The Wednesday Word [27APR22 A.D.]

 Jesus: Our Right Standing Before God.


Repentance is a vital truth: God does not open heaven without it! But let’s get this straight; our repentance is not the basis of our welcome into God’s presence. Repentance, properly speaking, is a profound change of mind about God and about sin, but again we must be clear that it is not the ground or basis of our right standing before God.

Likewise,regeneration is a work of the Spirit that gives us a new heart towards God, but this is not the foundation of our acceptance either.

Many professing Christians have false trusts. Some trust in their reformation and although the Holy Spirit will help us to grow in grace as we are bathed in the gospel, reformation of lifestyle does not give us our welcome before God.

And what about our relationship with God? Many things change because of the gospel. For example, we are adopted and receive a change of family and we now have a new relationship with God. Yet, powerful as these changes are, none of them are the basis for our welcome and acceptance before God.

People have such strange notions as to why God welcomes them. There’s a story, about a man called Jim Bludso, a blasphemous, adulterous engineer of a Mississippi steamboat from many, many years ago. One night when his steamer caught on fire, Jim held the boat against the riverbank until every last passenger was safe on land while Jim, himself, gave up his life on the burning vessel. A poem was written commemorating Jim Bludso and the event: it has a stanza that says,

“He seen his duty, a dead-sure thing-
And went for it there and then,
And God ain’t a going to be too hard
On a man that died for men.”

Lovely stuff; but sheer nonsense! Without the shedding of Christ’s blood, there is no remission and no welcome. (Hebrews 9:22).

God welcomes us because of one man and one man alone, the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is the ground of our right standing. There is nothing we can do that can move God to receive us. It has already been done. We are already embraced in the Lord Christ. No contributions from us are needed. When the Lord Jesus purchased us He paid for us in full. He gave us a new standing before God and made us "accepted in the Beloved." (See Ephesians 1:6). This means that nothing which we have (even as a result of the gospel) can possibly be the basis of our acceptance. As believers, we hold to the truth "That a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ." (Galatians 2:16).

God’s way of acceptance is excellent! The crucified and risen Jesus, plus nothing, brings us to God. The crucified and risen Christ plus nothing reconciles us to God. The crucified and risen Christ plus nothing is the end of the law for righteousness. (Romans 10:4). Christ gave awful evidence that the wages of sin is death, when He, by His own blood, opened for us the only way of salvation. (Revelation 1:5). Now through Him, the very worst, the weakest, the lowest and the most despicable of us are welcome.

It was by the blood that He accomplished our right standing. It was with the blood that He purchased our redemption. It was by His blood that He accomplished the divine purpose. If we want to understand the foundation of our acceptance before God, we must look away from ourselves to the Lamb whose blood has taken away sins. (Hebrews 12:2)!

And that’s the Gospel Truth!


-preacher Miles McKee

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JESUS - Rock of Ages

Jesus remains the same in all ages. He is the One who is constant when everything and everyone else fails. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our R ock [I SAMUEL 2:2 ] . In the Old Testament, in Exodus 33, Jesus is pictured as the Cleft Rock. In that chapter, verse 18 and following, Moses desired to see the glory of the Lord, but was told, "You cannot see My face; for there shall no man see My face and live.” And the Lord said, “There is a place by Me, and you shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by." Notice that as Moses stood upon the rock, the Lord hid him in the cleft. This wonderfully applies to us today! Believers are both standing on and hidden in Christ [COLOSSIANS 3:3 ] . We are both in and on the Rock. As life with its many bitter events presses upon us, ...
Read more

CHRIST OUR ONLY AND PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS

" The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." —Galatians 5:17 [KJV] Christian experience fully proves this apostolic truth. Hence the children of God cannot do the things that they would: nor have we any authority from God's word to conclude this lusting ever ceased in any of the saints till they got to glory; none are delivered from it while in the flesh. For, as the renewed soul or spirit loves to enjoy spiritual and heavenly objects, so the flesh, or unrenewed part, lusts after those objects it is naturally conversant with, and from which it derives its happiness.  Here is thy conflict, O Christian. Hence the necessity of thy Lord's command, "Watch always." This is the use of the doctrine. What woeful effects have fulfilling the lusts or desires of the flesh produced in eminent saints! Thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. The conceptions of lust are the productions of sin.— see James 1:15 . The commission of sin contracts fresh s...
Read more

GLORY ALONE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

" Lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." -Judges 7:2 [KJV] Thus the Lord reasoned with Gideon. He knows what is in man. He sees the pride of the human heart: how prone we all are to boast in an arm of flesh. The Lord is jealous of His own glory. Gideon’s army of two and thirty thousand, is brought down to three hundred. By this handful of men, and no more, did Gideon gain the victory of the Midianites. The Lord’s wisdom in this was, “Lest Israel should vaunt themselves, and say, Mine own hand hath saved me.”   But I have not transcribed the text right. There are two little words of great import, which I have omitted. Mind then, O Christian— against Me. Now remember, whenever thou dost boast of thy power, thy free-will, thy human goodness, thy works, ditties, conditions, and performances in order to be saved, thou art then, as it were, two and thirty thousand strong. Thou vauntest thyself against the Lord . Thou art gloryi...
Read more