My Most Precious Faith (Part 1)

Introduction

This writing is dedicated to those who have given of their time, talent, and service to disciple me in my most holy faith. I think of Bob Burridge, Cornelius Groenwegen and family of Paul Russell, of my beloved wife and children who have continuously called on me to be pure in doctrine and teaching, to all of you thanks and to you I am truly grateful.


This writing is for my children so that all my life even after the Lord has called me home I will have been able to have let them know wherein lieth my hope in life and death.


If you read this and say that the flavor is that of a confession you are correct. It is what I believe. So with this in mind my dear children this is what your father desires you to know, understand and live for and by.

Your Father's Comfort Is In Christ

I have come to the point in life to know that outside of Jesus Christ there is no comfort. Whether I believe in him or not I have a soul and body. He as judge will judge me at death. I am so thankful that he has been pleased to call me unto belief, and that I do rest in the precious blood which he shed to pay a ransom for me, and for the covering of my sins. He has set me free and has put me on solid ground he has established my path way and my destiny and he will carry me to the celestial city of God. I have this comfort in my life and I have the assurance of all this comfort due to the work of the Holy Spirit in me. It is he that makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready to serve the Lord Jesus and to desire to live for him.


I have been taught by him that I am a great sinner and that I have been set free from the guilt and misery of my sin, now I thank God for my deliverance and for this great comfort.

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My Sin Made Known

I have come to know my sin because of what the law of God tells me. Christ taught what the law requires of us:


Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.


I am an imperfect man. I find that in my Body there dwells sin that I battle constantly. I have known that I am always at a crossroads in life and that I naturally tend to hate God and my fellow man. I sin by doing what God commands me not to do or I sin in omitting that which God expressly states that I am to do. Why I am in this state comes from the reality and effects of the fall of man in Adam’s sin. This is called original sin.


I am sinful in my whole being and am guilty before God. The sinful state that I am in consists of the effect of and the guilt from Adam's sin. The sin and transgressions that I commit proceed from this original sin. In the sin of Adam I, was made liable to all the miseries of this life and therefore was brought under the curse of God. There is in me death. This is physical death as well as spiritual death. I Look to God for grace to be bestowed to me and I understand that without His grace I am cursed to the pains of hell forever.


Now I do not now or ever blame God for my misery nor for the misery of mankind. But I acknowledge that God created man good, in his image in true righteousness and holiness. It was in the creature man that at creation God gave the ability and rational mind that they might truly know the Creator and love and serve him. In the state of man at creation mankind had the ablity to live in total peace without any misery.


Therefore the disobedience of Adam and Eve, our first parents, has so marred man that his conscience is seared and that he is poison and corrupt in his mind and heart, men are born sinners corrupt and miserable from conception. It is known that I am a sinner. My God in his word has revealed this to me, my heart reveals this to me, my fellow man reveals this to me. But I am so glad that my most holy faith does not stop at this point in my understanding. I’m so excited that there is a story of mercy and a work of God in my life so that I can start to overcome sin and selfishness in Christ Jesus the Lord.

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GOD IS JUST IN HIS REQUIREMENTS OF US TO KEEP HIS LAW

Even though man is so corrupt that he is so inclined to do evil continually unless he is born again, it is improper to think that God is unjust for requiring mankind to keep the requirements of the law. Please know that God created humans with the ability to keep the law.


God is holy and He will not permit disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished. He is angry about the sin we are born with and the sins that we personally commit. Everyone is cursed who does not do all his holy way. He will and must, as a just God, punish sin. All sin deserves God's wrath and curse in this life and in the life to come.


Now be it known that the justice of God in punishing sin in no way destroys his mercy. All sin even if he is to show some creatures mercy must be dealt with in a just manner.

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DELIVERANCE FROM THE MISERY AND GUILT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED

The question before us at this time is, "if according to God's righteous judgment I deserve punishment both in this world and in the world to come, then how can I escape this punishment and return to God's favor?". We cannot repay this great debt that we owe and we increase our guilt every day. My dilemma is based on knowledge that I am helpless, dead in trespasses and sins. I am under the justice of a holy God and on my way to eternal death and separation, unless He has wisdom that can satisfy His justice and deliver me from my sin and guilt and turn his anger from me.

Now I found in the Bible the teaching that God from all eternity out of His good pleasure elected others as well as myself to everlasting life by the way of a covenant of grace with Jesus Christ to deliver the us out of the state of sin and misery I have found myself in. Not only this but He then brings us into a state of deliverance and salvation.


This deliverance had to be done by someone who is truly human and truly righteous, not one who would or could sin. This person had to be God. The only redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ who, being God, took upon himself humanity to fulfill the punishment due to my sins.



I am aware that it may be that at this time you are skeptical. However, the scriptures from the beginning reveal the gospel even in paradise and then in the writings of the prophets and the psalms. The holy patriarchs proclaimed the deliverance by looking forward to a Messiah who would come and die in their place. Showing their faith, they offered sacrifices on God's altar showing their faith in God's promised deliverer.


As the people of God of old I am a person of true faith having a knowledge of that which has been promised and that which was delivered. I am also convinced that all which God has said is true in His word. There is also an assurance that in Christ I am forgiven and have been made right with God - being granted salvation. This great faith is not of myself but is of God alone, worked in my heart, by the blessed Holy Spirit.

To Be Continued ............... Steve