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

The heart of the gospel is the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ . Scripture places all the responsibility and burden of our salvation on the shoulders of our Lord. If a man is to be saved God must save him and the good news is that the Lord Jesus Christ has ‘saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.’ If I am to be redeemed from the curse of the law it must be the Lord Jesus who redeems me. If I am to be delivered from captivity to my own sinful nature it must be the Lord Jesus who sets me free. To be released from the bondage of Satan, Christ must break the chains for by my own strength I can neither settle the claim of God’s law, overthrow my inherited sinful nature or escape the devil’s grasp.  The doctrine of particular redemption lays all the responsibility for salvation on the shoulders of the Saviour and gives Him all the glory. Christ’s...

Blood that Cleanses by D G Miles McKee “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” –I John 1:7 [KJV]   There’s a painful truth that glares out to us from this beautiful text and that is this... sin must be cleansed. But not just any old sin, it’s our sin that needs to be cleansed.   The blood cleanses “us” from all sin! Since our sin needs to be cleansed, sin must, therefore, be filthy and polluted, but more than that, without this cleansing we are left filthy and polluted. It’s a painful picture, isn’t it?   There is a tendency today to forget just how horribly wretched sin is. We’ve dulled our spiritual senses so much that we cease to see sin as being what the Bible says it is, “exceeding sinful” (Romans 7:13) . What a choice of words! “Exceeding Sinful.” God, wanting to call sin by the worst of words, could have called it vile or wretched or any number of names yet He chose to call it by it‘s own name “sin.“ Literally, sin is heinous b...

"Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."   - Revelation 2:10 [KJV]   This text has been seized by Arminian hands, dragged to their mint; the impress of man’s faithfulness struck on their minds, as his title to a crown of life; and pressed into their service, to militate against the electing love of God, and finished salvation by Christ only. O, Christian! does not your heart rise with indignation against such a self-exalting notion? It is the very dregs of unfaithfulness to Christ. Are you not ready to spurn it with a holy vehemence, saying, Get to hell, from whence you sprung?    What! my faithfulness on earth the cause, the condition, the merit of my being crowned in heaven?! O, my law-fulfilling, justice-satisfying, sin-atoning Jesus! can I ever think so meanly of Thy agony and bloody sweat; Thy cross and passion; Thy precious death and burial; Thy glorious resurrection and ascension; and of the coming of the Holy Ghost? as...

"And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God ." -Hebrews 10:11, 12 [KJV]   The morning portion was the finishing cry of Jesus on the cross. This, my soul, I hope thou didst, as it were, hear with the ear of faith: beholding with the eye of faith, the Lord of life and glory as retreating from the field of battle, having gotten Himself the victory, and by that "one offering of Himself, once offered, for ever perfected them that are sanctified." Fold up then the blessed object for thy nightly pillow, as for thy morning meditation, and bring it forth continually for thine unceasing joy and peace in believing, that (as the Holy Ghost hath in this scripture, for thy present enjoyment, sweetly set it forth) when all the priests in their daily ministry could accomplish nothing, thi...

"And so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish." -Esther 4:16 [KJV]   When we are in darkness, under distress of conscience, or when guilt lies hard and heavy upon the soul, these things do, and must until removed, keep us back from the Lord. But are we ever to give heed to these enemies of our soul's peace? Are we never to press through the crowd? How was it with the man who was paralyzed for so many years? He might for ever have lain helpless upon his bed, had he not been brought into the presence of Jesus. How with the woman with the issue of blood? She might for ever have tarried on the skirts of the crowd, a poor, polluted, self-condemned wretch. But she pressed through the crowd, and got to touch the hem of Jesus' garment.    So with us. Shall we ever dwell in the outskirts—in the outer court of the temple? Shall we merely walk round Zion's bulwarks and tarry at her doors, or shall we venture int...