The Lord Will Provide
As usual, everything I happen to be reading seems to have a merging point. Tonight my small group comes over. We've been reading about flawed women of the Bible and how much God loved them. So far, we have read about Sarah and Rebekkah. Abraham and Isaac obviously have important roles in their stories, so we are reading about them too. I have to admit that in reading about Rebekkah, I have been even more captivated by Isaac.
Not Rebekkah's Isaac. My Isaac. My God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
When Abraham took Isaac to slay him, he told his son that God would provide the sacrifice. God did not require Abraham's son. But He gave His own.
I often read more than one book at the same time. So I am simultaneously reading "The Discipline of Grace" by Jerry Bridges. And the chapter I just finished is entitled: Preach the Gospel to Yourself.
Bridges writes that "The single passage in all of the Bible that most clearly and completely explains the gospel is Romans 3:19-26. A minister friend of mine calls this passage 'The Heart of the Gospel.' So if we are going to preach the gospel to ourselves every day and learn to live by it, we need to understand Romans 3:19-26."
Romans 3:19-26:
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished — he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Bridges points out that "It is important to realize that our Lord Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the law of God, both in its requirements and its penalty...Therefore when God justifies us, or declares us righteous, He does not create some sort of legal fiction, calling something righteous that is not. He declares us righteous on the basis of the real, accomplished righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is imputed or credited to us through faith."
Bridges covers (in detail) the entire passage of Romans under the following headings:
No One is Declared Righteous Before God by Observing the Law (Verses 19-21)
There is a Righteousness From God That Is Apart from Law (Verse 21)
This Righteousness from God is Received Through Faith in Jesus Christ (Verse 22)
This Righteousness is Available to Everyone on the Same Basis, Because All Have Sinned and Fall Short of the Glory of God (Verses 22-23)
All Who Put Their Faith in Jesus Christ are Justified Freely by God's Grace (Verse 24)
This Justification Is "Through the Redemption That Came by Christ Jesus (Verse 24)
"God Presented [Jesus] as a Sacrifice of Atonement, Through Faith in His Blood" (Verse 25)
He writes a page or more about each of these. There are so many good quotes that I would love to share. But I don't want to do such a thorough job of covering this book that everyone reading thinks they don't need to read it themselves. This is one of the best books I have ever read so far. And I think it is one that every believer should read. We need to make sure we know and understand the gospel.
Here are a few highlights:
God's plan of salvation treats all people equally, because all are sinners. This is not to say that God notices no distinction in the seriousness and aggravation of different sins. But as we saw in the previous chapter, any sin, however small and insignificant it may seem to us, is a violation of God's holy law and subjects us to the penalty of death.
One person may be a relatively decent sinner and another may be a flagrant sinner, but both are sinners, and God's law admits no degree of failure. If sixty is the passing grade on a college exam, it does not matter if you scored forty and I scored only twenty. We both failed to get a passing grade. There is no point in your boasting that your failing grade is superior to mine. The only thing that matters is that we both failed the exam.
The first purpose of God's method of salvation through Christ's death is to deliver us from guilt, and though all people are not equally guilty, all are guilty. So, as Paul said, "There is no difference." Or, as a more contemporary expression says it, "The ground is level at the foot of the cross."
Justification is a completed work as far as God is concerned. The penalty has been paid and His justice has been satisfied. But it must be received through faith and must be continually renewed in our souls and applied to our consciences every day through faith.
This justification is said to be given to us freely by His grace. The word freely signifies without payment of any kind. Justification cannot be purchased by the payment of good works. There is no exchange of value between the sinner and God. It is an absolutely gratuitous act on His part...
...But though it was totally free to us, it was in fact "purchased" by Christ with His blood. Christ paid the ransom that redeemed us from God's just and holy wrath.
Bridges urges the reader to become familiar with the gospel; because we need to preach it to ourselves every day. "To preach the gospel to yourself, then, means that you continually face up to your own sinfulness and then flee to Jesus through faith in His shed blood and righteous life...[it] means that you take at face value the precious words of Romans 4:7-8 and Romans 8:1..." (He quotes many more from both the OT and NT, but I am running out of typing time!)
One of the closing paragraphs of this chapter was especially meaningful to me as I am living this realization now more than ever. He says this:
This is a book about God's grace and the pursuit of holiness. You can be sure of one thing, though: When you set yourself to seriously pursue holiness, you will begin to realize what an awful sinner you are...(that was the part I was talking about)...And if you are not firmly rooted in the gospel and have not learned to preach it to yourself every day, you will soon become discouraged and will slack off in your pursuit of holiness...
A number of factors go into the pursuit of holiness, but none is more important than learning to preach the gospel to ourselves every day. By the grace of God, I am learning how to preach the gospel to myself in those moments when I feel down on myself, when I have to look at my hypocrisy and my sinful heart, my self-serving motives. It would be so easy to give up on myself. But that would be the equivalent of turning up my nose at the blood of Christ that was shed for me because, like a two year old, I want to say "I do it" rather than accepting what Someone more capable has already done FOR ME.
I almost forgot something from the bad girl book I wanted to mention. Isn't it a beautiful picture for us how Isaac was the only monogamous patriarch? Remember that we cannot get from scripture that this was because Rebekkah was a perfect wife in every aspect of her behavior and therefore deserved this kind of love. We are told, she became his wife and he loved her. (Genesis 24:67).
Not Rebekkah's Isaac. My Isaac. My God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
When Abraham took Isaac to slay him, he told his son that God would provide the sacrifice. God did not require Abraham's son. But He gave His own.
I often read more than one book at the same time. So I am simultaneously reading "The Discipline of Grace" by Jerry Bridges. And the chapter I just finished is entitled: Preach the Gospel to Yourself.
Bridges writes that "The single passage in all of the Bible that most clearly and completely explains the gospel is Romans 3:19-26. A minister friend of mine calls this passage 'The Heart of the Gospel.' So if we are going to preach the gospel to ourselves every day and learn to live by it, we need to understand Romans 3:19-26."
Romans 3:19-26:
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished — he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Bridges points out that "It is important to realize that our Lord Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the law of God, both in its requirements and its penalty...Therefore when God justifies us, or declares us righteous, He does not create some sort of legal fiction, calling something righteous that is not. He declares us righteous on the basis of the real, accomplished righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is imputed or credited to us through faith."
Bridges covers (in detail) the entire passage of Romans under the following headings:
No One is Declared Righteous Before God by Observing the Law (Verses 19-21)
There is a Righteousness From God That Is Apart from Law (Verse 21)
This Righteousness from God is Received Through Faith in Jesus Christ (Verse 22)
This Righteousness is Available to Everyone on the Same Basis, Because All Have Sinned and Fall Short of the Glory of God (Verses 22-23)
All Who Put Their Faith in Jesus Christ are Justified Freely by God's Grace (Verse 24)
This Justification Is "Through the Redemption That Came by Christ Jesus (Verse 24)
"God Presented [Jesus] as a Sacrifice of Atonement, Through Faith in His Blood" (Verse 25)
He writes a page or more about each of these. There are so many good quotes that I would love to share. But I don't want to do such a thorough job of covering this book that everyone reading thinks they don't need to read it themselves. This is one of the best books I have ever read so far. And I think it is one that every believer should read. We need to make sure we know and understand the gospel.
Here are a few highlights:
God's plan of salvation treats all people equally, because all are sinners. This is not to say that God notices no distinction in the seriousness and aggravation of different sins. But as we saw in the previous chapter, any sin, however small and insignificant it may seem to us, is a violation of God's holy law and subjects us to the penalty of death.
One person may be a relatively decent sinner and another may be a flagrant sinner, but both are sinners, and God's law admits no degree of failure. If sixty is the passing grade on a college exam, it does not matter if you scored forty and I scored only twenty. We both failed to get a passing grade. There is no point in your boasting that your failing grade is superior to mine. The only thing that matters is that we both failed the exam.
The first purpose of God's method of salvation through Christ's death is to deliver us from guilt, and though all people are not equally guilty, all are guilty. So, as Paul said, "There is no difference." Or, as a more contemporary expression says it, "The ground is level at the foot of the cross."
Justification is a completed work as far as God is concerned. The penalty has been paid and His justice has been satisfied. But it must be received through faith and must be continually renewed in our souls and applied to our consciences every day through faith.
This justification is said to be given to us freely by His grace. The word freely signifies without payment of any kind. Justification cannot be purchased by the payment of good works. There is no exchange of value between the sinner and God. It is an absolutely gratuitous act on His part...
...But though it was totally free to us, it was in fact "purchased" by Christ with His blood. Christ paid the ransom that redeemed us from God's just and holy wrath.
Bridges urges the reader to become familiar with the gospel; because we need to preach it to ourselves every day. "To preach the gospel to yourself, then, means that you continually face up to your own sinfulness and then flee to Jesus through faith in His shed blood and righteous life...[it] means that you take at face value the precious words of Romans 4:7-8 and Romans 8:1..." (He quotes many more from both the OT and NT, but I am running out of typing time!)
One of the closing paragraphs of this chapter was especially meaningful to me as I am living this realization now more than ever. He says this:
This is a book about God's grace and the pursuit of holiness. You can be sure of one thing, though: When you set yourself to seriously pursue holiness, you will begin to realize what an awful sinner you are...(that was the part I was talking about)...And if you are not firmly rooted in the gospel and have not learned to preach it to yourself every day, you will soon become discouraged and will slack off in your pursuit of holiness...
A number of factors go into the pursuit of holiness, but none is more important than learning to preach the gospel to ourselves every day. By the grace of God, I am learning how to preach the gospel to myself in those moments when I feel down on myself, when I have to look at my hypocrisy and my sinful heart, my self-serving motives. It would be so easy to give up on myself. But that would be the equivalent of turning up my nose at the blood of Christ that was shed for me because, like a two year old, I want to say "I do it" rather than accepting what Someone more capable has already done FOR ME.
I almost forgot something from the bad girl book I wanted to mention. Isn't it a beautiful picture for us how Isaac was the only monogamous patriarch? Remember that we cannot get from scripture that this was because Rebekkah was a perfect wife in every aspect of her behavior and therefore deserved this kind of love. We are told, she became his wife and he loved her. (Genesis 24:67).
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