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

“ Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” -J OHN 8:11 [KJV]   Jesus faced a dilemma - “ Master, this woman was taken in adultery… Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest T hou? ” [vss. 4-5 ] . If Jesus condemned her, He agreed with the Pharisees losing His distinctiveness and violating Roman law. If He extended mercy, He violated Moses’ Law, being condemned by the people. Jesus honored the Law - “ But Jesus stooped down, and with H is finger wrote on the ground… again H e stooped down, and wrote on the ground” [vss. 6, 8 ] . What did Jesus write? The Ten Commandments were given twice, written with “ the finger of God ” [EXODUS 31:18 ] . Jesus wrote the Commandments in Hebrew, shocking them that an unlearned carpenter from Nazareth had such knowledge. Jesus showed Himself to be the Mercy-Seat - “ W here are those thine accusers …neither do I condemn thee… ” [vss. 10-11 ] . The second writing went into the Ark ...

"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." -J OHN 15:19 [KJV]   If you walk in the fear of God, and follow in the footsteps of a persecuted and despised Jesus, the world will hate and despise you as it hated and despised H im, as H e H imself declares, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated M e before it hated you." God H imself has put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent [GENESIS 3:15 ] ; and nothing will secure you from the manifestation of this enmity if you are on Christ's side. Neither rank, nor property, nor learning, nor education, nor amiability, nor the profusest deeds of liberality, nor the greatest uprightness of conduct, will stave off the scorn of men, if you are a sincere follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, and carry out in practice what you hold in principle.   If you ar...

” Who was raised again for our justification ” (Romans 4:25). Do you ever have doubts and fears about whether Jesus has saved you? You are not sure if His blood has paid for you? If so, you can do no better than to look at the receipt! The receipt? … What is the receipt? … Is the receipt the blood of Christ? … No, the blood is not the receipt. The blood was vital. It was the currency used to pay our ransom, but it is not the receipt! So, what then is the receipt? The receipt is THE RISEN CHRIST. God has raised Him for ( because of ) our justification. This does not mean that His resurrection justifies us. No indeed! He was raised, not to justify us, but because we were already justified by His saving acts at the cross. Romans 5:9 tells us the we were justified by His blood. Because of Christ’s work for us, we were given a new standing before God. His resurrection is proof positive that the debt we owed has been paid in full! It is the receipt. I like what Barnhous...