{"id":5288,"date":"2019-04-21T07:52:49","date_gmt":"2019-04-21T07:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5288"},"modified":"2019-04-21T07:52:49","modified_gmt":"2019-04-21T07:52:49","slug":"bulletin-edition-april-2019-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=5288","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin Edition April 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWho Will Be Justified\nBefore God?
\nI recently asked a local religious leader who would be justified before
\nGod at the judgment seat of Christ (John 5:21-22)? To which he replied,
\n\u201cI believe all good people will be in heaven.\u201d To which I said, \u201cWhat is
\nthe basis or root cause of goodness?\u201d The religious man said, \u201cHe
\nthought that the standard to which we would gain eternal heaven was
\nbased upon how many goods works we produced.\u201d This man, like most
\nreligious lost people have no concept what God Almighty requires (Gal.
\n3:10). Because God is Holy and all men sinful, the best we can produce
\nwill never satisfy His demand (Isa. 64:6). The scriptures plainly and
\npowerfully proclaim that, \u201cthere is none good, no not one\u201d (Rom.
\n3:9-12). Certainly, any thinking person would see that creature merit
\nand righteousness is excluded in the scheme of God\u2019s salvation. The only
\nway any guilty sinner can be justified before God is to have a perfect
\njustifying righteousness provided by God Himself without any
\ncontribution from the sinner (Rom. 4:1-7). This indeed is the good news
\nof the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is based upon His
\nperformance not ours (Psalm 57:2). No wonder the apostle said, \u201cYea
\ndoubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the
\nknowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of
\nall things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be
\nfound in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law,
\nbut that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
\nis of God by faith: (Phil. 3:8-9).

\nIf any man thinks that he is justified before God by his good works he
\nis tragically and dreadfully mistaken (2Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5). What a
\nhorrible rebuke of the effectual, substitutionary sacrifice and perfect
\nobedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, to entertain thoughts of self glory,
\nself righteousness and self salvation (Phil. 2:6-9; Luke 16:15). Paul
\nmade this very argument to the Galatians church. \u201cI do not frustrate the
\ngrace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead
\nin vain\u201d (Gal. 2:21).

\nThe Lord Jesus Christ alone is all any sinner needs to stand in God\u2019s
\npresence justified. Those in Christ by sovereign adoption, effectual
\ncalling, powerful regeneration and saving faith have no other hope
\n(2Thes. 2:13-16) nor ground on which to stand. Some might ask, \u201cIs the
\nLord Jesus Christ enough?\u201d If the Lord Jesus Christ is all you have, God
\nsays that is enough! Here is one of many scriptures that tell us this
\nblessed truth, \u201cFor in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
\nbodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all
\nprincipality and power\u201d (Col. 2:9-10).

\nTom Harding




\nJustified for Real
\nJustification, as it is revealed in Holy Scripture, is much more than a
\nmere forensic (legal) standing. It is a state of being (Rom. 5:1-11). It
\nis more than a judicial declaration. Justification is the real
\nemancipation of our souls in Christ. To be justified before God is to be
\nfree of guilt in your conscience by the sprinkling of Christ’s blood,
\nthat is by the Spirit’s application of Christ’s atonement (Heb.9:14)
\nDon Fortner.



\nBorn of Water and The Spirit
\n\u201cExcept a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
\nKingdom of Heaven\u201d (John 3:5). \u201cOf water \u201cis not the waters of baptism.
\nWater refers to the water of the Word. We read in Ephesians 5:27of \u201cThe
\nwashing of water by the Word.\u201d In the new birth the sovereign Spirit
\ngives life. And He does so with the Word of God. He never acts
\nindependently from the Word, \u201cBeing born again, not of corruptible seed,
\nbut of incorruptible, by the Word of God which liveth and abideth
\nforever\u201d (I Peter 1:25).Someone may think, \u201cBut God is not able to give
\nlife without the Word.\u201d That is not the issue. Does God give life
\nwithout His Word? The answer is no. Just as the physical creation came
\nabout by His Word, so too does the new creation. No one is born of the
\nSpirit apart from the Word of God.
\n~Todd Nibert




\nFaith
\nContrary to popular opinion, true faith is not the courage, strength,
\nfortitude, and power of its possessor. True faith is what God gives to
\nthe poor and needy. True faith is the only hope the fearful, the weak,
\nand the helpless have. True faith is the admission of one\u2019s total
\ninability. True faith is the acknowledgment of one\u2019s total dependence.
\nIt does not boast of its confidence. True faith is humble and quiet. It
\ncannot be judgmental of others while it stands in such doubt of itself.
\nIt dare not act outwardly religious and pious, in fear that the true
\nnature of its own weakness be exposed. The Lord said; \u201cmy grace is
\nsufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.\u201d To
\nwhich the child of God says; \u201cmost gladly therefore will I glory in my
\ninfirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me… for when I am
\nweak, then I am strong.\u201d ~Greg



\nTo believe God is no small thing! It is the evidence of a heart
\nreconciled unto God; it is the proof of our being weaned from our own
\nworks and deeds; it is a clear sign of the true conviction of sin; it is
\nhonouring to Christ, our only Redeemer; it is the essence of true
\nworship; and it is the root of sincere obedience.

\n~Henry Mahan




\nBecause Words Matter: Bowels In The Bible
\nRobert Hawker | Added: Apr 13, 2019
\nI should not have thought it necessary to have offered a single
\nobservation on this word, considered in the general acceptation of it,
\nfor every one cannot but know its obvious meaning. But it may be proper,
\nnotwithstanding, to observe, that as in its literal sense, the bowels
\nmean the entrails, so when used figuratively, it refers to the heart and
\nthe affections. Hence, it is said of the patriarch Joseph, that at
\nbeholding his brother, \u201chis bowels did yearn upon him\u201d (Genesis 43:30).
\nAnd the Lord himself is represented as expressing His tenderness for
\nEphraim under the same similitude; \u201cIs Ephraim my dear son? is he a
\npleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember
\nhim still; therefore, my bowels are troubled for him. I will surely have
\nmercy upon him, saith the Lord\u201d (Jeremiah 31:20).
\nBut when the word is spoken in reference to the person of Christ in His
\nhuman nature, here it is not figuratively used, but literally; and the
\nmeaning of it is uncommonly blessed and sweet. If the reader will turn
\nto Psalm 40:8, he will find Jesus thus speaking by the Spirit of
\nprophecy, \u201cI delight to do thy will, O my God! yea, thy law is within my
\nheart.\u201d The margin of the Bible renders it, within my bowels, meaning,
\nthat so perfectly holy and pure was the human nature of Christ, that the
\nlaw of His Father was incorporated in His very being; an inwrought
\nholiness mixed up and becoming His person and His existence. What a
\nprecious blessed view doth it afford of the Lord Jesus!
\nAnd what I beg the reader also particularly to remark, this purity, this
\nholiness of the Lord Jesus in our nature, is, to all intents and
\npurposes, that holiness in which JEHOVAH beholds His church in Jesus.
\nThis, I believe, is not so generally understood nor considered by the
\nfaithful as it ought; but it is what the Scriptures of God, in every
\npart, warrant. Jesus becoming our Surety is expressly said to have been
\nmade both sin and a curse for His redeemed, that \u201cthey might be made the
\nrighteousness God in him\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13). And what
\na blessedness is there contained in this one view of the completeness of
\nthe church in Jesus? So that, in the very moment that the child of God
\nfeels the workings of corruption within him, and is groaning under a
\nbody of sin and death, which he carries about with him, though he sees
\nnothing in himself but sin and imperfection, yea, sometimes, as it
\nappears to him, growing imperfections, yet looking to the Lord Jesus as
\nhis Surety, and considering the Redeemer\u2019s holiness, and not anything in
\nhimself, as the standard of justification, here he rests his
\nwell-founded hope. This was blessedly set forth by the Holy Ghost:
\n(Isaiah 45:24) \u201cSurely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness
\nand strength; even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed
\nagainst him shall be ashamed.\u201d
\n\u201cNew Focus http:\/\/go-newfocus.co.uk<\/a>\u201d



\nThe Faith Of God\u2019s Elect
\nPeter L. Meney
\nFaith is precious. The Bible tells us so. Yet, not the bare existence of
\nfaith. In that sense, faith, in and of itself, is meaningless. I doubt
\nthere is a person on the face of this earth who does not claim to have
\nfaith in something or other, even if it is simply their own opinion.
\nSimilarly, the term \u2018people of faith\u2019 has become an all-purpose
\ndescription to gather together every flavour of religion and all manner
\nof weird and wonderful notions. Christians, Jews, Muslims and
\nflat-earthers are part of the \u2018faith community\u2019 but they are not all
\ngoing to heaven.
\nThe Bible says the just shall live by faith and the faith by which the
\njust live is called by Paul the faith of God\u2019s elect. There is natural
\nfaith and there is the faith of Christ. There is faith borne of human
\nwisdom and faith from above that is spiritual and created by God the
\nHoly Spirit. Thus when the Lord Jesus Christ says, \u201cThy faith hath saved
\nthee, go in peace\u201d, it is the faith of Christ graciously gifted, the
\nfaith of God\u2019s elect that is in view, exercised in humble worship and
\nreliance upon the Saviour.
\nJames Wells, a London preacher of the nineteenth century, once said,
\n“For myself, I believe that the substituting of mere mental and moral
\nconversion\u2014this mere natural faith for the faith of God\u2019s elect\u2014I
\nbelieve that there are more souls deceived by this doctrine than by any
\nother found in all Protestant Christendom”.
\nWells is speaking of the great error of manmade religion. Hell will be
\npopulated by damned souls who earnestly followed their creed or
\nconfession, obeyed their preacher\u2019s teachings and with his (or her)
\nconnivance imagined themselves fit for heaven. In their heads they
\nbelieved, by their conduct they observed all the norms of custom and
\npractice their church required, and yet they are not saved. What
\nconfusion will follow those words of Christ in that day, \u201cDepart from
\nme, I never knew you.\u201d
\nThe faith of God\u2019s elect is belief in the being of God, and trust in His
\npromises as revealed to the church in the person and redemptive work of
\nthe Lord Jesus Christ. JEHOVAH, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, has
\nrevealed Himself as \u201cforgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin\u201d and
\ngiving eternal life to the church in Christ Jesus. Faith is giving
\ncredit to this Divine testimony, and relying upon God\u2019s faithfulness for
\nthe fulfilment of it.
\nNot the glory and wonder of the promise; but the glory, wonder, and
\nfaithfulness of the Promiser is the proper object of faith. To believe,
\nand rest in the almighty Promiser and His assurances in Christ, the
\nGodman, is faith. \u201cAcknowledging of the truth which is after godliness\u201d
\nis faith.
\nThe possession of the faith of God\u2019s elect and the exercise of it in
\nthis world is the gift of God. \u201cUnto you,\u201d says Paul, \u201cit is given to
\nbelieve\u201d (Philippians 1:29). And every truly awakened and regenerated
\nbeliever finds reason, to cry out, as the apostle did to Christ, \u201cLord,
\nincrease our faith\u201d (Luke 17:5).

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Who Will Be Justified Before God? I recently asked a local religious leader who would be justified before God at the judgment seat of Christ (John 5:21-22)? To which he replied, \u201cI believe all good people will be in heaven.\u201d To which I said, \u201cWhat is the basis or root cause of goodness?\u201d The religious […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin-editions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5289,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5288\/revisions\/5289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}