But let's open our Bibles to
the book of Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews 10. While you're turning,
let me say how honored and glad I am to be with you this morning
on this day where the Lord has brought us in this place to worship
him in our prayers and in our singing and through the preaching
of Christ, the preaching of the gospel. And often I think about
this, you know, it's amazing how the Lord has been so good
to us. We know we're not deserving of
the least of his blessings, but he's given us so much, hasn't
he? And especially he's given us salvation. Salvation by his
grace through Christ. And I was thinking about that
when I was listening to the to the special. What a miracle of
grace. You know, that's what a sinner
saved by grace is. It's a miracle. A miracle of
grace. And I'm amazed constantly. And I hope I never get over that.
And then I was thinking about the offertory. That's my favorite
hymn. The solid rock. I told my wife I want that sung
at my funeral. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And it fits right with the message
I want to preach to you. But before I get started, let
me just greet you from your brethren in Ashland, Kentucky. And we
think of you all often, we pray for you, your pastor and his
family, and we love you and consider you to be our fellow laborers
in the gospel. And so let me just greet you
on their behalf. We covet your prayers. I believe
that's one of the most serious things that a true believer can
ask from other people to pray for us, because to me that's
a confirmation in our minds anyway, as far as we can tell. I know
we're not God. We don't know the hearts of people,
but it does show that we recognize you to be brothers and sisters
in Christ. I like that. I'll never get over
that either. So let's look at Hebrews chapter
10. The last two verses will be my
text, verses 38 and 39. The subject that had come up
before these verses, right just prior to them, had to do with
people who claimed to believe in Christ. people who claim to
know and believe the gospel, but then who fell away from it,
who totally turned against Christ, even to the point of calling
him accursed. And the Apostle Paul, who I believe
was the human writer of Hebrews, but as we know, the whole Bible
is written by the Spirit of God, he says that if that takes place,
we know this, we know, number one, they never truly believed
it to begin with, and number two, there's no hope of them
ever coming to repentance. He says that. But he says in verse 38, look
here, he says, now the just, that's the justified, that's
the sinner saved by the grace of God in Christ, that's a sinner
in Christ, right there, washed in his blood, clothed in his
righteousness, their testimony is that hymn, My Hope is Built.
on nothing less. That's the justified. And they
shall live by faith. Now, to live by faith, you know,
a lot of people today in our so-called religious world, they
see faith as an end in and of itself. In other words, it's
do you believe, do you believe? But it's not really do you believe,
it's in whom do you believe? Faith in the Scripture is never
without its object, because faith without its object is just a
pipe dream. We used to have an old fellow
down south. He said, well, people can believe that the Lord is
greasy. That doesn't make it so. Well, the Lord is greasy.
But you see, it doesn't make something so because you believe
it. But what he's talking about here, and he explains this in
chapter 11, Now, the just shall live by faith. What that means
is they live by looking to, resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what faith is. When God gives a sinner faith,
for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves
is the gift of God. That's what it means. That's
a sinner looking to, believing in, resting in, submitting to
Christ. And he says, but if any man draw
back, or if any man quit, or if any man fall away, he's talking
about those who had a claim of salvation, a profession of salvation,
said they believed in Christ, but then quit and fell away from
it. Apostasy is what the scripture,
apostatize. You know, Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians
2 that before the Lord comes back, there's going to be a great
falling away. That's what he's talking about,
apostasy. And what will be known as Christianity will be Christian
in name only. They'll claim to believe in Christ,
but they'll deny the doctrine of Christ. But these here fell
away from it. They quit. And he says, but if
any man quit, draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Paul said, I take no pleasure in that. But verse 39, now look
at this. But we, now who are the we there? That's the just, the justified,
are not of them who draw back, who quit unto perdition or damnation,
perishing. True believers, that's what he's
talking about here. Sinners truly, not just a claim
now, not just words coming out of your mouth, But those who
have a heart for Christ, he says, they're not of them who draw
back unto damnation, but of them that believe, and that's a continual
believing, not just a one-time thing now, believe to the saving
of the soul. That's complete salvation. Complete
salvation. Now, I told the folks in the
Bible study earlier that As we have a television ministry in
Ashland, I get quite a bit of mail, and usually it's very encouraging. Sometimes it's negative, but
one time we got a phone call from a fellow who told my secretary,
he said that he really enjoyed the message that comes on Sunday
morning at 7 o'clock. He said he really enjoyed the
message, but he asked this question to my secretary. He said, but
now he's not one of those fellows who believes in that once saved,
always saved, is he? And I thought, well, did he really
hear the message? And my secretary said, well,
as a matter of fact, he is one of those fellows. And I thought about that, and
that's where this message comes from. I've entitled this message,
True Believers Never Lose Salvation. True Believers Never Lose Salvation. Kind of reminded me of an old
saying A little poetic saying that I heard a long time ago,
it said, true believers can and will stray, but true believers
can never, never fall away. Paul said it here. We're not
of them who draw back. We're justified. And what I want
to do is just give you four reasons. And this is nothing. And what
are we talking about? We're talking about preservation,
aren't we? by God's sovereign mercy and
grace in Christ. And we're talking about the perseverance
of the saints. That's what we're talking about. By the grace of God. Let me give
you four reasons here, and we'll look in various scriptures, why
we are not of them who draw back. Why true believers can never
lose salvation. And I want you to understand,
you know, a lot of people, you know, I know there are a lot
of people who claim to be Christian. who think you can be saved one
day and then lost another day and then saved again and all
that. I asked a fellow one time who was arguing that point of
view. I said, well, let me ask you, I said, what sin could you
commit that would you, you would lose salvation? You know what
he told him? He said, I don't really know, but it has to be
something pretty bad. I thought, man, I'd hate to live
like that. That's like, I don't know if
you've heard the myth of the sword of Damocles, you know,
the sword hanging over the guy's head on a thread, you know. That's
the kind of salvation they have. But they really don't understand
biblical salvation. They really don't understand
the gospel of God's grace in Christ Jesus. They believe salvation
at some stage, in some way, to some degree is conditioned on
the sinner. And that's a problem. That's
a problem because you either go one of two ways in that kind
of system. You either go into utter despair
and despond, as old John Bunyan said, the slew of despond, or
you go into self-righteous Pharisaism thinking that you have met those
conditions. Problem is, what is the condition
of salvation? Well, the Bible is very plain
on that issue. The condition of salvation is
righteousness. And we don't have it. We don't
have it. That's why salvation is by grace.
I was having lunch with a fellow one time and he said, he said,
what does God require of me? And I told him, he said, God
requires perfection. He looked at me with a big eye
and he said, well, nobody can do that. And I said, that's right. That's why salvation is by grace.
That's why Christ had to come into the world. If he didn't
come to save the righteous, he came to save sinners. Well, let
me give you four reasons. Number one, true believers can
never lose salvation because true believers are part of an
everlasting covenant of grace. That's number one. What does
that mean? Well, turn to Ephesians chapter
one and listen to what it says. Very plainly, I think a lot of
people look at passages like this and they relegate them to
the back file of deep doctrine. And I don't believe that it's
deep doctrine. I think it's doctrine that the
natural man will not receive. And anything the natural man
will not receive, he calls it deep. It's too deep for me. Now,
don't get me wrong. I mean, there are truths in this
book that are just so profound and deep that we, you know, we're
like, it's like looking at the ocean. We're only going to see
the top of it, you know, and that's the way it is. But listen
to what he says in verse three of Ephesians chapter one. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen
to the next line. Who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places because he foresaw that
we would be such good people. Or because he foresaw that we
would meet the conditions of receiving these blessings. Is
that what it says? No, it says in Christ Jesus. Period. in Christ Jesus. And what happened? You know what
that tells us? That every blessing that we have,
and I'll tell you something, he's talking about salvation,
but all blessings are due to one person, Jesus Christ, the
crucified, the risen. The one seated at the right hand
of the Father, ever living to make intercession. And no other
person is involved here other than we are the recipients of
what Christ earned. I didn't earn it and didn't deserve
it. Christ earned it. Christ alone earned all these
blessings. Now these are covenant blessings.
Look at them. Verse 4, according as he hath
chosen us in him. Now, he didn't choose me because
he looked down and foresaw that in 1980 I would do this or do
that. No, he chose me in Christ before
the foundation of the world, it says there, before this world
began. That's election. And he says that we should be
holding without blame before him in love. That's that unconditional
love. Herein is love. Not that we love
God. but that he loved us and sent
his Son to be the propitiation, the satisfaction for our sins.
That's that holy love. That's that sovereign love. And
he says in verse 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, grace, grace, grace,
salvation It started by grace, it began in grace, it continues
in grace, and it'll end up in grace. It's never, never apart
from grace. And he says in verse 6, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted
in the beloved, graced in the beloved, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. according to the riches
of His grace. I heard a preacher say on television
one time, he said, the cost of forgiveness is repentance. And
I thought, oh, no, the cost of forgiveness is the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son. And if you ever see that, you'll
repent. Isn't that right? This is grace. In 2 Samuel, I
don't know if you'll have time to turn all these verses, but
you can mark them down. But over in 2 Samuel, chapter
23, King David expressed this covenant. And listen to how he
puts it. In verse 5, this is his deathbed
confession. And it was his confession all
since he was a man after the heart of God. It says in verse
5 of 2 Samuel 23, Although my house be not so with God, Yet
he hath made with me an everlasting covenant." Now notice how he
describes it. Ordered in all things. Now who
ordered it? The same God in Ephesians 1 who
says he works all things after the counsel of his own will.
Ephesians 1.11. Ordered in all things. Now I
don't know about you. But any time I've ever tried
to do anything, a task or anything like that, I've tried to order
all things, and they always get out of order. Now, you may have
had a little more success than I have, but I'll guarantee you
at some point in time in some things you've done, you've been
a failure. If this salvation were conditioned on King David,
if God said, now David, I've ordered this part, now you order
the rest of it. Set it in order. Would it have
been successful? Well, read King David's biography.
You know better, don't you? Here's the point. I know myself.
I know my sin. I know if God doesn't save me
and keep me, I will not be saved and kept. But look on. He says, ordered in all things
and what? And sure. Now, for something
to be sure, there has to be a surety. Well, who's the surety of the
covenant? Christ is. How long has he been
the surety? From eternity. From eternity. And David said,
this is all my salvation. This is my whole salvation. It's
not part me and part God. This is all of it. And he says,
it's all my desire. That's the work of the Spirit,
to give us a desire for Christ. Show us our sin in His glory.
Although he make it not to grow. Over in Jeremiah 32, listen to
this. He's talking about Israel and
Babylon, but it's a picture and a prophecy of the salvation of
God's people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation.
Spiritual Israel. And look at verse 37 of Jeremiah
32. Listen to the language of this.
Everlasting covenant of grace. God says, Behold, I will gather
them out of all countries, whether I have driven them in mine anger
and in my fury and in great wrath, and I will bring them again unto
this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. Now, some
people say, Well, you can't apply that to the church. You can only
apply it to Israel. Oh, no. You know, when God drove
me and you out unto all countries? When he cast Adam out of that
garden. When Adam fell, we fell, didn't we? Cast out of that garden
into a cursed, depraved world. Cursed, depraved people in a
cursed, depraved world. That's us by nature. And he goes
on, he says in verse 38, God says, I'm going to gather them.
And then verse 38 says, and they shall be my people and I will
be their God. He didn't say, I'm going to gather
them if they'll let me. He said, they shall be my people,
verse 39, and I will give them one heart. I'll give them one
heart. They don't have one heart now by nature, but I'll give
it to them. And one way, what is the one
way? Christ said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man
cometh unto the father, but by me. It's the way of the cross.
It's the way of righteousness. It's the way of grace, the way
of truth. He said that they may fear me.
That means to believe and worship and reverence God forever, he
says. For the good of them and of their
children after them, and look at verse 40, and I will make
an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away
from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts
that they shall not depart from me. Did you see it? I'm going to put a heart in them
and a spirit in them, a desire in them that they shall not Depart
from me." That is what I mentioned earlier
about all the if passages in the Bible. You see, those if
passages that apply to the covenant of grace are not conditions we
must meet in order to earn blessings from God. They are evidences
of having been given those blessings because Christ earned If you
continue, that's why people think, you know, they look at that.
If you see there, you'll lose it if you don't continue. Well,
if you don't continue, you never had it. Well, that brings us to the second
point. True believers never lose salvation because true believers
are preserved by God's grace in Christ, they're preserved
over in the book of Jude. And you know, there's so many
scriptures that we could go to on this. We don't have time to
go to all of them. But look at the book of Jude,
the last two verses of Jude, verse 24 and 25. This is a great
doxology. And he says, Now unto him that
is able, and that's the next, you know, we're not able, but
he is. Christ is able. Now unto him
that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only
wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and forever. Amen. That's preservation. Paul wrote in Philippians, he
who began the good work in you will complete it, finish it,
perfect it to the end. That's preservation, Philippians
1.6. He said it is God that works
in you both to will and to do his good pleasure, Philippians
2.13. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1.12, he said, I know whom I
have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I have committed unto him against that day. What have you
committed unto him against that day? Your whole salvation is
committed to Christ. David said it that way, remember,
this is all my salvation, not just part of it. You see, it's
not part him, part me. It's all him. It's all Christ. So true believers are preserved
by God's grace in Christ. And let me tell you something
about that preservation. God's glory is the issue there. God's glory is the issue. And then here's here's the next
thing. True believers never lose salvation. Because true believers
can never totally leave Christ. Now we're talking about perseverance.
A true believer, now think about this. What is a true believer? Well, he or she is the product,
and I don't want to make this an impersonal thing by saying
that, but maybe put it this way. He or she is the fruit of salvation
accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, the people of
God, the church, the sheep, the redeemed of the Lord, are the
fruit of the accomplishment, the finished, the completed work
of Christ on the cross. We read that earlier in John
chapter 12. He said, And I, if I be lifted up, shall draw all
unto me. That word draw there is the same
word they use for the drag net, like casting the net and dragging
the fishes on the boat. You see, a lot of people have
a real misunderstanding of salvation, what salvation is. They believe
salvation is just some isolated event in the past that took place. And though they may not say it
that way, that's the way they say it. You ask a lot of people,
well, are you saved? What do they usually come back
to? They say, well, back when I was 12, I walked an aisle. I gave my heart to Jesus and
got baptized." Now, what they've done since then really doesn't
matter, especially if you're a good Baptist. But that's what
they call salvation. But that is not biblical salvation.
Biblical salvation is not just one isolated event. Biblical
salvation is a life of grace. God's saving us and keeping us,
preserving us. It's a life of faith, continually
looking to Christ. To whom coming? To whom coming?
Running the race of grace in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse
2. Looking unto Jesus. It's a continual look. Looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. It's a life of
love to Christ and His truth. True believers, by the grace
of God, will persevere in the faith. You know, when salvation applies
to true believers, sinners saved by grace, truly saved now, the
Bible uses all three tenses. We have been saved. That's Ephesians
2, 8 and 9. For by grace, you are saved. Literally, have you been saved?
By grace, have you been saved through faith? That's the means
that God gives. That's not of yourself, it's
the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. So it didn't start by our works. And then there's a
sense in which it can be said that true believers are being
saved. 1 Corinthians 1.18. The preaching
of the cross is foolishness to them who are perishing, but it's
the power of God to them who are being saved. What is that?
That's our preservation and our perseverance. And then there
is a sense in which we yet will be saved. Paul wrote about that
in Romans chapter 13 and verse 11. He said our salvation is
nearer than when we first believed. What was he talking about? Our
final glory in heaven. That's future. It's a sure thing. You know why? Because we're such
great people. No, it's a sure thing because
we have a surety. The Lord Jesus Christ, who's
a great Savior. That's why. True believers have
been chosen of God. Now we fell in Adam, ruined by
the fall, but God chose us before we fell, the scripture teaches.
And that's why he sent Christ in the world to redeem us by
his blood. We're redeemed by the blood.
bought and paid for by the blood. Our sin debt is satisfied. We
don't owe a debt to God's law and justice. Christ paid the
debt. That's what assurity does. And then in time, when it pleases
the Lord, He'll reveal Christ in us. That's regeneration and
conversion. That's the new birth by the Holy
Spirit. And what happens then? He gives
us new life. Spiritual life. You know, that's
literally a resurrection from the dead. Born dead in trespasses
and sin, but he gives us spiritual life. The Bible says he gives
us a new heart. Our minds, our affections, our
wills, our inner man. That's the circumcised heart.
That's the convicted heart. That's the broken and contrite
heart. And that's the heart of faith. He gives us faith to believe
in and rest in Christ, to submit to Him as the Lord our righteousness. And then, true believers have
the ever-abiding presence and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
And He'll never leave us. Turn over to 1 John 2. 1 John 2 and look at verse 18.
Listen to this. You see, that's why we'll persevere
into the end. It's by the grace of God. It's
not our own power. It's not our own goodness. It's
His. Look at 1 John 2.18. He said, little children, it
is the last time. Now, you know what that means.
That's the time we're living in now, from the first coming
of Christ to His second coming. As you have heard that Antichrist
shall come, that's the spirit of Antichrist. Even now are there
many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time. Now
listen to verse 19. They went out from us. Now you're talking about people
who quit, who fell away, who went out, apostatized. But they were not of us. Do you
hear that? This is the way John said it.
If John were standing here talking, this is what he'd say. They were
not of us. That is, of the justified, of
true believers. And then he says, for if they
had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.
They would have persevered. But they went out that they might
be made manifest that they were not all of us. That's how we
know they weren't of us. Why? They left. They left. But now look at verse 20. But
ye have an unction. That word unction is an anointing,
a power from the Holy One, from Christ. And you know all things,
all things necessary pertaining to salvation by the grace of
God. What is that unction? That's
the power of the Spirit to bring us to Christ and keep us in Christ. That's what he's talking about.
Over in 1 John 3, look at verse 9. Now this is a verse that has
a lot of different ideas and controversies. Look at the verse, and you read
it in context, I don't have time to go through it all today. But
look here, verse 9. Whosoever is born of God, that's
the new birth, that's the children of God, that's the true believer. That's the one in whom the Holy
Spirit has done that great, sovereign, irresistible, invincible calling
at work and in whom the Holy Spirit indwells. Whosoever is
born of God doth not commit sin. Now, you know from other scriptures,
number one, that's why we know anything really from the scriptures,
what the Bible says. But you also know from experience
that that's not saying that a believer never sins. Now you know that. What's it talking about then?
Well, you've got to keep it in context. What's John, what's
his subject? Well, he's talking about those
who left Christ, who apostatized. And that's what he's talking
about here. That committing sin here is a sinner in unbelief
who does not know, love, trust, and remain in Christ. It's one
who leaves. That's the context. And it says,
for his seed remaineth. That word seed there is the word
that is used for the children of God. Seed meaning his offspring,
his generation, the sons of God. Remember back here in verse 1,
he says, Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us that we should be called the sons of God, the children
of God. That's what that word seed is.
It's a word used for children, offspring. His Christ offspring,
His children remain in Him, in Christ. And He cannot sin, He
cannot fall away. Why? Because He is born of God.
And then look at verse 10. In this the children of God are
manifest and the children of the devil. This is how you know
the difference. And he says, Whosoever doeth not righteousness.
You know what it is to do righteousness? It's to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ and continue believing in him. Because he is our righteousness. And he that doeth not righteousness
is not he who doesn't believe in and rest in and continue in
Christ our righteousness. He's not of God. Neither is he
that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that
you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
And then look who he uses as an example. Not as Cain. What
did Cain do? He brought his works. Who was
of that wicked one. And slew his brother. Why did
he slay him? Because his own works were evil and his brother's
righteous. What was Abel's works? He brought the lamb. He pled
Christ. That's what it's talking about.
True believers can never leave Christ. We may stray, but He
won't let us go, and we won't fully let go of Him. Having been
given spiritual eternal life in the abiding knowledge of Christ,
he said, My sheep hear my voice. They know me, and they'll follow
me. He said, and nobody shall pluck them out of my hand. Having
been brought into a living, abiding union with Christ, We'll never
leave him. Having been made partakers of
the divine nature, 2 Peter 1.4. You know what that means? That
means we've been brought into fellowship with God himself,
the divine nature. We've been brought into fellowship
with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit through Christ,
who is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That fellowship cannot
be broken. You know why? Because it's not
conditioned on you or me. It's conditioned on Christ. And
you know what? He fulfilled every condition.
were part of the body of Christ, of which Christ himself is the
head, we could no more lose salvation than Christ as the head of the
church could be cut off. Well, here's the last thing.
Turn to Romans chapter 8. True believers can never lose
salvation. And I want you to listen to this
very carefully. Brother Mahan, you say, this
will float your boat. True believers can never lose
salvation because true believers can never be charged with sin. That's right. Look at Romans 8. Look at verse
31. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, all whom God is for, how shall
he not with him freely, unconditionally, without a cause, give us all
things? You see, most people try to bargain
with God. They think God is some grand
bargainer up there. If you'll just do this, God will
do that. Or they think God is some kind of a cosmic chess player.
He makes His move, you make your counter move, and then He makes
His counter move. That's not the Bible, folks. That's the
natural thoughts of idolatry of men. He freely gives us all
things, all things in salvation. Based on what? The fact that
He spared not His own Son. Look at verse 33. Who shall lay
anything to the charge? of God's elect. It's God that
justifies. God will not charge us with sin. Why? Because he justified us.
How? Look at verse 34. Who is he that
condemneth? It is Christ that died. He charged
them to Christ. Our debt was charged to Christ. And Christ fulfilled it, paid
it. He says, yea rather, that it is risen again. He was successful.
He met every condition, fulfilled every stipulation, and worked
out every requirement. He was obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. He was made sin. That is what
that means. Our debt was laid upon Him. Christ,
who knew no sin, for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. We in Christ are not guilty. We are not liable to condemnation. We're righteous in Him. His righteousness
is charged to us. And that's no, that's, listen,
that's no fake. Heard a fella say, well, that
people think that means, well, you're, you're, you're righteous,
but you're really not. Oh, no, it's God that justifies
and the God who justifies judges according to truth. He's not
faking it. Yes, we're sinners in ourselves.
But we're not charged with our sin. We're not held accountable
in the court of God's justice. We may suffer some consequences
down here for our sin. We know that. Our bad behavior. But in the court of God's justice
we are totally exonerated, acquitted, cleared, righteous, not guilty
because Christ died and yea is risen again who is even at the
right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us. He is Jesus
Christ the righteous. He pleads our cause on the basis
of his shed blood. David said, Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord imputeth, chargeth not iniquity. Blessed is the
man whom the Lord charges, imputes righteousness without works.
Romans chapter 4. Let me conclude with this. Listen
to this. Though there is much sin in us, we know that so, much
sin done by us. Yet God cannot and will not charge
us with sin or condemn us for it. The Lord Jesus Christ came
into the world to destroy, purge, remove, take away the sins of
His people, and He's done it. He's done it! God separates us from our sins
as far as the east is from the west. You know, if you took off
walking north, There's going to come a point on this geographical
globe that you're going to be walking south. Did you know that? But if you start off walking
east, there's never a point on this globe where you'll start
walking west. And that's why he says, from
the east to the west, because they'll never meet. East is east,
west is west. You see, we will never meet up
with the charge of our sin again, and one day we'll be free from
even the presence of it, the influence of it, and the contamination
of it when we're glorified. All the sins of God's elect were
laid upon Christ, charged to Him, imputed to Him, and His
righteousness to them. He bore them in His own body
on the tree. He endured and satisfied the
full wrath of Almighty God for them. He didn't pretend. He suffered,
bled, and died, and He bore our sins away. He redeemed us from
the curse of the law. He made an end of our sins. Old
Daniel said that. He finished the transgressions,
made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness,
Daniel 9.24. Justified us, sanctified us by
one, by one offering. He hath perfected them that are
sanctified forever. How did He do it? By His blood.
God Almighty has. through the effectual redemptive
work of Christ so thoroughly blotted out our sins that he
does not and will not and cannot hold them against us. Do you
think a person like that could ever be lost and condemned? Absolutely not. Heavenly Father,
we thank you for the blessings of this great salvation that
you have freely bestowed upon us, thy children, through Jesus
Christ our Lord and Savior. Guide us and direct us in the
ways of your grace. Help us to see more of the glory
of Christ our Savior and our Lord, and help us, dear Lord,
to live our lives for him and for one another. We pray in Christ's
name and for his sake. Amen.