The Accomplishments Of Calvary
Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Three
times in Romans 5 we read that Christ died for us. Verse 6 tells us
that He died for us in our weakness, Verse 8 that He died for us in our
sin, and Verse 10 that He died for us in our rebellion.
First, Verse 6 says: “For when we were yet WITHOUT STRENGTH, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”.
Men
sometimes try to make themselves acceptable to God by human effort, but
they never succeed. We can’t walk or run to heaven, we can’t even fly
there, and we certainly can’t climb there — not even by doing good
works, for good works is what we ought to do, and we should not expect
them to counter-balance our sinful thoughts and deeds. Anyway, heaven is
God’s and He says we cannot gain it by works:
“For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should
boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).
Next, Romans 5:8 says: “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet SINNERS, Christ died for us”.
Many
people feel shut out of heaven, not merely because of a sense of
helplessness, but because of a sense of sinfulness and condemnation. To
such God proclaims the glad news that “Christ died for sinners”, and
“came into the world to save sinners” (I Timothy 1:15). At Calvary He
paid the just penalty for sin — for the sins of all mankind — so that
we, by faith, might be “justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).
But
Romans 5:10 goes even further, offering hope and grace to those who
have resisted God’s grace and rejected His Son, for here the greatest
Christ-rejecter of all time, now gloriously saved and changed, declares:
“When we were ENEMIES, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Romans 5:10).
And
so the helpless, the sinful, yes, and the rebellious, can find
acceptance with God if only they will turn to Him from their sin and
failure. “BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED…” (Acts 16:31).
E-mail this BIBLE SUDY to all your
friends
No comments:
Post a Comment