"Salvation is of the LORD." -Jonah 2:9

Long before the law was given by Moses, our whole race fell when Adam fell in the garden of Eden. Adam, a representative man, sinned against God and in him “ all sinned” [ROMANS 5:12 ] . This is why “ death reigned from Adam to Moses” [ROMANS 5:14 ] . But the penalty for sin against God is far more than physical death. Sin cannot be reversed, it must be punished. The penalty God requires for sin is death, a death that will satisfy divine justice. “ Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die” [EZEKIEL 18:4 ] . “ For the wages of sin is death...” [ROMANS 6:23 ] . That penalty must be paid. It cannot be paid by a sinner but requires the death of a sinless sacrifice. Every picture in the Old Testament sacrifices shows this. Christ, if He be that “ one sacrifice for sins forever,” must be such. If He be our Substitute, He must do the one thing God could not do from heaven, He must

"For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." - MATTHEW 5:20 [KJV] There are three kinds of righteousness, or at least three kinds of righteousness which bear that name. There is inherent righteousness, of which we have none. There is imputed righteousness, which is all our justification. And there is imparted righteousness, when God the Spirit makes us new creatures, and raises up in the heart that "new man, which after God" (that is, "after the image of God") "is created in righteousness and true holiness." When the Lord, therefore, said, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven," he did not mean only an external righteousness wrought out by His obedience to the law for them, but an internal righteousness

Two Men, Two Offerings and Two Verdicts D.G. Miles McKee In Genesis 4, two men, Cain and Abel, the children of fallen Adam and Eve, each bring an offering to the Lord. Cain, the farmer, came with the labour of his hands; Abel, instead, brought the firstlings of his flock. Here we see two men and two offerings; two men standing before God waiting for a verdict. Both Cain and Abel were sinners, but both were religious. They each knew that they needed to sacrifice to God. However, what a difference there was between their offerings. Cain’s offering was one of works. He brought the produce of his toil and sweat. Can good hard work rid him of the fact that he and his sin have insulted God? Abel's offering was different. From it we see that Abel understood the necessity of a substitutionary atonement. Abel, by faith, apprehended and bowed to this truth. He knew that, as a sinner, the only way of approach to the Lord was by a substitutionary blood atonement. Tha