What a great word that word “salvation” is! It includes the cleansing of our conscience from all past guilt, the delivery of our soul from all those propensities to evil which now so strongly predominate in us; it takes in, in fact, the undoing of all that Adam did. Salvation is the total restoration of man from his fallen estate; and yet it is something more than that, for God’s salvation fixes our standing more secure than it was before we fell. It finds us broken in pieces by the sin of our first parent, defiled, stained, accursed: it first heals our wounds, it removes our diseases, it takes away our curse, it puts our feet upon the rock Christ Jesus, and having thus done, at last it lifts our heads far above all principalities and powers, to be crowned for ever with Jesus Christ, the king of heaven. - C.H. Spurgeon
Posted by Walt as C.H. Spurgeon Gems at 8:49 PM EDT
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by Dr. Jay Snell
In the following Scripture, Paul said he did not frustrate the grace of God.
Gal 2:21
21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (KJV)
"Righteousness," in the above verse, translates a Greek legal term and means "cleared of all guilt." Furthermore, the words "righteousness, righteous, just, justify, justified and/or justification," when used in your English Bible, are translations of the same Greek root above and still means, "cleared of all guilt."
“Frustrate” means “to make void.” That is, Paul did not “make void” the grace of God. For him, Jesus’ blood took care of the guilt and penalty for all his sins or it did not. If it did, then they were taken away by the grace of God.
For Paul, to add any other thing would frustrate the grace of God. Likewise, for him, to take away any thing from the blood of Jesus would also frustrate the grace of God.
In other words, Paul was completely satisfied that the grace of God, utilizing the blood of Jesus, had completely dealt with the guilt and unworthiness he may have had because of his sins. Paul spent his Christian life combating the peddlers of unworthiness.
He saw that our worthiness is based on the worth of Jesus' blood. His teaching on this great subject inspired the lines to the old song, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness." For Paul, salvation was based on the merits of Jesus blood plus nothing and minus nothing.
If God’s grace, however, did not take care of Paul’s guilt and unworthiness, then any hope he had of clearing his guilt and unworthiness must be based upon his own works of righteousness. In other words, he must keep Moses’ law to obtain enough righteousness to be saved and blessed.
If this was true, howover, Paul plainly reasoned that Christ died for nothing. His death was useless. There was absolutely no point to it or in it.
“Vain,” in the preceding verse, is an unusual word. It is a form of the Greek word for “gift.” The form of the word used here, however, does not mean gift. It means “uselessly.” It means “without a cause.”
In other words, if Jesus’ blood alone did not take away all Paul’s guilt and unworthiness, Jesus died “for no cause at all.” His death was “useless.” There was “no point” to it. It “availed nothing.” It “accomplished nothing.”
Thank God, though, Jesus’ blood did accomplish something. It did avail something. There was a point to it. It took care of the guilt and unworthiness produced by our sins.
We can still be healed and prospered. Jesus’ blood paid it all. We are now as worthy as his blood. We are washed in it.
Dr. Jay Snell authored eleven books proving the healing, prosperity, family well being, eternal security, pretribulation rapture and salvation provided for Christians in the Abrahamic covenant. These books presented many times on TBN.
www.jaysnell.org
Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com
Posted by Walt as The Bible, Witnessing at 10:51 PM EDT
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In a 3-0 decision, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals July 14, ruled that Nebraska’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage did not violate the United States Constitution. The ruling reversed a lower federal court decision that found the ban violated a host of constitutional guarantees.
Today’s decision concludes a string of disappointing decisions for same-sex marriage advocates. Decisions within the past week from courts in New York, Georgia and Connecticut all ruled decisively in favor of traditional marriage.
The American Family Association Center for Law & Policy (CLP) authored an amicus curiae brief in the case. Steve Crampton, Chief Counsel for the CLP, was pleased with the ruling, Crampton commented: “The Eighth Circuit has resoundingly affirmed the will of the people of the State of Nebraska,” whose large voting majority on the constitutional amendment protecting marriage was noted by the court. Crampton said that “the preservation of the institution of marriage is fundamental to the well-being of our society, and while we are encouraged by this decision we continue to urge passage of a federal marriage amendment to remove the question once and for all from the reach of activist courts.”
Brian Fahling, Senior Trial Attorney for the CLP, said “the early success of homosexuals using the courts to force their radical agenda on an unwilling nation appears to be turning on them. Government by the people is always preferable to government by the judiciary.”
Seventy percent of the people of Nebraska voted for the ban on gay marriage.
Posted by Walt as Family Values, Social Issues at 12:19 AM EDT
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