Christ JESUS our All-Sufficient Ransom

 "...Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." —I Timothy 2:6 [KJV]  

The gospel is quite sufficient to answer every objection, and to silence every cavil against salvation by Christ. This sacred oracle we are to consult day after day. Do we ask, Why are any sinners saved? It assures us God hath loved them; this is the cause. If we enquire how God doth save them? It tells us, It is in a way of strict justice, consistent with the honor of God's law, the perfection of His righteousness, holiness, and truth. Therefore redemption is, by stipulated price, the blood of the covenant, the precious blood of Christ as a Lamb without spot. Do we seek to know who are the redeemed of the Lord? Jesus assures us "He gave His life a ransom for many."—Matthew 20:28—even for ALL whom the Father hath given Him.  

The word of God mentions no one in particular; but sets forth salvation in general and extensive terms—it is exactly suited to the most vile and accursed state of sinners—it is perfectly sufficient to relieve the mind, encourage hope, forbid despair, under a sense of the most complicated sins and accumulated guilt of lost, wretched, and undone souls; for the ransom of Jesus is sufficient, is all-sufficient. The price He paid for our redemption is fully equivalent to satisfy for all our transgressions, and to answer every demand of law and justice. To this very end Christ gave Himself. So is He testified of in the gospel of grace. This essential and important enquiry, Have I redemption in the blood of Christ, even the forgiveness of my sins? is also explicitly answered—for "he that believeth, shall be saved"—"he is justified from all things." Thus the Holy Ghost testifies in the word. Where this is received and believed in the heart, the same Spirit also bears witness to it with our spirits. And the faith of God's elect is evidenced, by bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit.  

There is a time, a due time, when Christ shall be thus testified of to the souls of all God's chosen. The ransom-price being paid, He will set the captives free, and "say to the prisoners, go forth; to them that are in darkness, shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways (of light and truth); and their pastures shall be in all high places (even the mountains of consolation and the hills of joy). They shall not hunger nor thirst (after any other hope but Jesus): neither shall the heat, nor the sun smite them; (trials and afflictions shall profit them); He that hath mercy upon them shall lead them: (they shall not be left to walk in their own crooked ways): but by the springs of water (of refreshment and holiness) shall He guide them."— Isaiah 49:9, 10 [KJV]

-William Mason (1724-1797 A.D.) 

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