Jesus Is

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This message reveals the greatest secret of all:  God is glorified most by the grace He givesonline casino net.  Over and over again in the scriptures we find places sounding the highest glory of God, and right with it – the language of grace.

This message is the final in a series called “The Secret”.  It was preached in October of 2007.

The Ultimate Secret

By Mark VanOuse

One of the most common, unbiblical myths in Christianity is the Myth of the Christian “Sinner”. Almost universally and everywhere I hear (or read of) Christians referring to themselves as “sinners”. A common sentiment is the well-worn phrase, “I’m just a sinner like everyone else”. Or, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace”.

I’m here to say that Christians — those that are truly born again by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ — are never called “sinners” in the Bible. Such a belief that Christians are called “sinners” is not only patently unbiblical, it is unhealthy and downright dangerous to the cause of righteousness, both personal and in the church.

Now at the outset let me say that I am not saying Christians never sin. They can and do, sadly and opposed to God’s will. For the Christian who sins, there is remedy found in scriptures like 1 John 1:9.

What I am saying is that you will not find even one verse in the Bible that calls Christians “sinners”. Not a single one. So what are they called? “saints”. More on that later. Read the rest of this entry »

By Asa Mahan

By Asa Mahan

* Most of the distinctions here made between the two covenants were suggested to my mind by my beloved associate, the Rev. C. G. Finney.

1. As then observed, the same standard of character, perfect holiness, is common to each of these covenants.

2. In the first covenant, holiness is required of the creature. In the new covenant, the same thing is promised to the believer.

3. The condition on which the blessings promised under the first covenant are secured is, Do and live. “Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man that doeth these things shall live by them.” The condition of the new covenant is, Believe and live. “Now, the just shall live by faith.” “But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise: Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above;) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead). But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith which we preach. That, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

4. The “surety” of the first covenant is the creature himself. The “surety” of the new covenant is Christ. In other words, the salvation of a creature under the former depends upon the faithfulness of the creature himself. The salvation of a creature under the latter depends upon the faithfulness of Christ. Hence Christ is said, Heb. v. 22, to have been “made a surety of a better testament” [covenant]. In Heb. viii. 6, as the Mediator of the new covenant, Christ is also declared to be the “Mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”

5. The first covenant is adapted to the condition of creatures only who have never sinned. The new covenant is adapted, by infinite wisdom and love, to the condition of sinners involved in infinite guilt, and hopelessly lost, as far as any efforts of their own are concerned, under the power of sin.

6. The exclusive influence of the first covenant upon sinners is to increase their guilt and aggravate their depravity. The new covenant redeems these very sinners from the curse of the law, and “delivers them from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Hence the first covenant is said to “gender to bondage;” i.e., sinners under its influence are left in hopeless bondage, under the power of sin; while all who are under the full influence of the new covenant, are free, i.e., are delivered from the power of sin, and introduced into a state of purity and blessedness. Gal. iv. 25-26, “For these are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all.”

7. The first covenant is a dispensation of justice. The new is a dispensation of mercy, under the influence of which the sinner is brought to the “blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things than the blood of Abel.” The former influences the subject by commands and prohibitions, rewards and penalties; the latter subdues and melts the heart of the rebel by the power of love.

8. Finally, whatever the old covenant, or the moral law, requires of the creature, the new covenant, as shown in a former discourse, promises to the believer. The first covenant, for example, requires of the creature perfect and perpetual holiness. The new covenant promises to the believer perfect and perpetual holiness. I will first cite a few of the passages quoted in that discourse, to sustain the above declaration, and will then offer some general remarks to show that the construction there put upon them is correct. Jer. xxxii. 39, 40, “And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them and of their children after them; and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn from them to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall not depart from me.” Ezek. xxxvi. 25, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart, also, will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them.” Deut. xxx. 6, “And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.” Jer. i. 20, “In those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found.” I Thess. v. 23, 24, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” That Christ, as the Mediator of the new covenant, does, in these and kindred passages, promise to the believer all that the law requires of him, will appear perfectly evident from the following considerations:

1. This sentiment is in accordance with the most direct and obvious import of the phraseology employed in such passages, that meaning I refer to, which most naturally suggests itself to plain and unlettered men, reading the sacred text without note or comment, and with their judgments unbiassed by preconceived opinions. For such minds the Bible was written; and its import to them, in the state referred to, is in accordance with the “mind of the Spirit.”

2. This is the construction which would, by all mankind, be put upon the same language, if found in any other book but the Bible.

3. Let any minister, in any congregation in the land, use this identical language in the same full and unqualified manner in which the sacred writers use it, and their hearers will, with one voice, charge him with holding the doctrine of Christian Perfection, as maintained in these discourses; so obvious is the import of such phraseology, when presented without qualification.

4. All Christians admit that entire justification is promised in the new covenant, that the Bible teaches that heaven is a place of perfect holiness, and that Christ was free from all sin while on earth. Now, the same identical principles of interpretation, by which either of the above doctrines can be proved from the language of the Bible, demand the admission of the doctrine under consideration, in all its fulness. If the language employed in the above passages does not sustain this doctrine, neither of the above doctrines can be sustained by the language of inspiration. Every candid reader of the Bible, who will carefully study the sacred volume, with his eye upon the phraseology there employed, in reference to all these doctrines, will find the above affirmations fully sustained.

5. The principles of interpretation by which it can be shown that the phraseology of the passages before us does not sustain the doctrine under consideration, would be equally conclusive against any other phraseology which the sacred writers could have employed, when from such phraseology this doctrine should be inferred. 6. This is the very sentiment which is invariably impressed by the Spirit of God upon the young convert in the warmth of his early love. The language and sentiment of every such heart is “Lord, I make a full surrender; Every thought and power be thine Thine entirelyThrough eternal ages thine.”With the young convert, this is not a poetical hyperbole, but the real sentiment and conviction of the heart. Now, present to such a mind, in the unsophisticated warmth of its “first love,” the exceeding great and precious promises of the new covenant, and how would he interpret them? Who can doubt that he would understand them in conformity with the pure sentiments and convictions impressed upon his mind by the Spirit of God, in his conversion? Such are the promises of the new covenant, of which Christ is the Mediator. In looking to Christ for the fulfilment of these promises, would he not charge upon us the sin of unbelief, should we expect less from him than that he should “redeem us from all iniquity,” and render us “perfect and complete in all the will of God?”

From the book “Scripture Doctrine of Christian Perfection” by Asa Mahan.  This publication is in the public domain.

By Asa Mahan

AS much is being said in the churches about a legal righteousness and righteousness by faith, or the legal and Christian spirit and method of righteousness, it may be important for us to stop right here for a moment, and see if we cannot obtain clear and distinct apprehensions of these two distinct and opposite spirits and methods of righteousness. At the time when Paul wrote the Epistle to the Romans, the Jew stood out before the world as the advocate and representative of the doctrine of justification by deeds of law and of legal righteousness, while the Christian stood forth as the advocate and representative of the opposite doctrine, that of justification and sanctification both by faith. The object of the apostle in this epistle (I repeat what I have stated in substance before) is to elucidate these two distinct and opposite methods of righteousness as advocated and represented by these two classes of individuals.

In doing this, the apostle gives the Jew full credit for all that could be claimed in his behalf. “Israel,” or the Jews, had “a zeal for God,” “followed after the law of righteousness,” “rested in the law,” “made his boast of God,” “knew His will,” approved the things that are more excellent,” and “had the form of knowledge and of the truth.” Yet, in seeking righteousness “by deeds of law,” the Jew failed in the end he sought both in the matter of justification, on the one hand, and sanctification on the other — utterly failed in both particulars. This he did for two reasons. The fact that he, in common with all the race, had sinned, and come short of the “glory of God,” — a fact which rendered it absolutely impossible that any human being shall be justified “by the deeds of the law.” The Jew also, notwithstanding his “approval of the law,” and “delight in it after the inner man,” and frequently renewed efforts and purposes of obedience, because the evil propensities in man are stronger than the conscience and the will. The Christian, on the other hand, in seeking righteousness by faith, does “attain to righteousness” in both particulars, because that in Christ provisions absolutely adequate and efficacious do exist for the full justification and sanctification of all who believe in Him.

To understand clearly the nature of the legal spirit, as it is in itself and as represented by the Jew in his “following after righteousness,” we have only to recur to the efforts which Paul represents his countrymen as putting forth in the direction of obedience to “the law of righteousness.” Representing himself as a Jew, and as he once was, the apostle thus speaks: — “To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do! “That which I do, I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” In examining all the above statements, we find, on the one hand, the presence of a clear apprehension, inward approval of, and even inward delight in, what the law requires. We find also purposes and efforts to render this obedience; but, in every single purpose and endeavour, a total failure “to do that which is good,” — the good to do which there is a readiness to will.

We find, on the other hand, the total absence of all recognition of the fact of self-impotence and dependence upon divine aid, or any aid whatever beyond self, to do the good — the total absence, consequently, of faith in Christ for “grace to help” human impotency. In other words, every purpose is formed and every effort put forth in the exclusive spirit of self-sufficiency and self-dependence. This is the legal spirit in its nature, essence, and form. The language of this spirit is, “The man that doeth these things shall live by them” “I will do them, and live thereby.” The language of faith, on the other hand is, “We are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God,” and in Christ we do “have all-sufficiency for all things,” and may consequently “abound to every good work.” The legal spirit boasts of its strength, is full of good purposes, but is utterly powerless to “do that which is good.” The spirit of faith, on the other hand, recognises and confesses to total self-impotence, and yet is ever girded with all-sufficient strength, because “its hope and trust is not in self, but in the living God.”

I may illustrate these two opposites by a reference to my own case. In the matter of justification, my self-renunciation and dependence upon the grace of God in Christ were absolute. Here, consequently, I had “assurance of hope.” In that of sanctification, on the other hand, whenever I failed in my purposes of obedience, after confession and the consciousness of forgiveness, I would say to myself “I know of but one thing to do, and that is, to renew my purpose of obedience and start anew.” I record the very words I was accustomed to repeat to myself under the circumstances referred to. As a consequence, my renewed purposes were as abortive as my former ones had been, and I read my experience in the seventh chapter of Romans.

Whenever, and to what extent, and in what form soever, reader, you may purpose obedience, resolve to start anew in the divine life, and do this expecting thus to obey because you have purposed to do so, you will read you future experience just where I read mine, and will never find “deliverance from the body of this death.” The reason is, that all such purposes and efforts are not of faith, but purely legal.

If on the other hand, “with purpose of heart you shall cleave unto the Lord,” and while you do so you shall, with a distinct recognition of your total moral impotency for anything good or right, recognise in Christ an infinite fulness for all your necessities, and shall put full trust in Him, as your all-sufficient “wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,” then will “your righteousness go forth as brightness, and your salvation as a lamp that shineth,” and your stability in love and obedience be “as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abideth for ever.” The reason is, that “the life which you now live in the flesh is by the faith of the Son of God, who loved you, and gave Himself for you.” Such is the distinction between the legal and Christian spirit and method of righteousness.

This is from the book “Out of Darkness Into Light” by Asa Mahan.  This book is in the public domain.

 

By Charles G. Finney

Some years since, I preached a sermon for the purpose of developing the idea of the spiritual life. The minister for whom I preached said to me, I want to show you a letter written many years ago by a lady now in advanced age, and detailing her remarkable experience on this subject.

After her conversion she found herself exceedingly weak, and often wondered if this was all the stability and strength she could hope for from Christ in His Gospel. Is this, she said, all that God can do for me? Long time and with much prayer she examined her Bible. At last she found, that below what she had ever read and examined before, there lay a class of passages which revealed the real Gospel — salvation from sinning. She saw the provisions of the Gospel in full relief. Then she shut herself up, determined to seek this blessing till she should find. Her soul went forth after God, seeking communion with Him, and the great blessing which she so deeply felt that she needed. She had found the needed promises in God’s Word, and now she held on upon them as if she could not let them go until they had all been fulfilled in her own joyful experience. She cried mightily to God. She said, “If Thou dost not give me this blessing, I can never believe Thee again.” In the issue the Lord showed her that the provisions were already made, and were just as full and as glorious as they needed to be or could be, and that she might receive them by faith if she would. In fact, it was plain that the Spirit of the Lord was pressing upon her acceptance, so that she had only to believe — to open wide her mouth that it might be filled. She saw and obeyed: then she became firm and strong. Christ had made her free. She was no longer in bondage; her Lord had absolutely enlarged her soul in faith and love, and triumphantly she could exclaim: Glory be to God! Christ hath made me free.

This is an excerpt from Charles G. Finney’s book, “Sermons On Gospel Themes”, chapter XXIV, “Elements of Christian Experience.” The book is in the public domain.

By Ruth Paxson

Whether one is young or old in the Christian life there is but one way in which our spiritual possessions are actualized — by faith. Faith opens the Christian life to us: faith accompanies us the entire length of life’s journey, and faith at last leads us into the land where we see Him as He is and there faith gives place to sight.

Colossians 2:5-6, “For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.”

Colossians 1:23, “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.” Read the rest of this entry »

By Mark VanOuse

When we pursue unity with others, we must give something up. That is the very nature of unity. In order to come to the place of reasonable agreement necessary to a spirit of unity, this requires us to “leave at the door” those things which we deem non-essential.

Those who pursue unity and yet ignore the vital question: “what are we willing to give up to pursue such unity?” will not get very far in the path of unity. They are deluding or are being deluded. Read the rest of this entry »