Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. But religious holidays offer
an opportunity for the flesh to exhibit a bit of pomp and
pageantry as it seeks to mix the precious and the vile. Man's
carnal religion is never acceptable in the sight of God, and all
fleshly celebrations masquerading as spiritual endeavors are but
manifestations of condemnation and revelations of the extent
of darkness which the participants dwell in. And he said unto them,
Ye are they which justify yourselves before men. But God knoweth your
hearts, for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination
in the sight of God. This is exactly the same thing
which the Lord said to the woman at the well when she asked him
about proper religious observances. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain
nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye know
not what. We know what we worship, for
salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is a spirit, and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. Just the other day I read
a marquee in front of a meeting house which said, Jesus died
for everyone. I'm sure that the average person
steeped in the religious culture of our area never gave a moment's
thought as to whether or not that message was true or false
as they read it in passing by. I'm also fairly confident that
the person who decided to place that message on that marquee
did so because they sincerely believed it to be true. I'm also
fairly certain that they probably have never considered how blatantly
erroneous such a statement is in light of what the scripture
plainly reveals about the purpose of the finished work of Christ.
The message of a God who loves everyone the same and is just
busy trying to do good for all that will let him help them is
a very appealing message to the flesh. In fact, it is so appealing
that little thought is ever given to any other scenario by those
who find great delight in carnal religious dogma. It gives the
flesh comfort to think on a God who would do so much to gain
the love and friendship of a creation gone awry, not to mention the
fact that they consider man to be a noble and splendid creature
as to be worthy of such aid gained by the exercise of his free will.
Yet the scripture plainly indicates that there is absolutely nothing
good in men and that the supposed free will of men is actually
in total bondage to sin. It is also abundantly clear that
the love of God is a particular and exclusive love which is vested
upon the objects of his choosing and withheld from those who are
not. The damnation of the reprobate is as much a part of the purpose
of God as is his determination to redeem that people whom he
has chosen before the foundation of the world as his elect bride.
Those who embrace the religion of the flesh recall in horror
at the very thought that God even has the right to determine
the destiny of His creation, let alone would actually do so
without consulting them. There is no more hated doctrine
in that camp than that which declares that the redemption
which was finished by Christ is exclusively accomplished for
an elect people. The statement Jesus died for
everyone cannot be true unless one of two things is true. Either
we conclude that all men are saved or we conclude that Christ
only made salvation a possibility by his death and in reality saved
no one by his effort. We are certain that all men are
not saved because the Lord Jesus plainly declared that all men
were not his sheep and that some have the devil for their father.
He says he does not know them. The writer of Hebrews plainly
states that Christ has obtained eternal redemption for those
for whom he shed his precious blood. Even as the angel told
Joseph, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. There is no mention in the scripture
of an atonement that does not atone, a justifier which does
not justify, nor a savior which does not save. He is the sanctifier
and the sanctification of all those for whom he has entered
in once into the holy place with his own blood. The redemption
of the Lord's people is not a cooperative effort, nor does it somehow become
effective when they believe it. Those who are redeemed by His
blood are redeemed by His blood. Their justification does not
depend on what they do or do not do, but rather is completely
based on what He has done in their behalf. What they could
not do, He has accomplished for them. He has become sin for them
that they might be made the righteousness of God in Him. There can be no
true gospel preached where the work of Christ is presented as
less than the complete salvation of those for whom He died. There
is no mixture of the profane and the sacred in the proclamation
of the finished work of Christ. There is no place for men to
glory in having been made the recipients of His grace and the
objects of His favor. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.