Purposed Grace Articles

We see in this verse our brother John, rejoicing in the glorious gospel of our dear Lord Jesus Christ. He knows, as you do beloved, that our Lord gave His life as a ransom for all men. Not just elect men from among one nation, but elect men from among all nations. You see, while our Lord Jesus Christ did not die for the sins of all men without exception — He did die for the sins of all men without distinction; poor and rich, Jewish and non-Jewish. We read in the book of Revelations how our Lord was slain “and hast redeemed us to God by His blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

Reader, are you able to rejoice in this blessed description of the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ? Beloved believing sinner, He is able to save you to the uttermost! What the Old Testament priesthood was unable to do, being but a shadow and not the substance, the Son of God being the reality of redemption is able to save His people to the uttermost! And not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own precious blood, by the sacrifice of Himself.

if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work

(Romans 11:16)

[Reader,] you must go to Him with all your wrinkles, and all your foulness, and everything else that is hideous and say, “Lord, I have no beauty, I have no merit, nothing to plead, nothing to urge, but my guilt. ‘Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.’” Then you shall be saved. When a man cannot pay to God a penny [on the dollar] of all his debts, then he will be frankly forgiven all; but as long as he promises that he will make [restitution], and do his best to pay what he owes to divine justice, in the [vain] hope that Jesus Christ will make up the rest, there is no hope for him [Proverbs 20:22]. The Lord Jesus Christ will not be a mere make-weight for you. Do you think that you are to get onto the scale, with your ‘beautiful righteousness’, and that you are to be accounted somebody of great importance, and that Christ is to do the little that you cannot do?—that is to be “Christ and Company,” or rather, “Self and Company,” and that you are to be the head of the firm, and Christ to be a kind of [silent] partner? He will not do it; it would be a disgrace to Christ to yoke you with Him in such a fashion. You might as soon yoke a gnat with an archangel as think of your going in to help Christ save you. To join a filthy rag from off a dunghill with the golden garments of the King cannot be permitted [Isaiah 64:6-9]. Christ will be everything, or else He will be nothing; you must be saved wholly by mercy, or else not at all. There must not be even a trace of the fingers of self-righteousness upon the acts and documents of divine grace. It must be all of grace; “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work” (Romans 11:6). There can be no more mingling of the two together as the ground of hope than oil will mix with water, or fire will burn beneath the sea. [Reader,] you cannot be saved by your own merits.

…call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins

(Matthew 1:21)

Before our precious Savior was born, yes, even from eternity, He was purposed to come “into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). And in another place our Lord tells us “The Son of man came to seek and save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).

What a comforting truth this is — knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ will actually and really save His people from their sins. Oh what comfort there is in knowing that all our sins have been forgiven — ALL of them beloved. Sins of the past, sins of the present, and sins of the future!

Beloved, there is absolutely no sin left out from His forgiveness; otherwise we could never be saved from our sins. And the certainty of this salvation does not come from something we have done, do, or that we can do, but rather it is because of everything that the Lord Jesus did and does to save us. Indeed, “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

Beloved, that is why we know, most assuredly, that ALL our sins are forgiven. Not only because He died and paid for them, but because He rose from the dead and He ever liveth to intercede on our behalf so that we may be saved—never to be lost! Alleluia!

Reader, it is of the utmost importance that we make this observation: notice that it is not said that the LORD JESUS will save everyone from their sins; no no, rather the word of God says that He shall save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). This sets forth, how that there is a personal and intimate relationship between Him and His people. This is shown to us in John chapter 10, where our Lord declares: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” — “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine” — “…and I lay down my life for the sheep” — “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are One” (John 10:11,14,15,27-30).

Beloved believing sinner, rejoice in Christ! and again I say, rejoice! You are one of His sheep, He died for you; and because of what He has done, you have a complete salvation and you will never perish; for He has given you eternal life. May God grant, both the reader and writer alike, ears to ever hear His precious voice and find our feet following Him. May we be among the many that will discover, as John writes ever so blessedly in the gospel that bears his name, “he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:21, Ephesians 1:19). AMEN!

Article orignally published in LA MISIÓN DE ITZINCAB weekly bulletin

…Christ is all, and in all

(Colossians 3:11)

An influential ‘teacher’ recently made the following statement at a ‘Bible conference’…

“…there are a lot of things I don’t know, I’ve said this so many times, I don’t even know how my own spiritual life works—I don’t. Look, Paul says in Galatians 2:20 ‘I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live; yet not I…’—he didn’t know either!” And somehow, fearful thing, this moved his audience to laugh hysterically.

Reader, it is no laughing matter for any professing Christian to say that they don’t know, or that Paul didn’t know how his spiritual life works; this is someone, I fear, who has not been taught of God to know that Christ is all, and in all [John 6:45].

Well then, did Paul not know how his spiritual life works as this man claimed? Paul writes… “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I—but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

So Paul did know who was responsible for his spiritual life. For he tells us plainly, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I—BUT CHRIST LIVETH IN ME.”

Beloved, everything we hear must pass through this gate: Christ is all. If what we hear is contrary to Christ is all, we need to get away from it. Indeed, if anything we believe runs contrary to Christ being our all, and in all; [all our justification and all our sanctification] indeed all our life, it is not after Christ and it’s dead wrong! [Read 1 Corinthians 1:30-31].

Beloved, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). AMEN!

…O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God

[Micah 6:6-8]

Reader, with what shall I come before God? How can I be accepted before God? How can you be accepted before God?

Only by three things and each of them are made only by Christ.

Sinner, do justly; do justly in and through the life of God’s Son. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Sinner, love mercy; love the mercy of God in and through the death and resurrection of His Son. For salvation “is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16).

Sinner, walk humbly with thy God; walk humbly in and through the perfection of His Son. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).

Beloved, there is no condemnation, for those who look away from the pride of their flesh and look humbly, by the Spirit, to the perfect walk of another, Christ Jesus, their Lord. AMEN!

…they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful

(Revelation 17:14)

Beloved, you have been CALLED. God our Father has declared “I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.” Indeed, our heavenly Father declares of His people, that He “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” [Romans 9:25, 2 Timothy 1:9].

Beloved, you have been CHOSEN. God the Son, our blessed redeemer, has asked the Father in the covenant of grace—give me not the righteous to save, but sinners. He declares “I came to call sinners to repentance.” Indeed, he says to His people “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” [Luke 5:32, John 15:16].

Beloved, you have been made FAITHFUL. God the Spirit, the promised comforter, has come and made it know to us, that we are no longer servants of sin, but servants of righteousness. Our inheritance is this: that our faithfulness, our righteousness is of Him, who is always faithful, never fails, and has never fallen! AMEN! (1 Corinthians 1:30-31, Romans 6:18)

The Lord is pleased to quicken His people and make known to them, that from the beginning He has chosen them to salvation and ordained that they believe the Truth. Beloved, He has called you, and chosen you, and made you, through the merits of His beloved Son, faithful in His sight, with Him. AMEN! (Read Acts 13:48, Colossians 1:22)

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; 
(for he is faithful that promised;)

(Hebrews 10:23)

Our God does not lie to us

Beloved, just as sure and steadfast was the promise of God to Abraham, to be both his shield and great reward,so too the Lord Jesus Christ is our shield and great reward. Indeed the Lord Jesus Christ is our shield from every enemy of our salvation: Satan, sin, and death itself [Genesis 15:1, 2 Samuel 22:3, Psalm 62:7]. Our exceeding great reward shall be to be in the presence of Him “that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.”

Beloved, God does not lie, He does not tell us in vain to behold “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” For just as the angel of the Lord declared “He shall save His people from their sins,” we also have His promise, for He saith “Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God” (Hebrews 10:7). Well, has the Lord done His Father’s will? Has He saved His people from their sins? Emphatically, the answer is yes! By His doing and dying, by His blood and righteousness, by His “one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are His people” (Hebrews 10:14).

Our God does not leave us

The Holy Spirit sets forth, ever so blessedly, the faithfulness of our God is His word, in that the LORD did and does as He had spoken, “the LORD did…as He had spoken” (Genesis 21:1).

Again and again, the Word of God sets forth God’s faithfulness to His counsel and His oath. Matthew records our Lord’s blessed oath; speaking to His beloved people, He tells us “I am with you alway” (Matthew 28:20)

In the epistle to the Hebrews, written to the “many” the Lord is bringing unto glory, Paul reminds us of the very same promise, our Lord will be with us always, he writes that God has promised “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). The three times this blessed promise is set forth by the Holy Spirit, it is accompanied by words that grant the believing sinner much comfort. Beloved, He will never leave thee, nor forsake thee; He “…WILL NOT FAIL THEE,” “HE WILL NOT FAIL THEE,” “HE WILL NOT FAIL THEE” (Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5, 1 Chronicles 28:20).

Our God does not lose us

Beloved, the gospel of our Salvation is sure and stedfast for it is founded upon the immutable, unchangeable, faithful character of our God; and because of His faithfulness “ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6)

Beloved, His love is immutable, His counsel is immutable, His promise is immutable. And He has promised “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

Beloved believing sinner; you who have fled for refuge in Christ, patiently endure—wait on the LORD, and HE SHALL SAVE THEE! (Proverbs 20:22). He has promised, and He will also do it. AMEN!

And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only

(Matthew 17:8)

Believer in Jesus! remember, all your confidence, all your hope, all your comfort flows from the finished work of your Saviour. “Jesus only.” [See that you do not unwittingly add something to the perfection of this work]. You may be betrayed into this sin and this folly by looking within yourself rather than to the person of Jesus; by attaching an importance too great to repentance and faith, and your own doings and strivings, rather than ceasing from your own works altogether, and resting for your peace and joy and hope, simply, entirely, and exclusively in the work of Jesus. Remember that whatever we unintentionally add to the finished work of Christ, mars the perfection and obscures the beauty of that work. “If thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it” (Exodus 20:25). Nothing have we to do but, in our moral pollution and nakedness, to plunge beneath the fountain, and wrap our selves within the robe of that Saviour’s blood and righteousness who, when he expired on the tree, so completed our redemption, as to leave us nothing to do but to believe and be saved. “It is finished!” (John 19:30) — O words, pregnant of the deepest meaning! O words, rich of the richest consolation! Salvation is finished! “Jesus only.” Look from fluctuating frames, and fitful feelings, and changing clouds, to “Jesus only.” Look from sins and guilt, from emptiness and poverty, to “Jesus only.” The veil of the temple is rent in twain, and you may pass into its holiest, and lay upon the altar the sacrifice of a broken and a contrite heart, which shall be accepted through him who “gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweetsmelling savor” (Ephesians 5:2).

“It is finished!” Let devils hear it, and tremble! let sinners hear it, and believe! let saints hear it, and rejoice! All is finished. “Then, Lord, I flee to thee, just as I am! I have stayed away from thee too long, and ‘am nothing bettered, but rather grown worse.’ Too exclusively have I looked at my unworthiness, too absorbed have I been with my penury, too bitterly have I mourned having nothing to pay. Upon thy own finished work I now cast myself. Save, Lord, and I shall be saved!” Before this stupendous truth, let all creature merit sink, let all human glory pale, let all man’s boasting vanish, and Jesus be all in all. Perish forms and ceremonies — perish rites and rituals — perish creeds and churches — perish, utterly and forever perish, whatever would be a substitute for the finished work of Jesus, what ever would attempt to add to the finished work of Jesus, whatever would tend to neutralize the finished work of Jesus, whatever would obscure with a cloud, or dim with a vapor, the beauty, the luster, and the glory of the finished work of Jesus, [let it perish]! It was “Jesus only” in the councils of eternity — it was “Jesus only” in the everlasting covenant of grace,— it was “Jesus only” in the manger of Bethlehem — it was “Jesus only” in the garden of Gethsemane — it was “Jesus only” upon the cross of Calvary — it was “Jesus only” in the tomb of Joseph — it was “Jesus only” who, “when he had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). And it shall be “Jesus only” the joy of our hearts, the object of our glory, the theme of our song, the Beloved of our adoration, our service, and our praise, through the endless ages of eternity. O stand fast in life and in death, by the finished work of Jesus. — Octavius Winslow

let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup

(1 Corinthians 11:28)

Usually, when we think of examining ourselves, we think of examining our lives. How are we dealing with besetting sins? Are we reading the Bible to our spiritual profit? Are we spending time in prayer and communion with the Lord? What does our daily lives say about our love to Christ? Can others see that we are Christians? What did Paul say? Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith: if we gain assurance by how well we are performing, it is a false, works based assurance. [If we conclude, we are not saved because of our failures in these things, we are once again making salvation dependent upon our performance]. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe that when He said, “It is finished” the salvation of all the elect was accomplished? (John 19:30) Are you relying on who He is and what He did as all you have for acceptance with God? Then you are “in the faith” and a true child of God.