Two Minutes With The Bible

[Ambassador4Christ]

Oct 29

A TWOFOLD PURPOSE

Have you ever noticed the wording of the majestic state-
ment with which the Bible opens?
         
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1).
         
It does not say that God created "the universe," but "the
heaven" and "the earth."

This is because God had a special purpose for the earth
quite distinct from His purpose for the rest of the universe.
This purpose concerning the earth and the nations to dwell
upon it is progressively revealed in the Scriptures. We look
forward to its glorious consummation when "the earth shall
be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the
sea" —- when the Christ who was crucified here shall come
into His right, reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords.
         
But God also had a very special purpose concerning heav-
en which He kept hidden in His own heart of love until
man’s sin and rebellion had reached their climax. Then He
stooped down, saved the "chief of sinners" and used him to
make known the wondrous secret of His purpose to offer
to sinners everywhere, salvation by grace through faith
alone, reconciling them to Himself in one body by the cross
and giving them a present position and a future prospect in
the highest heavens.
         
God’s purpose concerning the earth and Christ’s reign
upon it is the subject of prophecy (Luke 1:68-76), His pur-
pose concerning heaven and our exaltation there with
Christ is the subject of "the mystery" (Eph. 2:4-10; 3:1-4).
Into these two great subjects the Scriptures are basically
divided.


Written by Pastor Stam

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Two Minutes With The Bible By Pastor Stam

Mailing Address:
Berean Bible Society
N112 W17761 Mequon Road
P.O. Box 756
Germantown, WI 53022

Web Site:
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Gospel Books, Materials, & Free Mailings

Email:
berean@execpc.com

Telephone:  262-255-4750

Posted For A4C By Brother Love  

[Ambassador4Christ]

Oct 30

THE MYSTERY

In Eph. 3:1-3 "the dispensation of the grace of God" is
specifically called "the mystery" (i.e., secret). It is thus des-
ignated for two reasons:

1.  It had been "kept secret since the world began, but
now," through Paul, had been "made manifest" (Rom. 16:
25). "In other ages" it was "not made known" (Eph. 3:5).
Rather, "from the beginning of the world" it had been "hid
in God" (Ver. 9), "hid from ages and from generations, but
now... made manifest to His saints" (Col. 1:26).

2.  It was at the same time the explanation, the key, to all
God’s good news, including that which had been proclaimed
in ages past. It explained how it was that Abel could be
declared righteous by bringing an animal sacrifice, "God
testifying of his gifts" (Heb. 11:4), how Noah could become
"an heir of... righteousness" by building an ark (Heb. 11:7),
how anyone could be saved under the dispensation of the
Law, and how it is that we can be saved today by grace
through faith alone.

Thus we have in Paul’s epistles, not only the gospel [good
news] of "the secret" (Eph. 3:1-3), but at the same time,
"the secret of the gospel" (Eph. 6:19,20).
         
This great secret, revealed to and through Paul, has
rightly been called the capstone of divine revelation, for it
concerns God’s eternal purpose in Christ.

Through Paul, the chief of sinners saved by grace, God
has now made this glorious secret known to us (Eph. 1:9)
that we, in turn, might make it known to others (Eph. 3:9).

[Ambassador4Christ]

Oct 31

WHAT GOD IS DOING

The distress and confusion which prevails in the world
about us does not upset the instructed believer in the Word
of God.

He understands the divine plan and knows what God is
doing. He does not expect peace on earth while the Prince
of Peace remains an Exile from His own world. He has no
illusions about this age, or about what statesmen and pol-
iticians can accomplish therein, for God calls it "this present
evil age" (Gal. 1:4).
         
The instructed believer knows too why God does not in-
tervene in the affairs of men and why our Lord remains a
voluntary Exile from the world. "This present evil age," he
knows, is also "the age of grace." It began when God saved
Saul of Tarsus, the "chief of sinners," the leader of the
world’s rebellion against Christ (I Tim. 1:13-16) and sent
him forth with the "gospel [good news] of the grace of God"
(Acts 20:24).

The instructed believer understands clearly that God is
not saving the wreck that man has made. He is rather
saving individuals from the wreck and uniting them, by the
Spirit, to Christ and His Body, "for by one Spirit are we all
baptized into one Body..." (I Cor. 12:13).
         
The instructed believer knows too that this world will not
always be a scene of trouble and sorrow, of war and blood-
shed, of misery and death. He knows that after our Lord
has come for His own, after He has recalled His ambas-
sadors from this world, He will put down man’s rebellion
and set up His own beneficent reign, when government will
be purified (Jer. 23:5), war and bloodshed will be abolished
(Isa. 2:4), health and long life will be restored (Isa. 35:5,6;
65:20), the animal creation will be tamed (Isa. 11:6-9), the
desert will blossom as a rose (Isa. 35:1,2,6,7) and Israel will
become a spiritual blessing to all nations (Zech. 8:13,23).
         
Meantime, the instructed Bible believer takes advantage
of "the dispensation of grace," telling others how men may
be "justified freely, by [God’s] grace, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24).

Written by Pastor Stam

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Two Minutes With The Bible By Pastor Stam

Mailing Address:
Berean Bible Society
N112 W17761 Mequon Road
P.O. Box 756
Germantown, WI 53022

Web Site:
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Gospel Books, Materials, & Free Mailings

Email:
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Telephone:  262-255-4750

Posted For A4C By Brother Love  

[Ambassador4Christ]

Nov 1

CHOOSING COMMISSIONS

How foolish and wrong it is for any of us to use "snatch-
grab" methods, as Pastor J. C. O’Hair called them, in ascer-
taining our Lord’s will for us! What right have we to choose
some particular segment or segments of our Lord’s instruc-
tions to the eleven in the forty days between His resurrec-
tion and ascension, and to apply only these to ourselves or
to the Church today?

Nothing could be clearer than the fact that our Lord
"showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible
proofs, being seen of them forty days and speaking of the
things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3). In
those forty days then, one Person, our Lord, spoke to eleven
men, and gave instructions as to the program they were to
carry out after His ascension. In every single case it is
crystal clear that these commands were not directed to
others, who were to live at some future date, but to the
apostles, who were to commence to carry them out after His
departure, when the Holy Spirit had endued them with
power.

This is emphasized by the phraseology found in all five
records of the so-called "Great Commission": Matt. 28:19:
"Go ye," Mark 16:15: "Go ye," Luke 24:48: "Ye are wit-
nesses," John 20:21: "So send I you," and Acts 1:8: "Ye shall
be witnesses." How preposterous, then, to argue, as so
many hard-pressed theologians have done, that one or more
segments of the great commission are to be carried out by
another generation at a later time!

By what rule of hermeneutics or logic have we the right
to exclude from the interpretation of these commands the
very persons to whom our Lord gave them, and if this com-
mission is binding on the Church today, what authority
have we to choose which part or parts we shall obey?

Written by Pastor Stam

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Two Minutes With The Bible By Pastor Stam

Mailing Address:
Berean Bible Society
N112 W17761 Mequon Road
P.O. Box 756
Germantown, WI 53022

Web Site:
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Email:
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Posted For A4C By Brother Love  

[Ambassador4Christ]

Nov 2

HEALING, THEN AND NOW

"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 gen-
uineness of His miracles. No one suggested that the in-
firmities 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 over-
whelming 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 "heal-
ing" doesn’t work and the patient dies. This is why all mod-
ern "healers" leave behind them a long, sad trail of disil-
lusionment and shaken faith.

Written by Pastor Stam

Subscribe at:
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Two Minutes With The Bible By Pastor Stam

Mailing Address:
Berean Bible Society
N112 W17761 Mequon Road
P.O. Box 756
Germantown, WI 53022

Web Site:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/
Gospel Books, Materials, & Free Mailings

Email:
berean@execpc.com

Telephone:  262-255-4750

Posted For A4C By Brother Love  

[Ambassador4Christ]

Nov 3

THE HOPE OF GLORY

We are taught in Romans 5 that the believer in Christ
receives justification, peace with God, access to God and the
"hope," or anticipation, of sharing His glory some day. God
wants His children to enjoy this coming glory by faith, to
live in eager anticipation of it.
         
How much there is to humiliate us in this life! God cre-
ated man in His own image and likeness, but man sinned
and fell from his exalted position. To Adam God said:
"Cursed is the ground because of thee; in sorrow shalt thou
eat of it all the days of thy life."
         
Since that dreadful day man’s life has been a constant
struggle. Everything tends to go wrong rather than right.
Each has his share of trouble, sorrow, sickness and then -—
death, the greatest humiliation of all, when in sickness and
pain, or at best in utter weakness, he must give up this
life itself.

Sin and the fall! This is what modern science and philos-
ophy fail to face up to. Most popular scientists and philos-
ophers today hold that man has come up from the slime pit
and the ape to modern man; that man is improving all the
time. But the truth of God’s Word is that man has fallen
through sin and is growing worse morally and spiritually
until now he can kill more of his fellowmen faster than he
ever could before.

But it is this fact, this fact of sin and the fall that God has
so graciously provided for. He took all the suffering and
shame, paid all the penalty for our sins, and then rose from
the dead so that we might rejoice in the hope, the eager
anticipation, of glory to come!

As St. Peter puts it in I Pet. 1:3: "[He] hath begotten us
again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead."

Written by Pastor Stam

Subscribe at:
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Two Minutes With The Bible By Pastor Stam

Mailing Address:
Berean Bible Society
N112 W17761 Mequon Road
P.O. Box 756
Germantown, WI 53022

Web Site:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/
Gospel Books, Materials, & Free Mailings

Email:
berean@execpc.com

Telephone:  262-255-4750

[Ambassador4Christ]

Nov 4

HE THAT IS SPIRITUAL

"He that is spiritual judgeth [discerneth] all things, yet he himself is judged [discerned] of no man" (I Cor. 2:15).
         
The truly spiritual man is so far above the wisest sages of
this world, yes, so far above the mass of Christians with
whom he comes into contact, that he can understand them,
but they can never quite understand him.
         
We should all long to be truly spiritual, but what is true
spirituality?
         
In the Pauline Epistles the human race is divided, by the
Spirit, into four classes: the natural man, the babe in
Christ, the carnal Christian, and the spiritual Christian.
         
All four of these are referred to in one passage of Scrip-
ture (I Cor. 2:14—3:4) and it should be noted that they are
classified according to their ability to appreciate and assimi-
late "the things of God" as revealed in His Word.
         
Through diligent, prayerful study of the Word, and with
a sincere desire to obey it, the spiritual man has come to
know God and the Lord Jesus Christ more and more inti-
mately. Babes in Christ and carnal believers about him
cannot "discern" him, simply because they have not come to
know God as he. But he, having grown to spiritual matu-
rity, quite understands them. He is among those of whom it
is written:
         
"But strong meat [solid food] belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb. 5:14).

Written by Pastor Stam

Subscribe at:
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Two Minutes With The Bible By Pastor Stam

Mailing Address:
Berean Bible Society
N112 W17761 Mequon Road
P.O. Box 756
Germantown, WI 53022

Web Site:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/
Gospel Books, Materials, & Free Mailings

Email:
berean@execpc.com

Telephone:  262-255-4750

[Brother Love]

Oct 30

THE MYSTERY

In Eph. 3:1-3 "the dispensation of the grace of God" is
specifically called "the mystery" (i.e., secret). It is thus des-
ignated for two reasons:

1.  It had been "kept secret since the world began, but
now," through Paul, had been "made manifest" (Rom. 16:
25). "In other ages" it was "not made known" (Eph. 3:5).
Rather, "from the beginning of the world" it had been "hid
in God" (Ver. 9), "hid from ages and from generations, but
now... made manifest to His saints" (Col. 1:26).

2.  It was at the same time the explanation, the key, to all
God’s good news, including that which had been proclaimed
in ages past. It explained how it was that Abel could be
declared righteous by bringing an animal sacrifice, "God
testifying of his gifts" (Heb. 11:4), how Noah could become
"an heir of... righteousness" by building an ark (Heb. 11:7),
how anyone could be saved under the dispensation of the
Law, and how it is that we can be saved today by grace
through faith alone.

Thus we have in Paul’s epistles, not only the gospel [good
news] of "the secret" (Eph. 3:1-3), but at the same time,
"the secret of the gospel" (Eph. 6:19,20).
         
This great secret, revealed to and through Paul, has
rightly been called the capstone of divine revelation, for it
concerns God’s eternal purpose in Christ.

Through Paul, the chief of sinners saved by grace, God
has now made this glorious secret known to us (Eph. 1:9)
that we, in turn, might make it known to others (Eph. 3:9).

This one is one of my favorites. Really helpful


Brother Love

[Ambassador4Christ]

Nov 5

SPIRITUAL VICTORY

If we go to the Scriptures and claim, by faith, the Spirit’s
help in overcoming our sins, we enter into the enjoyment of
the fullness of spiritual life and blessing. If we fail to do so,
we wither and die -— as far as our spiritual experience is
concerned. We can never lose our salvation, of course, for
"everlasting life" was obtained by faith in Christ, not by
walking in the Spirit. This is confirmed by the fact that the
same apostle who pleads: "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God," hastens to add: "WHEREBY YE ARE SEALED
UNTO THE DAY OF REDEMPTION" (Eph. 4:30).
         
But failure to appropriate God’s gracious provision for
victory over sin does result in death as far as our Christian
experience is concerned. This is what the Apostle means,
when he says, by the Spirit:
         
"FOR TO BE CARNALLY MINDED IS DEATH; BUT TO BE SPIR-
ITUALLY MINDED IS LIFE AND PEACE" (Rom. 8:6).
         
"FOR IF YE LIVE AFTER THE FLESH, YE SHALL DIE: BUT IF YE
THROUGH THE SPIRIT DO MORTIFY [PUT TO DEATH] THE DEEDS OF THE BODY, YE SHALL LIVE" (Rom. 8:13).
         
To the careless Corinthians, the Apostle Paul exclaimed:
         
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
         
"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s" (I Cor. 6:19,20).

Written by Pastor Stam

Subscribe at:
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Two Minutes With The Bible By Pastor Stam

Mailing Address:
Berean Bible Society
N112 W17761 Mequon Road
P.O. Box 756
Germantown, WI 53022

Web Site:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/
Gospel Books, Materials, & Free Mailings

Email:
berean@execpc.com

Telephone:  262-255-4750

[Ambassador4Christ]

Nov 6

THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP

"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption [Lit., sonship], whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15).
         
The position of the believer in the family of God is amply
illustrated for us in the Epistles of Paul. In Gal. 4:1-5 the
Apostle alludes to the fact that in the life of every Hebrew
boy there came a time, appointed by the father, when the
lad was formally declared to be a full-grown son, with all
the rights and privileges of sonship.
         
It was now assumed that the young man would no longer
need overseers to keep him in check. There would be nat-
ural understanding and co-operation between father and
son. And so the "adoption" [Gr., son-placing] proceedings
took place, indicating that the child, now a full-grown son,
was no longer under law, but under grace.
         
"And because ye are sons," says the Apostle, God hath
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a
[full-grown] son" (Gal. 4:6,7).
         
This is the position of every believer in Christ. He may,
like the Corinthians, still be a babe in his spiritual experi-
ence (I Cor. 3:1), but in Christ he occupies the position of a
full-grown son, and to grow spiritually it will do him no
good to go back under the Law; he must rather recognize
his standing before God in grace. This is why the Apostle
says in Rom. 8:15:
         
"Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption [sonship], whereby we cry, Abba, Father."
         
A recognition of this position will do far more to help us
live godly lives than will the "dos and don’ts" of the Law.

Written by Pastor Stam

Subscribe at:
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Two Minutes With The Bible By Pastor Stam

Mailing Address:
Berean Bible Society
N112 W17761 Mequon Road
P.O. Box 756
Germantown, WI 53022

Web Site:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/
Gospel Books, Materials, & Free Mailings

Email:
berean@execpc.com

Telephone:  262-255-4750

[Brother Love]

THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP

A recognition of this position will do far more to help us
live godly lives than will the "dos and don’ts" of the Law.

AMEN!!!!

Brother Love

[Ambassador4Christ]

THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP

A recognition of this position will do far more to help us
live godly lives than will the "dos and don’ts" of the Law.

AMEN!!!!

Brother Love

DITTO

[Ambassador4Christ]

Nov 7

FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE

"And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of
these is love" (I Cor. 13:13).
         
St. Paul had been discussing, in I Cor. 13, some of the
miraculous signs that were to vanish away as God’s revela-
tion became complete. But faith, hope and love, he de-
clared, would abide as a triune evidence of true Christi-
anity.
         
These three are all we need in the present "dispensation
of the grace of God." Any church where faith, hope and love
are found in abundant measure is a "full" church. It may
have but a few members, but what greater blessing could it
wish for than faith, hope and love in its fellowship?
         
Faith, hope and love are a trinity often referred to in St.
Paul’s epistles. Each is of basic importance in its way, and
none can exist without the other two.
         
Faith is of primary importance. "Without faith it is im-
possible to please [God]" (Heb 11:6), and how can there be
hope and love without faith?
         
Hope holds the central place among the three. Hope in
the Bible is more than a wish; it is the opposite of despair,
an eager anticipation of blessings to come. Hope is the
Christian’s experience, his living with eternity’s glory in
view.
         
Love is the crowning virtue of the three; it is the fruit of
faith and hope, and is greatest in the sense that it is "the
bond of perfectness." Moreover, love is eternal. Some day,
for every true believer, "faith will vanish into sight; hope be
emptied in delight" and love will reign supreme.
         
May God help us, in our fellowship with each other, to
evidence a full measure of faith, hope and love.

Written by Pastor Stam

Subscribe at:
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Two Minutes With The Bible By Pastor Stam

Mailing Address:
Berean Bible Society
N112 W17761 Mequon Road
P.O. Box 756
Germantown, WI 53022

Web Site:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/
Gospel Books, Materials, & Free Mailings

Email:
berean@execpc.com

Telephone:  262-255-4750

[Ambassador4Christ]

Nov 8

LIVING TO THE GLORY OF GOD

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to
the glory of God" (I Cor. 10:31).
         
This is the great guiding principle of the Christian life.
         
The Apostle Paul points out in the preceding context that
what may be perfectly right for one person to do may trou-
ble another’s conscience. The sincere and gracious believer,
therefore, will not carelessly violate his brother’s conscien-
tious scruples, offending him by indulging in that which he
considers wrong. In Paul’s day, this particularly involved
the foods of which men partook, but from both Romans 14
and I Corinthians 10 it is evident that Christian conduct in
general is involved.
         
If, in my daily conduct, I consider not only my own, but
also my brother’s conscience, it does not follow from this
that I am disobeying Gal. 5:1, failing to "stand fast... in
the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free."  True, I
have no right to give up my blood-bought liberty, but I do
have liberty to give up my rights. This the world about us
is slow to do, but it is one of the signs of true regeneration.
         
My aim in life should not be to gratify my own desires,
much less to show up my brother’s weaknesses by vaunting
my liberty in Christ. My one aim should rather be to glorify
God in all I say and do.

All this, of course, has to do only with the conduct of
believers in Christ. The unbeliever can do nothing to the
glory of God. His very rejection of Christ is a continual
offense to God who, in love, gave His Son to die in our
place. The only way in which the unbeliever can honor God
is to turn from his unbelief and trust Christ as Savior and
Lord.

Written by Pastor Stam

Subscribe at:
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Two Minutes With The Bible By Pastor Stam

Mailing Address:
Berean Bible Society
N112 W17761 Mequon Road
P.O. Box 756
Germantown, WI 53022

Web Site:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/
Gospel Books, Materials, & Free Mailings

Email:
berean@execpc.com

Telephone:  262-255-4750

[Ambassador4Christ]

Nov 9

HEROES OF FAITH

In Rom. 4:12 the Apostle Paul declares that Abraham
was the father, not of his physical offspring alone, but also
of those who "walk in the steps of that faith" which Abra-
ham had.

Have you ever noticed that God does not hold the great
men of Scripture up to us because of their personal virtues?
Almost invariably their records are marred by failure and
sin. But God bids us observe their faith and what their
faith gained for them (See Rom. 4:3,9,11,12).

There is a whole chapter on this subject in the Book of
Hebrews. Hebrews 11 is properly called "the great faith
chapter," and its heroes "heroes of faith," for it tells how
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and scores of
others "obtained a good report" before God. They all fal-
tered and failed again and again, but Heb. 11:39 declares
that "these all... obtained a good report THROUGH
FAITH."

This is why Rom. 4:9-12 states that God’s blessing is be-
stowed upon those who "walk in the steps of that faith"
which Abraham exhibited, just as it was bestowed upon
Abraham himself.

This truth is driven home in Verses 3 to 5 of the same
chapter:

"For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

"Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4:3-5).

Written by Pastor Stam

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Berean Bible Society
N112 W17761 Mequon Road
P.O. Box 756
Germantown, WI 53022

Web Site:
http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/
Gospel Books, Materials, & Free Mailings

Email:
berean@execpc.com

Telephone:  262-255-4750