Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Paul states one of the
most glorious truths which can be found in all of the scriptures
when he exhorted the Roman believers to reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Some have perceived that he is
telling them to merely act as though it is so in a sort of
make-believe type of way. Yet that is contrary to the true
meaning of reckoning. My grandpa might say that he
reckoned it might rain, and we understood that he was merely
guessing that such would take place. However, when Paul uses
this word, he speaks of no guesswork, but rather of the certainty that
this is true. The word reckon, as Paul used
it, means to take an inventory of or to examine the facts, to
calculate or establish by counting. That of which he speaks is a
certainty which the sons of God are given light to behold and
rejoice in. This is an expectation built
upon a solid foundation. No doubt or assumption is had.
Christ has died the sinner's death, and if we be in Christ,
then we are indeed dead to sin and alive in Him. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law
of sin and death. The grace of God does not simply
provide a payment for sin, but also a cure for the sinner. He
cannot embrace sin, encourage others to sin, or delight himself
therein, for he has been set free from the power of sin and
death. When the Lord healed the lepers, He did not simply pronounce
them clean, but rather He removed the disease from them. This is
that which we read in the book of Hebrews, having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through
the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And having an high priest
over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an
evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he
is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and good works, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching.
The greatest lament for those who have been indwelt by the
Spirit of God is that they find themselves to be weak in the
flesh and prone to sin of all types. Paul describes such woe
when he wrote, For I delight in the law of God after the inward
man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the
law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? Those who hate
the message of grace usually assume that they are keepers
of the law. Yet any man who has ever been awakened to the true
nature of the law and of his own natural depravity is quite
convinced of his inability to keep that law. For the whole
purpose of the law is to reveal sin and condemn the sinner. For
the wages of sin is death. The need of the sons of God is
not to be brought under the law, but to be delivered from it.
This is why Jesus Christ came into the world and brought life
through death. Paul begins chapter 7 of Romans
with an illustration of the law of marriage, which is quite apropos
in our society, which completely disregards it. He points out
that when a man dies, the woman whom he is married to is no longer
bound to him by reason of his death. Then he uses that illustration
to teach the relation of the believer to the law. Wherefore,
my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is
raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto
God. The law remains unchanged, but
its power to rule over her is negated. She is free from it,
and is now wed to another who has given her life and immortality. No longer can any condemnation
arise based upon her first marriage. She owes no allegiance to that
union, but rather is set free to be wed to another. Those who
would press upon the sons of God their duty to keep the law
which Christ has satisfied are like those who would seek to
prevent a woman whose husband is dead from marrying another
by bringing up the wedding vows which she made to her now deceased
spouse. A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing, nor
fear with thy righteousness on, my person and offerings to bring.
The terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do.
My Savior's obedience and blood hide all my transgression from
view. Are you hidden in Christ? For
a free CD containing 15 of these radio broadcasts, send an email
to forthepoor at windstream.net.