Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy Name, O LORD, be all the Glory given... {and we will have all Eternity to praise His Glorious Grace for sending His Holy Spirit to place us, by Repentance and Faith, into UNION WITH CHRIST in His Substitutionary Satisfaction of the Penalty, and the Precepts, of Gods Law; and in His Death to Sin and Resurrection unto Newness of Life}. Psalm 115 : 1a (Ephesians 1:6; Romans 6:4,10,11; 8:3,4) “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Matthew 5:17,18 (ESV) The Gospel as the complete fulfillment of the LAW of God: CHRIST Satisfying the Penal Requirements of the LAW by His Substitutionary Representative Death upon the Cross as the LAST Adam on behalf of all true believers freeing us from the wrath of God {PROPITIATION} and an Eternity in Hell; and CHRIST Satisfying the Preceptive Requirements of the LAW {vindicated in His RESURRECTION from the Dead} by His Substitutionary Representative Perfect Life of Obedience as the SECOND Man on behalf of all true believers meriting for us the Eternal Joys and Pleasures of spending Eternity with the Blessed Trinity {JUSTIFICATION}. The imputation of Christs active obedience is a doctrine within REFORMED Theology. It is based on the idea that Gods righteousness demands perfect obedience to his law. By his active obedience, Christ has made available a perfect righteousness before the law that is imputed or reckoned to those who put their trust in him. The Heidelberg Catechism asserts that God grants to the believer the perfect satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ, so that the Christian can say that it is as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. (Q&A 60). This imputation therefore constitutes the positive element of justification. The imputation of Christs active obedience has its foundation in the idea of a covenant of works made with Adam. John Gresham Machen (July 28, 1881 – January 1, 1937), an American Presbyterian (REFORMED) Theologian, argues that if Christ had merely paid the penalty of sin for us and done nothing more we should be at best back in the situation in which Adam found himself when God placed him under the covenant of works. As a result of this, our attainment of eternal life would have been dependent upon our perfect obedience to the law of God, and we would be certain to fall. Machen goes on to say that Christ was our representative both in penalty paying and in probation keeping, and that for those who have been saved by him, the probation is over since Christ has merited for them the reward by his perfect obedience to Gods law. In the Garden of Eden, ADAM represented everyone in the human race. He was put on probation. His “test”, like the probation that each of us is submitted to (under the COVENANT OF WORKS), is to render absolute obedience to an Infinitely Holy God. He failed (sinned), and we sinned, in ADAM , (and we all commit our own sins, cf ., Romans 5:12-ff). He (and we) are all guilty of Eternal Punishment (in HELL). Jesus Christ, by the Mercy and Grace of God, PAID the Penalty for all those who would place all their trust in Him. It still remains for us to Keep the whole Law of God as our Probation. Jesus Christ, by the Mercy and Grace of God, also KEPT the whole Law of God for all those who would place all their trust in Him, thus meriting for us Eternal Rewards (in HEAVEN). We were the objects of Gods Eternal Wrath (deserving HELL), under our OLD solidarity (UNION) with Adam and his Sin. Once we repent of our Sins, and put all our Trust in Christ, we have a NEW solidarity (the OLD being no longer a spiritual reality for the the believer--we died to Sin, Romans 6:1-11) a UNION WITH CHRIST, United with Him in his Perfect Humanity: His Perfect, Sinless, Obedient, HUMAN History, Identity and Destiny, for all Eternity. (CHRIST might be called the REAL MAN, the TRUE MAN--what Humanity was SUPPOSED to be like, had SIN not entered the picture.) (1 Corinthians 6:17, ...for all those who have been joined to (belong to, united to) CHRIST, are ONE-SPIRIT with Him). The first (man) Adam was responsible for the condemnation of the whole human race. The last Adam (CHRIST) UNDID all the damage Adam, and his descendants, had caused. The second man (another name for CHRIST), DID all that the first man, and all his descendants, had failed to do. Together the Sufferings, Humiliations, and Death of CHRIST—AND His complete absolute Obedience to Gods Law throughout His entire Life---constitute our “JUSTIFICATION” (Salvation): Romans 5:19 For as by the one mans disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one mans obedience the many will be made righteous. Philippians 3:8,9 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Matthew 3:13-14. Then Jesus came from Galilee to John to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Permit it to be so now, for thus it it fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Romans 8:3,4 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Romans 4:25 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) Jesus was handed over to die for our sins, and he was raised from death to make us right with God (JUSTIFICATION). All of this is appropriated by us through our UNION WITH CHRIST. (1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV): And because of Him (God the Father through the operation of the Holy Spirit) you are in (UNION WITH) Christ Jesus, Who became to us Wisdom from God, Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption... Righteousness equates with our Justification (how we are right with God). This verse illustrates that we have NO Justification and NO Sanctification (both Definitive and Progressive--how we are daily being transformed into the IMAGE OF CHRIST by the Holy Spirit) APART FROM our UNION by Faith WITH Jesus Christ. Dr. Sinclair Ferguson, REFORMED Theologian, summarizing what the Puritan, John Owen has written declares: The pattern of the Spirits ministry in us is Jesus Christ. Perhaps the simplest way to expand Owens insight is to say: the Spirit was in Christ in order to create the master copy of the life-style he would reproduce in all those who belong to Christ. Nothing is more central to the Reformed understanding of the ministry of the Spirit than this union to Christ which produces conformity to him. It is by the Spirit that we are being changed from one degree of glory to another [2 Cor. 3:18]. The means of (one might even say the equipment for) the Spirits ministry in us is the work of Christ. He was the life-long companion of our Lord Jesus Christ. As such, he now takes what is Christs and brings it to us [Jn. 16:14]. He is truly another Counsellor [i.e. another of the same kind as Jesus himself had been to the disciples] [Jn. 14:16]. What he brings to us is nothing less than all that Jesus himself is to us. Owen clearly understood the significance of Jesus words that it was to the advantage of the disciples that he should leave them [Jn. 16:7]. The only conceivable logic which can sustain such a statement is this: the Spirit who was in and on our Lord now lives in and on our lives, bringing to us all that Christ was and is for us. The goal of the Spirits ministry in us is faith in Christ and glorifying of him. Sinclair Ferguson goes on to say: In a nutshell, the gospel is this: Christ took our place, bearing our sin, tasting our judgment, dying our death—so that we might share his place, be made his righteousness, taste his vindication, and experience his life. And this is all accomplished through the Holy Spirit UNITING us to CHRIST by His GIFT to us of FAITH. Knowledge of this liberates one from the bondage of a Works Righteousness--FREEDOM to serve God out of pure Gratitude for his Mercy and Grace !!! SINNERS Prayer: “Dear Heavenly FATHER, I confess to You that I am a Sinner. I have sinned by not loving You with all my heart and soul, and by not loving my neighbor as myself. There is nothing I can do to save myself. I believe that Jesus Christ is Your only begotten SON, that He came down to earth in the flesh and died on the cross to take away all of my sins. I believe that Jesus Christ then rose from the dead on the third day to give me eternal life. I ask that You please forgive me and wash away all of my sins by the blood that your SON Jesus Christ shed for me on the cross. I accept Jesus as my only Lord and Savior. I trust in Jesus ALONE for my salvation. I believe that, by His HOLY SPIRIT, Jesus, your SON, now lives in me. I believe that I am Born Again and will by the Grace of God spend Eternity with the Blessed TRINITY. Thank You FATHER. Thank You JESUS. Thank You HOLY SPIRIT.” If anyone reading this would like to know FOR SURE that you are saved, and going to Heaven when you die--call, write, or visit, Nikki and/or me--we would be very glad to share the REFORMED (what the Bible REALLY teaches) FAITH with you. Even if you were put off by something either Nikki or myself may have said in the past--we promise to share our faith with you with gentleness and respect as the Bible actually teaches. Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy Name, O LORD, be all the Glory given... {and we will have all Eternity to praise His Glorious Grace for sending His Holy Spirit to place us, by Repentance and Faith, into UNION WITH CHRIST in His Substitutionary Satisfaction of the Penalty, and the Precepts, of Gods Law; and in His Death to Sin and Resurrection unto Newness of Life}. Psalm 115 : 1a (Ephesians 1:6; Romans 6:4,10,11; 8:3,4) “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Matthew 5:17,18 (ESV) The Gospel as the complete fulfillment of the LAW of God: CHRIST Satisfying the Penal Requirements of the LAW by His Substitutionary Representative Death upon the Cross as the LAST Adam on behalf of all true believers freeing us from the wrath of God {PROPITIATION} and an Eternity in Hell; and CHRIST Satisfying the Preceptive Requirements of the LAW {vindicated in His RESURRECTION from the Dead} by His Substitutionary Representative Perfect Life of Obedience as the SECOND Man on behalf of all true believers meriting for us the Eternal Joys and Pleasures of spending Eternity with the Blessed Trinity {JUSTIFICATION}. The imputation of Christs active obedience is a doctrine within REFORMED Theology. It is based on the idea that Gods righteousness demands perfect obedience to his law. By his active obedience, Christ has made available a perfect righteousness before the law that is imputed or reckoned to those who put their trust in him. The Heidelberg Catechism asserts that God grants to the believer the perfect satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ, so that the Christian can say that it is as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. (Q&A 60). This imputation therefore constitutes the positive element of justification. The imputation of Christs active obedience has its foundation in the idea of a covenant of works made with Adam. John Gresham Machen (July 28, 1881 – January 1, 1937), an American Presbyterian (REFORMED) Theologian, argues that if Christ had merely paid the penalty of sin for us and done nothing more we should be at best back in the situation in which Adam found himself when God placed him under the covenant of works. As a result of this, our attainment of eternal life would have been dependent upon our perfect obedience to the law of God, and we would be certain to fall. Machen goes on to say that Christ was our representative both in penalty paying and in probation keeping, and that for those who have been saved by him, the probation is over since Christ has merited for them the reward by his perfect obedience to Gods law. In the Garden of Eden, ADAM represented everyone in the human race. He was put on probation. His “test”, like the probation that each of us is submitted to (under the COVENANT OF WORKS), is to render absolute obedience to an Infinitely Holy God. He failed (sinned), and we sinned, in ADAM , (and we all commit our own sins, cf ., Romans 5:12-ff). He (and we) are all guilty of Eternal Punishment (in HELL). Jesus Christ, by the Mercy and Grace of God, PAID the Penalty for all those who would place all their trust in Him. It still remains for us to Keep the whole Law of God as our Probation. Jesus Christ, by the Mercy and Grace of God, also KEPT the whole Law of God for all those who would place all their trust in Him, thus meriting for us Eternal Rewards (in HEAVEN). We were the objects of Gods Eternal Wrath (deserving HELL), under our OLD solidarity (UNION) with Adam and his Sin. Once we repent of our Sins, and put all our Trust in Christ, we have a NEW solidarity (the OLD being no longer a spiritual reality for the the believer--we died to Sin, Romans 6:1-11) a UNION WITH CHRIST, United with Him in his Perfect Humanity: His Perfect, Sinless, Obedient, HUMAN History, Identity and Destiny, for all Eternity. (CHRIST might be called the REAL MAN, the TRUE MAN--what Humanity was SUPPOSED to be like, had SIN not entered the picture.) (1 Corinthians 6:17, ...for all those who have been joined to (belong to, united to) CHRIST, are ONE-SPIRIT with Him). The first (man) Adam was responsible for the condemnation of the whole human race. The last Adam (CHRIST) UNDID all the damage Adam, and his descendants, had caused. The second man (another name for CHRIST), DID all that the first man, and all his descendants, had failed to do. Together the Sufferings, Humiliations, and Death of CHRIST—AND His complete absolute Obedience to Gods Law throughout His entire Life---constitute our “JUSTIFICATION” (Salvation): Romans 5:19 For as by the one mans disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one mans obedience the many will be made righteous. Philippians 3:8,9 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Matthew 3:13-14. Then Jesus came from Galilee to John to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Permit it to be so now, for thus it it fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Romans 8:3,4 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Romans 4:25 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) Jesus was handed over to die for our sins, and he was raised from death to make us right with God (JUSTIFICATION). All of this is appropriated by us through our UNION WITH CHRIST. (1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV): And because of Him (God the Father through the operation of the Holy Spirit) you are in (UNION WITH) Christ Jesus, Who became to us Wisdom from God, Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption... Righteousness equates with our Justification (how we are right with God). This verse illustrates that we have NO Justification and NO Sanctification (both Definitive and Progressive--how we are daily being transformed into the IMAGE OF CHRIST by the Holy Spirit) APART FROM our UNION by Faith WITH Jesus Christ. Dr. Sinclair Ferguson, REFORMED Theologian, summarizing what the Puritan, John Owen has written declares: The pattern of the Spirits ministry in us is Jesus Christ. Perhaps the simplest way to expand Owens insight is to say: the Spirit was in Christ in order to create the master copy of the life-style he would reproduce in all those who belong to Christ. Nothing is more central to the Reformed understanding of the ministry of the Spirit than this union to Christ which produces conformity to him. It is by the Spirit that we are being changed from one degree of glory to another [2 Cor. 3:18]. The means of (one might even say the equipment for) the Spirits ministry in us is the work of Christ. He was the life-long companion of our Lord Jesus Christ. As such, he now takes what is Christs and brings it to us [Jn. 16:14]. He is truly another Counsellor [i.e. another of the same kind as Jesus himself had been to the disciples] [Jn. 14:16]. What he brings to us is nothing less than all that Jesus himself is to us. Owen clearly understood the significance of Jesus words that it was to the advantage of the disciples that he should leave them [Jn. 16:7]. The only conceivable logic which can sustain such a statement is this: the Spirit who was in and on our Lord now lives in and on our lives, bringing to us all that Christ was and is for us. The goal of the Spirits ministry in us is faith in Christ and glorifying of him. Sinclair Ferguson goes on to say: In a nutshell, the gospel is this: Christ took our place, bearing our sin, tasting our judgment, dying our death—so that we might share his place, be made his righteousness, taste his vindication, and experience his life. And this is all accomplished through the Holy Spirit UNITING us to CHRIST by His GIFT to us of FAITH. Knowledge of this liberates one from the bondage of a Works Righteousness--FREEDOM to serve God out of pure Gratitude for his Mercy and Grace !!! SINNERS Prayer: “Dear Heavenly FATHER, I confess to You that I am a Sinner. I have sinned by not loving You with all my heart and soul, and by not loving my neighbor as myself. There is nothing I can do to save myself. I believe that Jesus Christ is Your only begotten SON, that He came down to earth in the flesh and died on the cross to take away all of my sins. I believe that Jesus Christ then rose from the dead on the third day to give me eternal life. I ask that You please forgive me and wash away all of my sins by the blood that your SON Jesus Christ shed for me on the cross. I accept Jesus as my only Lord and Savior. I trust in Jesus ALONE for my salvation. I believe that, by His HOLY SPIRIT, Jesus, your SON, now lives in me. I believe that I am Born Again and will by the Grace of God spend Eternity with the Blessed TRINITY. Thank You FATHER. Thank You JESUS. Thank You HOLY SPIRIT.” If anyone reading this would like to know FOR SURE that you are saved, and going to Heaven when you die--call, write, or visit, Nikki and/or me--we would be very glad to share the REFORMED (what the Bible REALLY teaches) FAITH with you. Even if you were put off by something either Nikki or myself may have said in the past--we promise to share our faith with you with gentleness and respect as the Bible actually teaches.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 16:48:08 +0000
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