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

‘The strength and extent of the corruption of our nature are seen from its influence over the best of men, and from its retaining more or less of its power, under all circumstances, to the end of life.’  -Charles Hodge , Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, pg. 230, Eerdmans Publishers, 11 th Printing 1974 A.D.

When we consider how God has wonderfully provided for us such a Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) , let us always remember that our Lord Jesus Christ must be a high priest after the order of Melchisedec (Hebrews 6:20) and after the order of Aaron (Hebrews 2:17) .   It was in His sacrificial death that Christ fulfilled the order of Aaron, making Himself an offering for sin (Hebrews 9:11-12) . By the one offering He perfected forever that which Aaron could only typify; complete atonement for sin, and everlasting reconciliation with God (II Corinthians 5:18-21) . It was after the resurrection that our Lord fulfilled the order of Melchisedec. Melchisedec did not offer a sacrifice (Genesis 14:18) , he presented one (bread and wine). Our Lord Jesus Christ, when He entered into glory He did not offer a sacrifice, He presented one. He entered in as our forerunner, as our great High Priest after the order of Melchisedec to make intercession for us with His very presence.  "For Christ...

When something takes place that men think would be contrary to the will of God, they will place it under the umbrella of “the permissive will of God.” God permitted it to happen, it being a part of His sovereign purpose.  If by that men mean that God foresees an event taking place that was not part of His will, but He permits it to take place, that would make something taking place before God’s sovereign will, and God responding to that!  God does not respond!  God decrees.  “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18.)   While our puny minds cannot comprehensively comprehend the irrevocable decrees of God, we know that God is good all the time and He always does what only He can do: bring good out of evil!  We have the assurance, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25.)   He does not do it because it is right, it is right because He does it.   -preacher Todd Nibert

Yes, salvation is a choice.  Salvation is the choice of God.  “ For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy"   (Romans 9:15-16) .   God the Father elected a people who He would save by the obedience and sacrifice of His Son (II Thessalonians 2:13) .  God the Son came in the flesh to willingly suffer and die to put the sin of His people away (Galatians 4:4-6; Hebrews 9:26) . God the Holy Spirit moves when and where He will to give life and faith to God’s elect through the preaching of the Gospel (John 16:8-15; I Corinthians 1:21) .  Salvation is all by the will (James 1:18) , the choosing (Ephesians 1:3-6) , the doing, and the application of God (Philippians 1:6) . -unknown preacher of righteousness 

  “Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” -Romans 10:13 [KJV] What is it to call on the Name of the Lord?  It is to call on the Lord Jesus Christ for all of our salvation, start to finish!  “Call His Name Jesus: for HE shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21) . To call upon Him for salvation is to call upon HIM and NOT my religion.  It is to call upon HIM, and NOT my devotion as a Christian.  It is to call upon HIM, and NOT my good, moral obedience to the law.  It is to call on HIS will and purpose in ALL things, and NOT my will or decision in anything!   It is to say: “I can’t save myself, YOU must save me!  This is not in my hands, this is in YOUR hands alone!  I plead YOUR finished work!  I beg for YOUR abundant grace and mercy, through the shedding of YOUR own blood!”   It is to believe in the heart: “Lord, I can’t even call on You unless You call on me first.”   That is callin...

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).   What, then, is the new birth? It is not the removal of anything from the sinner nor the changing of anything physical or fleshly in the sinner; instead, it is the communication of SOMETHING NEW to the sinner. The new birth is the impartation of a NEW NATURE. When we were born the first time, we received from our parents their nature; so too, when we are born again, we receive from God His nature. The Spirit of God begets within us a spiritual nature (Galatians 5:17; II Peter 1:4) . That which is born of man is human; that which is born of God is divine and spiritual (I John 3:9) . Nicodemus was startled. He was amazed at the Saviour’s words. Yet he ought not to have been. Man, by birth and nature, is blind and opposed to the things of God. And no amount of religious training can change this evil nature. His chief need is a NEW NATURE – to be born again! It is a must! A man ...

"Perfecting holiness in the fear of God." -II Corinthians 7:1 [KJV]   Who are thus exhorted? saints in Christ. What for? To labour to get perfect holiness, to obtain the favour of God? No: they are already perfectly justified in His sight, and sanctified to His glory. But some reject this: they legalize the gospel, (if I may so speak) under a specious shew for holiness, as though that was to procure more for us from God, than the blood and righteousness of His dear Son. This is aiming to perfect holiness, in ignorance and unbelief: this eclipses the glory of Christ’s work for us, inverts the order of gospel economy, and brings perplexity and distress upon God’s children. For, this is the glory of the gospel,—that moment a sinner is justified by the faith of Christ, he is sanctified by the Spirit of Christ.    Our title to heaven, and our meetness for glory, come together by the same rich grace: being brought into the sense of God’s favour, we have also suita...

"And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy; even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning." -Isaiah 4:3-4 [KJV]   What a precious scripture is here! and what vast things are contained in the bosom of it! Mark them down, my soul, one by one, this evening, and see what of thy personal interest thou canst trace in the whole. And first, who they are, of whom these things are said, namely, "the living in Jerusalem; even every one that is written: and he that is left, and he that remaineth." By living, and being written, can only be meant what the beloved apostle saith of being "written in the book of life" -Revelation 13:8.  And of "him that remaineth," ...

"Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass." -Psalm 37:5 [KJV]    What shall God bring to pass? The thing that lies deepest in the heart— "thy way." Does not thy way lie deepest in thy soul—the path that God has led, the path that God is now leading you by? You may be troubled in your soul, doubting and fearing in your mind, distressed in your feelings; you may sink down to the lowest point that a child of God can sink to; yet that way, in which you are so deeply sunk, if the Lord enable you from time to time to commit it to Him, and trust in Him, He will bring to pass above what your heart desires.    Look at the movements of your heart God-ward; look at your embarrassments, temptations, and exercises; look at that which rolls backwards and forwards in your mind, that which is tossed to and fro on the waves of your anxious bosom,—what lies nearest, dearest, and deepest,—let honest conscience speak. That, whatever ...