance and justification–but of happiness and holiness, of wisdom and strength, of victory over the world, of mortification of a body of sin and death, of every fresh revival and renewal of hope and confidence; of all prayer and praise; of every new budding forth of the soul, as of Aaron’s rod, in blossom and fruit; of every gracious feeling, spiritual desire, warm supplication, honest confession, melting contrition, and godly sorrow for sin–all these springs of that life which is hidden with Christ in God are in a crucified Lord. Thus Christ crucified is, “to those who are saved, the power of God.” And as he “is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,” at the cross alone can we be made wise unto salvation, become righteous by a free justification, receive of his Spirit to make us holy, and be redeemed and delivered by blood and power from sin, Satan, death, and hell.
“The Lord God is a Sun.”—Psalm 84:11
The sun, the noblest object in the material works of God, is here enlisted to represent our Lord. In its beauty and in its effects, whether seen by the eye, or felt in its results, it teaches largely. It shines not in vain on the terrestrial globe. May it not shine in vain, as spiritual instruction! Arise, O Sun of Righteousness! abundant source of joy and gladness, and enlighten our minds by the inspiration of Your rays.
In the firmament above, one sun meets our view. From the day in which the Creator’s hand hung out this lamp of light, it has admitted no equal or compeer. Lesser luminaries have indeed glittered, deriving their lustre from this centre; but its seat has always been supreme. No competitor disputes its reign. To this day it rules unrivalled. And the same sun, which gladdened our first parents, shall display its brightness to the last descendant of the race of man.
Thus, in the scheme of redemption, there is but one Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. “As there is one body, and one Spirit, as we are called in one hope of our calling, so also there is one Lord.” (Eph. 4:4) “There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 2:5) Vast is the family of adopting grace; many sons in faith cry “Abba, Father.” Through union with the Lord of Life many are made “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;” but Jesus alone sits on salvation’s throne. The truth is gloriously established: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) A world of lost sinners has one need; one Saviour comes rich to supply. Much is required; one is granted in whom sufficiency abounds. Jesus is the one. “As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners; so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” (Rom. 5:19)
As the sun is seen by its own light, so Christ reveals not perils only, but HIMSELF. He shows His cross—the glorious proof of boundless love. He shows His blood—the precious payment of all debts. He discloses the treasures of His word. Then testimonies, and promises, and endearing calls, and soothing notes of comfort, spring into brilliant life, as beauties in the sun-lit landscape. He draws back the curtains of His heavens, and we see a reconciled God, and catch the glimpses of a weight of glory.
Henry Law
“It is Done!”
Revelation 21:6
How often have you been asked, “What is the difference between your religion and mine?” The answer is found in these three words — “It is done!” All false religion tells sinners to do something for God. The gospel of Christ declares, “It is done!” The gospel of Christ is good news to sinners who can do nothing for themselves, because it declares that the whole work of grace is done. The whole business of making all things new, the entire work of salvation is finished. — “It is done!”
Done
It was done before the world began. All the blessings of grace and salvation were fully given to God’s elect in Christ before the world began (Ephesians 1:3; 2 Timothy 1:9). In him, according to God’s everlasting purpose of grace, we were predestinated, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified from eternity (Romans 8:28-30). The Word of God declares, “The works were finished before the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3)
The work was done when Christ died.When our Savior cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30), he declared that the whole work of righteousness and redemption, the whole accomplishment of God’s will by which we are sanctified and made perfect (Hebrews 10:5-14) was done.
The work is done when the chosen, redeemed sinner believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.Our faith adds nothing to what Christ has done. Faith receives Christ and all that he has done. Yet, no one has any right to claim Christ and the grace of God in him until he believes. — “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son of God shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). If you believe on Christ, you are a new creature in Christ. Your faith in him is the fruit of his creation, the gift of his grace, and the evidence of your election, redemption, and calling.
Done by Christ
The Lord Jesus declares, “I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.” Staying with the context, he is telling us that the whole work of making all things new is his alone. He is the Beginning of the new creation and the End of it. To put it another way, “Salvation is of the Lord!” He planned it. He purchased it. He performs it. He preserves it. And he perfects it. Therefore, he alone shall have the praise of it, — “That according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31).
Grace Abundant
In the new creation, grace is both abundant and free. The Son of God declares, “I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”This spiritual thirst is the thirst of a needy soul for Christ himself, for pardon and righteousness, for communion with and conformity to Christ, a thirst for a greater knowledge of Christ, and a thirst for the glories of his kingdom. This thirst the Lord Jesus promises to quench abundantly, with “the fountain of the water of life,” and promises to do so “freely,” without money, without price, without qualification of any kind to be met by the sinner. In Christ, grace is free and abundant!
Our Inheritance
“He that overcometh shall inherit all things.” All believers shall overcome sin, Satan, and the world, because all believers are more than conquerors in Christ (Romans 8:35-39). Overcoming by the blood of the Lamb, every child of God “shall inherit all things.” We are “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). That means that all that Christ possesses as our Mediator we shall possess in him and with him forever. This one statement from the lips of our Lord should be sufficient to put to silence all questions about degrees of reward in heaven. The Son of God declares that every saved sinner “shall inherit all things!”
Everlasting Sonship
“And I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” — Christ himself, in whom we were adopted and by whom we have been purchased, is the mighty God and our everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6).We are his seed and his offspring. Here he promises us his perpetual presence, protection, and provision forever. In heavenly glory, he will see his seed with satisfaction, prolong his days, and enjoy the fruit of his toil in us forever. He will present us to himself in the perfection of holiness (Ephesians 5:27), and present us to the Father (Hebrews 2:13) “to the praise of the glory of his grace” (Ephesians 1:6). Though now we are the sons of God, “it doth not yet appear what we shall be” (1 John 3:2). But this we are assured of: Christ will forever be ours and we shall forever be his in the fulness and perfection of heavenly glory!
Don Fortner
“The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Proverbs 4:18
The first light that dawns upon the soul is the daybreak of grace. When that blessed period arrives, when the Sun of Righteousness has risen upon the long-benighted mind, how do the shadows of ignorance and of guilt instantly disappear! What a breaking away of, perhaps, a long night of alienation from God, of direct hostility to God, and of ignorance of the Lord Jesus, then takes place. Not, however, strongly marked is this state always at the first. The beginning of grace in the soul is frequently analogous to the beginning of day in the natural world. The dawn of grace is at first so faint, the daybreak so gentle, that a skillful eye only can observe its earliest tints. The individual himself is, perhaps, ignorant of the extraordinary transition through which his soul is passing. The discovery of darkness which that day-dawn has made, the revelation it has brought to view of the desperate depravity of his heart, the utter corruption of his fallen nature, the number and the turpitude of his sins, it may be, well near overwhelms the individual with despair! But what has led to this discovery? What has revealed all this darkness and sin? Oh! it is the daybreak of grace in the soul! One faint ray, what a change has it produced! And is it real? Ah! just as real as that the first beam, faintly painted on the eastern sky, is a real and an essential part of light. The daybreak, faint and glimmering though it be, is as really day as the meridian is day. And so is it with the day-dawn of grace in the soul. The first serious thought- the first real misgiving- the first conviction of sin- the first downfall of the eye- the first bending of the knee- the first tear- the first prayer- the first touch of faith, is as really and as essentially the daybreak of God’s converting grace in the soul as is the utmost perfection to which that grace can arrive. Oh, glorious dawn is this, my reader, if now for the first time in your life the daybreak of grace has come, and the shadows of ignorance and guilt are fleeing away before the advancing light of Jesus in your soul. If now you are seeing how depraved your nature is; if now you are learning the utter worthlessness of your own righteousness; if now you are fleeing as a poor, lost sinner to Christ, relinquishing your hold of everything else, and clinging only to Him; though this be but in weakness, and tremulousness, and hesitancy, yet sing for joy, for the day is breaking- the prelude to the day of eternal glory- and the shadows of unregeneracy are forever fleeing away. And as this day of grace has begun, so it will advance. Nothing shall impede its course, nothing shall arrest its progress. “He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” The Sun, now risen upon you with healing in His beams, shall never stand still- shall never go back. “He has set a tabernacle for the sun” in the renewed soul of man; and onward that sun will roll in its glorious orbit, penetrating with its beams every dark recess, until all mental shadows are merged and lost in its unclouded and eternal splendor.
Octavius Winslow