Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. But some have opined that
God would be unjust in His condemnation of men if they don't have a self-determining
free will. In the first place, the potsherds
of the earth should never even contemplate some situation wherein
they could accuse God of injustice, even hypothetically. He is the
Rock. His work is perfect, for all
His ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is He. Nebuchadnezzar learned this the
hard way. None can stay his hand or say
unto him, what doest thou? Paul understood this clearly.
Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall
the thing formed say to him that formed it, why'st thou made me
thus? No doubt he had read the book of Isaiah. Woe unto him
that striveth with his maker. Let the potsherds strive with
the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioneth it, what makest thou? In the second place, man does
willingly act according to his sinful nature, and because of
that nature cannot choose the things of God. Surely the wrath
of man shall praise thee, the remainder of wrath shalt thou
restrain. Were it not true that the Lord in his mercy does restrain
the wickedness of men, they would soon destroy themselves and all
around them. By nature men are not in any
wise restraint by any power which is inherent in themselves. The
Lord said it best in his answer to the Pharisees, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. So
it is quite clear that men do not possess a self-determining
free will, since they are slaves to sin by nature and will act
according to that nature. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed. When the Lord gave the written
law to Moses, he made it plain that this law was conditional.
If a man kept the law, he would live, and if he broke the law,
he would perish. The Jews erred in thinking that
a partial keeping of it, even as the multitude of men do still,
would suffice to gain the blessings set forth in the law. This error
rests upon three other errors. One is a disregard of the fact
that God will by no means clear the guilty. The other is a disregard
of the fact that for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and
yet offend in one point, is guilty of all. The third is that they
do not believe that the law is powerless to enable a man to
keep it. Thus they go about to establish their own righteousness
by their supposed adherence to it. In the darkness of their
natural minds, they think that they are able to keep the law.
Yet this is an impossible task, not because the law is not holy,
but precisely because it is. The law was never given in order
that men might gain life by it, but rather to reveal the sin
that doth so easily beset us all. Is the law then against
the promises of God? God forbid, for if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. The problem that men have and
the solution to that problem is set forth by Paul. For what
the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and
for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. The need of a sinner is
not a code which promises life if he will keep it in its jot
and tittle. Rather, the need of a sinner
is to have one who will perfectly keep that law in his behalf and
impute that righteousness unto him. Yet that is not enough even
then, for he has already broken the law and must either pay the
penalty of a broken law or else have one who will and can pay
the penalty for him. This is an impossible task, which
no mere man in the flesh can perform for himself or another
due to his corrupt nature. Yet there is one who is without
sin of his own, who has willingly taken upon himself the wickedness
of those sinners whom he has loved from the beginning. He
has fully paid the price demanded by the law, and removed the condemnation
due to them by bearing it himself. The things which are impossible
with men are possible with God. Christ has undertaken an impossible
task and has accomplished that eternal redemption of those who
flee to him for refuge. It is not possible that the blood
of bulls and of goats should take away sins. We are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Jesus Christ is the savior of
sinners. He has not attempted to save
men, but rather saves everyone for whom he shed his precious
blood. Is His blood precious to you?