Two Minutes With The Bible

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

September 26, 2010

THE GOSPEL PRODUCES ASSURANCE
by Russell S. Miller

"For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake" (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

Many people do not have assurance in these days in which we live. They base their salvation upon what some man has said, or upon some church doctrine, rather than God's Word. Even their so-called "good works" cannot please God because they have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and refused to believe Paul's God-given "gospel" of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

"In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7).

The Lord has told us that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). If God's "gift" is eternal life, and we are "justified by [Christ's] blood" (Romans 5:9), should we not believe what God has said? He is well able to perform that which He has said He will do.

"BEING CONFIDENT OF THIS VERY THING, THAT HE WHICH HATH BEGUN A GOOD WORK IN YOU WILL PERFORM IT UNTIL THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST" (Philippians 1:6).

The "performance", here, also goes beyond our salvation to include our daily walk with Him. It is true that "we are HIS workmanship" (Ephesians 2:10), but it is equally true that we are to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2,12). "Shall we continue in sin [then], that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1). Paul answers this with an emphatic: "God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:2). This lifestyle does not produce assurance; it rather produces guilt as we can readily see from the world about us! It therefore behooves every child of God to "present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, THAT YE MAY PROVE WHAT IS THAT GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE AND PERFECT WILL OF GOD (Romans 12:1,2).

There is more. To the yielded believer, "God works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). Indeed our wonderful Saviour desires greater things yet --- "That our hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment [full knowledge] of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ" (Colossians 2:2).

This is the "gospel" that "established" the believers at Thessalonica and also produces assurance in us today. Listen to what the Apostle wrote in his first letter to them:

"For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance...." When we believe Paul's gospel, we have that assurance of being true "followers of the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 1:5,6).

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

September 27, 2010

WHAT IS GRACE?
by Cornelius R. Stam

"The father of lies" always hates the truth, but he does not always oppose it by the same methods. If he fails to succeed as a roaring lion he may appear as an angel of light, suggesting that surely a God of love will not condemn Christ-rejectors forever. Sinners, he will contend, are not responsible for their sins anyway, for does not Ephesians 1:11 teach that "[God] worketh all things after the counsel of His own will"? And thus God Himself is supposed to have conceived the idea of sin as "a gracious means to a glorious end," and to have caused man to fall into sin so that He might finally save him from it!

Why an almighty, all-wise, all-loving God permitted sin to enter the universe must, for the time being, remain an impenetrable mystery to us, but one thing is certain: He is not the author of sin, and never accepts the responsibility for it -- except that in grace and love He bore its penalty for man.

God calls sinners "children of disobedience" and "children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:2,3), explaining in the clearest language that He hates sin and that His anger is kindled against it (Romans 1:18; Ephesians 5:6; John 3:36). But if God meant man to sin and caused him to sin, how was man disobedient and what cause could God have to be angry? Those who would shift the responsibility for sin from themselves to God should remember that He proclaimed His standards of righteousness in the Law "that every mouth may be stopped and that all the world may be brought in guilty before God" (Romans 3:19).

The contention that all will finally be saved may at first sound like wonderful grace, but actually there is not one particle of grace in it, for it is based on the theory that since God got us into sin it is only just that He save us from its penalty. But grace is God's mercy and kindness to the undeserving. In Eph. 2, after calling sinners "children of disobedience" and therefore "children of wrath," the Apostle Paul goes on to say:

"BUT GOD, who is RICH IN MERCY, for His GREAT LOVE wherewith he loved us... hath quickened us... raised us up... and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come He might show THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS" (Ephesians 2:4-7).

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

September 28, 2010

BAPTISM AND THE REMISSION OF SINS
by Cornelius R. Stam

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16).

The twelve apostles preached and practiced exactly this. When Peter's hearers at Pentecost were convicted of their sins and asked: "Men and brethren, what shall we do" Peter did not tell them that Christ had died for their sins and that they could receive salvation as the gift of God's grace, apart from religion or works. Rather he said:

"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38 ).

Years ago, in a series of debates on dispensationalism, the author asked his opponent: "Suppose, after a Sunday evening service, some of your hearers were convicted of their sins and asked you and your co-workers: 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Would you tell them what Peter told his convicted sinners at Pentecost?"

"Why, of course!" he exclaimed.

"In those words?" I persisted.

He thought for a moment and then replied: "Well, I guess not exactly in those words."

The fact is that this pastor would not at all have said to his hearers what Peter said to his. Even though a Baptist, he would not have said: "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins," for he believed that subjection to water baptism should be left to each person's conscience, and he did not believe that it had anything to do with salvation. He would doubtless have said to any inquirers what Paul said when the convicted Gentile jailor asked: "What must I do to be saved?" Like Paul, he would have replied: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.. ." (Acts 16:31). Peter at Pentecost preached what he was commanded to preach under his commission: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16), but when God raised up Paul, that other apostle, He sent him to proclaim "the gospel of the grace of God" and the finished work of Christ.

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

September 29, 2010

THE BIBLE AND THE AMERICAN HOME
by Cornelius R. Stam

More than nineteen hundred years ago St. Paul wrote to a young man named Timothy: "From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15).

Timothy was a fortunate young man. His father was not a believer, but his godly mother made up for the lack, and her mother helped as, day after day, from his earliest childhood, they taught him the Word of God. As a result he came to know Christ as his Savior at an early age, and later became Paul's faithful co-worker and closest associate in making known the wonderful "gospel of the grace of God." In his very last letter the Apostle recalls Timothy's "unfeigned faith... which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice" (2 Timothy 1:5).

If only we had more such grandmothers today, and mothers, with husbands to help them! If only our American children were not set adrift on a tossing sea of human speculation, but were taught the eternal truths of that Old Book, the Bible!

Certainly the rebellion of so much of our American youth against law, authority and morality is directly related to the disappearance of the Bible from American life. It is not those young people who have been brought up in Bible reading homes and in Church and Sunday School, who are making us ashamed today; it is those, from backgrounds both rich and poor, who have been brought up without Bible teaching.

We all need to "know the holy Scriptures," not only because they teach reverence for God and build moral character, but most of all because they "are able to make [us] wise unto salvation through faith... in Christ Jesus." The theme of the Bible, Old Testament as well as New, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the riches of whose saving grace are unfolded to us in the Epistles of Paul, the chief of sinners saved by grace.

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

September 30, 2010

BANNERS TO DISPLAY
by Cornelius R. Stam

If there is one thing that God would have His people do amid the rising apostasy of our day it is to show their colors. As the enemy comes in like a flood, even Bible-believing Christians are apt to hide a banner which they should unfurl and boldly display. That banner is Christ. How many believers fear to speak up for Him because His name is increasingly despised!

But, as in any war of any size, many and varied flags are carried into battle, this is so in the Christian conflict too, for the Bible, godly living, faithful comrades, etc., are all banners by which we should take our stand, flags we should display.

One such banner is fundamentalism, a slogan, a battle cry, which many believers are putting aside and hiding away just when they should display and wave it boldly. Some, recognizing the spiritual decline among fundamentalists, prefer to be called simply believers or Christians. We can appreciate this point of view but do not feel it is valid in this time of spiritual crisis.

At a time when the fundamentals of the Christian faith are being threatened as never before, we can do much to show that we stand for these basic doctrines, identifying ourselves openly with them by calling ourselves fundamentalists. The rapid pace at which the apostasy is rising about us makes it the more urgent that we display this banner. We believe that there is strong Scriptural support for this view, e.g., in Acts 23:6, where we read that Paul called himself a Pharisee to show that he stood for basic Bible doctrine and against those who denied it.

Bible-believing Christian: show your colors!

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

October 1, 2010

THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW
by Cornelius R. Stam

"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight..."
(Romans 3:20).

It is strange that so many sincere people can so misunderstand God's written Word as to suppose that He gave the Law "to help us to be good" or "as a rule of life." The Law was not given to help us to be good, but rather to show us that we are sinners and need a Savior. Romans 3:22,23 says that "there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." How foolish, then, to look to the Law for help. Though the Law provides for just trial it does not help the criminal; it condemns him. Thus the Bible teaches that the Law was given:

"That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought in guilty before God" (Romans 3:19).

"For by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20).

"The law entered that the offense might abound" (Romans 5:20).

"That sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful" (Romans 7:13).

"It was added because of transgressions" (Galatians 3:19).

This leads us to St. Paul's great conclusion:

"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight" (Romans 3:20).

This makes sense, for doing a few "good" things cannot right the wrongs we have done. Good is what we should do, hence we should not expect to be rewarded for it.

But, thank God, "Christ died for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:3) and "by Him all who believe are justified" (Acts 13:39).

"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" (Romans 3:28 ).

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

October 2, 2010

HEALING, THEN AND NOW
by Cornelius R. Stam

"And there came a leper to Him, beseeching Him, and kneeling down to Him, and saying unto Him, If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean" (Mark 1:40).

It is interesting to observe exactly what the leper did and did not say to our Lord in the above passage. He did not say: "If You could, You would," even though more and greater miracles would unquestionably have enhanced our Lord's fame. He rather said: "If You will, You can" --- "If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean."

The people of our Lord's day did not question the genuineness of His miracles. No one suggested that the infirmities He dealt with might be psychosomatic in nature, that they were probably either real healings of imaginary infirmities or imaginary healings of real infirmities. They could not raise these objections, for the evidences of the supernatural character of His healings were too overwhelming to admit of this. Everywhere He went healing the sick or casting out demons, the people "wondered and were amazed," and spread "His fame" abroad from city to city. At Capernaum:

"All they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him, and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them" (Luke 4:40).

How different it is with the "healers" of our day and with their claims! Entirely apart from the objections of those who question these "healings" on Scriptural grounds, it is a simple fact that great numbers of people among the general populace question the validity of both the "healers" and their "healing miracles."

Meantime, as one has said, the death rate remains "one apiece." There always comes that last time, when the "healing" doesn't work and the patient dies. This is why all modern "healers" leave behind them a long, sad trail of disillusionment and shaken faith.

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

October 3, 2010

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
by Cornelius R. Stam

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22,23).

The "fruit of the Spirit" is that combination of graces evidenced in the lives of believers who "walk in the Spirit." Let us never make the mistake of supposing that "the Spirit," in Galatians 5:22,23, refers to "the spirit of man which is in him" (1 Corinthians 2:11). It refers rather to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, who indwells believers. The spiritual virtues listed above do not spring from any goodness in us, but from the Spirit of God dwelling within.

Next, we should observe that these graces are not the product of human effort. The passage above declares that they are fruit, and fruit is the natural product of life and growth. Indeed, "the fruit of the Spirit" is here contrasted with "the works of the flesh" (Vers. 19-21), and these are all bad!

Finally, it is a remarkable fact that the graces which the Holy Spirit produces in yielded believers are certainly not those which the world admires. The world admires self-confidence, self-respect, self-made men, intellectual prowess, personal magnetism, authority, etc., while the Spirit produces "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." But consider the difference. A man may have self-confidence, intellectual acumen, political or other power -- and he may still be very difficult to live with, but not so with the virtues which the Spirit produces. Of those who possess these graces the Apostle says: "Against such there is no law."

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

October 4, 2010

HOW GOD EMPOWERS HIS WITNESSES
by Cornelius R. Stam

As we know, Paul wrought mighty miracles, as Peter and the Pentecostal believers had done. Indeed, a comparison of Paul's miracles with those of Peter shows Paul's to have been the mightier. This was mainly in divine confirmation of his apostleship, since Paul was not one of the twelve (2 Corinthians 12:11,12).

But it is clear from a study of Paul's ministry and his epistles that these miraculous demonstrations were to vanish away as the dispensation of grace was fully ushered in (See 1 Corinthians 13:8; Romans 8:22,23; 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:4; 12:10; Philippians 3:20,21; 1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:20). In fact, in the last seven of Paul's epistles nothing whatever is said about signs, miracles, healings, tongues, visions or the casting out of demons.

How, then, does God now empower His servants in their conflict with Satan and his demons? The answer is: by the Holy Spirit through His Word, as it is preached with conviction. There is a great volume of evidence as to this in Paul's epistles, including his early epistles. Two examples:

1 Corinthians 2:4: "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing [persuasive] words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."

Mark well, this was power in his preaching, not in performing miracles. Indeed at the very same time when he proclaimed his God-given message with such power, he himself was very weak, for in the preceding verse he says:

"And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling."

The other example is 1 Thessalonians 1:5:

"For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance..."

In Thessalonica too, Paul had suffered much opposition and persecution, until the whole city was in an uproar (Acts 17:1-5), and this may well have been the result of his powerful preaching. Out of the "uproar," however, sprang the beloved Thessalonian church, an example and inspiration to those won to Christ under more benign circumstances.

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

October 5, 2010

DOES MISERY LOVE COMPANY?
by Cornelius R. Stam

We have all heard the statement: "Misery loves company." It is true that when one is sick or in trouble he does not feel quite so sorry for himself when he realizes that others are as unfortunate, and perhaps more so, than he.

However, some have used this phrase: "Misery loves company," in speaking lightly of hell. Perhaps you have heard someone say: "Well, if I go to hell, at least I'll have lots of company." This is true, but the company the lost will have when cast out of God's presence will hardly afford them comfort.

The Bible story of the rich man and Lazarus brings this fact out with great force. The rich man, you will remember, "fared sumptuously every day," while Lazarus "was laid at his gate, full of sores, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table."

In the process of time both died, and the rich man, having felt no need of salvation, suddenly was made to experience God's wrath upon sin, for the sacred record says: "In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments" (Luke 16:23). From his place of torment the rich man saw Lazarus with Abraham "afar off," but this surely afforded little comfort, while we do read that "Lazarus was comforted." The rich man, then, still with haughty superiority, asked Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth to warn his five brothers, "lest they come into this place of torment." He did not wish his brothers to join him in hell. "Misery" among those cast out of God's presence, then, does not "love company."

The story is brought to a close as Abraham refuses the rich man's request, explaining that if his brothers would not hear the Word of God "neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead" (Luke 16:31).

The way to avoid the lot of the rich man, then, is to believe the Word of God, particularly that part of the Word which tells how Christ died for our sins that we might be justified by grace through faith. Don't be deceived by the old adage: "Misery loves company." Receive Christ as your Savior today.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

October 6, 2010

"THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES"
by Russell S. Miller

"For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office" (Romans 11:13).

Paul is not, however, one of the Twelve Apostles as many teach today, and certainly he was not chosen to take Judas' place. Acts 1:16-26 gives ample proof as to why Saul of Tarsus did not qualify for that position. Scripturally, the "lot" fell to "Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles" (Acts 1:26). When Paul finally does come upon the scene in the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 9:1,2 reveals him as a persecutor on his way to persecute Christ's followers at Damascus.

"And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities" (Acts 26:11).

His persecution of Messiah is a far cry from being eligible for the position that Judas held with the disciples of the Lord. Paul was therefore most ineligible, for he had not even seen Jesus of Nazareth in His earthly ministry--a requirement of Acts 1:21,22!

But in Acts 9:3-6 the risen, glorified, Lord Jesus Christ reached down from His glories in Heaven to save the notorious Saul of Tarsus. And the record goes on to explain the purpose for which Christ saved him, that is, his conversion and apostleship:

"...for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: "For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My name's sake" (Acts 9:15,16).

Later Paul wrote in Galatians 1:15,16:

"But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace,

"To reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood."

Thus, Paul is specially "chosen" by God through whom God's Son is to be revealed to all nations, since the favored nation had refused Messiah under their so-called Great Commission. This is why Paul is "the Apostle of the Gentiles" and this explains why God chose him, and commissioned him with "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24).

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

October 7, 2010

GODLINESS IN AN UNGODLY DAY
by Cornelius R. Stam

It is an interesting fact that the words "godly" and "godliness" are not found in Paul's writings until we come to the Pastoral Epistles, the very epistles that have so much to say about evil days and evil surroundings.

In the epistles to Timothy we read about the "perilous times" with which this present dispensation of grace will be brought to a close, while in the letter to Titus we read of "unruly and vain talkers and deceivers," of "liars... evil beasts... lazy gluttons," whom Satan would use to neutralize the work and witness of God's servants.

To Timothy and Titus, these young men of God, the Apostle had much to say about godliness, and we must not forget that Paul's words to them are also God's Word to us, believers in Christ, who indeed appear to be living in the closing days of the dispensation of grace, surrounded by a steadily-rising tide of evil and an ever-growing number of wicked, godless men.

We do not mean to imply that the Apostle does not deal with the various phases of the Christian life in his other epistles, but rather that here in the Pastoral Epistles he wages a sort of campaign for individual godly living in the midst of increasing apostasy and godlessness.

May God help us, in our character and conduct, to exhibit "the power of godliness," the spiritual power that comes from putting Christ first in all things.

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

October 8, 2010

"ENTERING INTO HIS REST"
by Russell S. Miller

"God rested the seventh day from all His works" (Hebrews 4:4), a reference to the six days of creation as recorded in Genesis 1:1-2:2, and an exhortation that you cease your works and rest in the power of Almighty God.

But Moses himself, through unbelief, failed to enter, and rest, in the land of promise (Hebrews 4:6; Numbers 20:7-13; Deuteronomy 34:1-8 ). Since he had already "smitten" the rock once (Exodus 17:1-7), the Lord now instructed him to "speak" (Numbers 20:8 ) to the rock, for the "Rock" smitten once typifies Christ's death on Calvary (1 Corinthians 10:4; Hebrews 10:10-14). A "word" humbly "spoken" in the wilderness (Exodus 17:1-7) would bring forth the water of life freely, but Moses "smote the rock", not once, but "twice" (Numbers 20:11). His anger with Israel, "ye rebels", revealed his unbelief also, for Christ was not to be "smitten twice" (Numbers 20:8 ).

Nevertheless in John 4:14 we see the "water" that Christ gives is a "well of water springing up into everlasting life". Under the leadership of Moses and Joshua, it is apparent that though Israel entered Canaan, they failed to enter His rest.

"And they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief" (Hebrews 4:6).

Even David and his valiant men could not bring Israel into His rest because of unbelief (Hebrews 4:7).

"For if [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day" (4:8 ).

From David unto Christ, Israel would not enter into His rest, "although the works were finished from the foundation of the world" (Hebrews 4:3; Revelation 13:8 ), a reference to the "forbearance" of God as Paul declares in Romans 3:25,26.

"Jesus", Hebrews 4:8 in our KJV, refers not only to Joshua, but He whom Joshua typified, our Lord Jesus Christ. Under His Divine Leadership Israel rejected the Millennial Rest of His glorious reign (Luke 19:14). See also Romans 10:3,4.

But there remains "a rest" to all those who will place their faith and trust in our "Great High Priest...JESUS the Son of God" (Hebrews 4:14-16).

"FOR HE THAT IS ENTERED INTO HIS REST, HE ALSO HATH CEASED FROM HIS OWN WORKS, AS GOD DID FROM HIS" (Hebrews 4:10).

Again in Romans, Abraham is God's great example of faith:

"For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
"For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and...his faith is counted for righteousness" (Roman 4:2-8 ).

Isn't it about time that you also ceased from your so-called "good works". Trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone as your Saviour for salvation, and His finished work on Calvary's cross, and enter into His rest, by grace through faith?

"IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE" (Ephesians 1:7).

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

October 9, 2010

"GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON"
by Russell S. Miller

"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Galatians 4:4,5).

"When the fulness of the time was come" --
Vine's dictionary defines fulness as "the end of an appointed period". It might easily be answered, "It was the time appointed of the Father".

"God sent forth His Son"--
Isaiah foretold how God would "send forth" His Son. "...A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel [God with us]" (Isaiah 7:14). So it was that Joseph was told, "...Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

"And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:20,21).

His death on Calvary's cross is sufficient and efficacious, not for His people only, for the Apostle Paul declares that He "tasted death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9).

"Made of a woman" --
Note: He was not made of a man and woman. Our text very distinctly states that He was "made of a woman". When was the last time that you saw a child born of a virgin? Such a thought as a virgin birth is scientifically impossible. But, then, so is "resurrection", but nothing is "too hard for the Lord" (Genesis 18:14). There is a very specific reason that Christ was born of a virgin. You see, though Mary had tainted blood coursing through her veins, Christ was miraculously conceived, and entered the stream of humanity as a babe in a manger with none of Adam's tainted blood being transferred to Him. So the sacrifice He offered to God on our behalf was accepted.

"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" (Romans 3:26).

"Made under the law" --
Consequently, not only did He fulfil the righteousness of the Law, but He can impute His very "righteousness" to every believer (Romans 4:3-5; 2 Corinthians 5: 21).

"To redeem them that were under the law" --
There was no other way to redeem mankind.

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us..." (Galatians 3:13).

"For [God] hath made Him to be sin for us, [Christ] who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31).

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
Two Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society
Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

October 10, 2010

THE POWER OF GODLINESS
by Cornelius R. Stam

God would have us live as His own sacred possession, separate from this world-system, but godliness is out of style these days. Religious leaders in ever greater number are telling us that to win the world we must become part of it and to win the people of the world we must fellowship with them in the things they do and the places to which they go. But the believer cannot impress the world by conforming to it. And even if he could this approach would still be contrary to the Will of God, for His Word exhorts us:

"Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the re- newing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and accept- able and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2).

It is true godliness, consistent separation to God from this world, which most deeply impresses the lost to whom we bear witness.

True godliness exerts enormous spiritual power. It causes men to toil and sacrifice, yea to suffer and die for Christ and for others. It exerts a profound influence upon those with whom it comes into contact. A truly godly believer will win the respect of other believers and by his example encourage them to live godly lives, while at the same time his godliness will convict the lost, so that they will either be angered or will turn to Christ for salvation.

This is why 2 Timothy 3:12 says: "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Carnal Christians do not like to think about the word "all" in this passage, but it is there and stands as a rebuke to their lack of consecration to God. They have "a form of godliness" but deny "the power thereof" (2 Timothy 3:5).