Substitution and Satisfaction
In
the fall of 1969, I began attending a bible college which was
considered one
of the most conservative in the country. While there I learned the
truth of God’s free and sovereign grace, not due to my professors,
but in spite of most of them. I discovered that "Salvation
is of the LORD,"
that God chose a people unto salvation, and that when Christ died, He
actually accomplished their redemption, effectually putting away
their sins and bringing in everlasting righteousness.
The
Lord taught me the error of free-willism and the omnipotence of the
Divine will in the experience of salvation. "It is not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth
mercy" [ROMANS
9:16]. When the
authorities of the college passed a resolution stating that no one
could graduate without signing a statement affirming their belief in
universal redemption, I made my position clear without
hesitation and paid the price by being forced to leave. I considered
it an honor to stand firm for the gospel of sovereign grace. In no
sense whatsoever did Christ give His life a ransom for all mankind:
universal redemption is a lie. He died "to save His
people from their sins" [MATTHEW
1:21].
The
Savior was sacrificed, not to make salvation a possibility for all,
but to sanctify and cleanse the church [EPHESIANS
5:25-26].
He"obtained eternal redemption for us"
[HEBREWS
9:12]. Christ
gave Himself for His elect that God might be a just God and a Savior.
"I am the good Shepherd, the good Shepherd giveth His life
for the sheep" [JOHN
10:11]. He paid
the ransom demanded by divine justice, the price being His own death.
Justice cannot and will not condemn those in whose stead Christ has
died for its requirements have been fulfilled by His cross-death as
evidenced by His resurrection.
"Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?
It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, Who is even
at the right hand of God, Who also maketh
intercession for us" [ROMANS
8:33-34].
Learn these two words - Substitution and Satisfaction - for they are
the very heart of the gospel.
-Gospel
report by preacher Jim Byrd
Thirteenth
Street Baptist church of Ashland, Kentucky USA
Please
find enclosed link to Audio Gospel Sermons & Contact Info:
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