Is the Gospel Clear? Referencing my last post, where mention is made of being resolute in the gospel declaration, a friend remarked with the following reply, (a thought that I suspect all of us wrestle with,) “it all depends upon how deep one is made to go down the rabbit hole. If one would be resolute, one can never to himself rule out the possibility of being deluded.” I began to think about this on the way home from work today, and will share some thoughts.

Believers are naturally wary in this matter, fearing the danger of presumption more than anything else. Experience has taught them that apart from Christ they are nothing, and that the human heart is unstable and prone to self-deception. Jeremiah 17:9. Such an awareness causes them to tread carefully, leaning not on their own understanding but on the Spirit of truth, who alone anchors them in Christ.

But what are we left with if this is true? If we are indeed deceived in that truth that we've embraced in reference to the gospel of Christ? Amongst other things, it would imply that the gospel is not clear, that it can be interpreted in countless ways and no one can ever know who is right. That conclusion is somewhat devastating because in my thoughts it strikes at the very core of the gospel itself. If the gospel is not clear, then the cross is shrouded in uncertainty, and the promises of God are left hanging in mid-air. It would mean that no one can ever know with confidence whether they are truly in Christ, for what is obscure cannot be believed with assurance. And if such were the case, then the distinction between truth and error would vanish altogether. Isaiah 5:20. The reason so few see it is not because the message is muddled, but because it must be revealed by the Spirit. II Corinthians 4:3. What remains hidden to the world is made plain in Christ, for the gospel does not blur the line between truth and error but sets it in sharp contrast. In Christ the dividing line is unmistakable, and by His grace the people of God are kept, not in confusion or speculation, but in the quiet confidence that His work is complete, Hebrews 10:14, and in that confidence they look to Him alone for all their salvation. Hebrews 12:2.

This is a marked line of distinction between those that are Christ's, and those that are not, a distinguishable “spot” of separation, Deuteronomy 32:5, which characterizes and formulates the believer's entire life in this sphere of God’s ultimate glory in Christ, or what we know as life. Romans 11:36. “The Lord knoweth them that are his,” II Timothy 2:19, and will not leave his elect to guesswork in the gospel of Christ. John 10:27. False gospels may mimic the language of truth, but they bear another mark. God’s children are known by their trust in Christ alone, their spot is the “spot” of God's children, Deuteronomy 32:5, resting in the finished work of the cross, where the line between truth and error is made plain, and salvation is seen in Christ alone. Galatians 6:14. If the gospel were uncertain, such distinctions would collapse, and every way would seem alike. But God has spoken plainly in the gospel of His Son, Hebrews 1:2, and in Christ the difference between light and darkness, faith and unbelief, is laid bare with unshakable certainty. “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world, he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12. MPJ

A universalist friend has begun to oppose me sharply because I pointed out from Scripture what I believe to be a denial of the doctrine of Christ. He accuses me of thinking I know everything. I know that isn’t true, but it is bewildering and painful to be painted with that brush, as though certainty in Christ’s gospel were the same as arrogance. Painful for all believers because it always mingles such an accusation with a hint of plausibility, and the child of God, sensitive of conscience and desiring to be clothed in humility, feels the wound keenly even if the charge isn’t true. Though not a single one of us would claim infallibility, yet neither can we speak of God’s truth as if it were uncertain or negotiable. To be told that conviction is nothing more than conceit feels like a blow to the very root of faith, as though standing firm upon the gospel were itself a kind of pride. Surely there is a difference between claiming all knowledge and standing resolute in the truth Christ has revealed.

Such accusations echo the enemy’s voice, for this has been his method from the beginning. In Eden, the serpent’s subtlety was not a direct denial, but a whisper of suspicion, “hath God said,” Genesis 3:1, and when we attempt to stand firmly on the gospel, the adversary comes with the same insinuation, “hath God truly spoken; or is this only your private opinion, your own clever reading into scripture.” Thus he mingles accusations with doubt, hoping to shake our confidence. Yet the answer remains the same, our confidence is not in ourselves, nor in our interpretation, but in the Word of God revealed in Christ. His sheep know His voice, John 10:27, and that voice is clear and certain, however much the enemy mocks.

Such accusations echo the enemy’s voice, for this has been his method from the beginning. In Eden, the serpent’s subtlety was not a direct denial, but a whisper of suspicion, “hath God said,” Genesis 3:1, and when we attempt to stand firmly on the gospel, the adversary comes with the same insinuation, “hath God truly spoken; or is this only your private opinion, your own clever reading into scripture.” Thus he mingles accusations with doubt, hoping to shake our confidence. Yet the answer remains the same, our confidence is not in ourselves, nor in our interpretation, but in the Word of God revealed in Christ. His sheep know His voice, John 10:27, and that voice is clear and certain, however much the enemy mocks.

Such accusations echo the enemy’s voice, for this has been his method from the beginning. In Eden, the serpent’s subtlety was not a direct denial, but a whisper of suspicion, “hath God said,” Genesis 3:1, and when we attempt to stand firmly on the gospel, the adversary comes with the same insinuation, “hath God truly spoken; or is this only your private opinion, your own clever reading into scripture.” Thus he mingles accusations with doubt, hoping to shake our confidence. Yet the answer remains the same, our confidence is not in ourselves, nor in our interpretation, but in the Word of God revealed in Christ. His sheep know His voice, John 10:27, and that voice is clear and certain, however much the enemy mocks.

The gospel is not our speculation but God’s revelation; it does not rise from the shifting opinions of men, but descends from the unchanging Word of God, written, preserved, and fulfilled in Christ. Hebrews 1:1-2. Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.” Romans 1:16. To declare it timidly or doubtfully would undermine its divine authority and power. Paul warns against giving an “uncertain sound.” I Corinthians 14:8. If the message is blurred, souls are left unsure about the only way of salvation. We dare not imagine that error and compromise are harmless, for they strike at the honor of Christ Himself. II Peter 2:1-2. “He that is not with me is against me.” Matthew 12:30. Neutrality here is an illusion, Christ is either confessed in truth or denied in error; there is no middle ground.

If the gospel is certain, then to speak with certainty is no sin. Besides, it's impossible for those that belong to Christ to treat the gospel as though it were negotiable, or to speak of the clear message of Christ as if it were uncertain. Believers do not claim to know everything, nor should they give that impression. Yet when it comes to the gospel of Christ, it cannot be reduced to one opinion among many. If the saints sound strong at times, it is only because His truth is too precious to compromise. Jude 1:3. MPJ

What God Cannot Do: Think about this, the scripture says thou shalt not kill, yet God kills every day, (“I kill and I make alive,” Deuteronomy 32:39,) and not only one with whom he is at odds with so to speak, but with those who may be considered his friends. John 15:14. Is God under His own rule of right and wrong? Is there some higher, immutable standard to which He has bound Himself, some law that measures Him? To speak in such terms is folly. The law proceeds from His throne, not above it. To imagine that the Giver is bound by the same prohibition as the receiver is to blur the line between Creator and creature. “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king.” Isaiah 33:22.

His commandments reflect His holiness as it relates to men, not as it constrains Himself. God cannot lie, Titus 1:2, not because He is bound by some external chain, but because His very nature is truth itself. He cannot deny Himself, II Timothy 2:13, not because He is limited, but because He is unchanging, faithful, and perfect. To suggest that God is bound to some external law is to dethrone Him and enthrone law as supreme. If there were such a law above God, then God would not be God.

It's good to often be reminded that God's ways are not our ways, Isaiah 55:8, neither can he be measured by man's rule. Job 11:7-9. To attempt to bring the Almighty under the categories of human fairness, reason, or proportion is to reverse the order of things. The Creator is not subject to the reckoning of His creatures. He is absolute, sovereign, infinite, and eternal. The only “cannot” that belongs to Him is the “cannot” of contradiction to His own Being. In other words, GOD cannot cease to be GOD. Here is the foundation of worship, that GOD is GOD, unchangeably so. Every thread of creation is woven by Him, sustained through Him, and drawn back unto Him, to whom all glory belongs. Romans 11:36.

From this truth flows the certainty of the gospel. The God who elected us in Christ before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:4, is the same God who redeemed us by the blood of His Son, and the same God who will glorify us at the last day. And this is the bedrock of our hope, for “the God that cannot lie, promised before the world began,” Titus 1:2, life eternal in Christ Jesus our Lord. MPJ

In my attempt to read the Bible from cover to cover for the first time in my life, I arrived at II Samuel chapter 11, this morning. This is the chapter which narrates how David remained in Jerusalem while his army went to war, saw Bathsheba bathing, committed adultery with her, and when she conceived, attempted to cover it by recalling her husband Uriah. When Uriah would not go to his wife, David arranged for him to be placed in the heat of battle and abandoned, leading to Uriah’s death. David then took Bathsheba as his wife, and she bore him a son. The chapter ends with the solemn statement, “but the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.” II Samuel 11:27.

David committed adultery and committed murder, and Scripture does not minimize that. Yet when we speak of his person or character, it is important to remember how God Himself describes him, “a man after mine own heart.” Acts 13:22. His fall was real, and the sins were grievous, but his identity was not bound up in being “an adulterer” or “a murderer” in the sense of a settled course of life. Those titles, in Scripture, usually denote people whose pattern is unrepentant continuance in such sins. I Corinthians 6:9-11. David's repentance, Psalm 51, shows the difference between a child of God who falls into sin and one who lives in it. He bore heavy consequences in this life, but God did not leave him under that identity. David was not “marked” as an adulterer or murderer forever; he was a forgiven sinner, restored by grace, though still scarred by sins consequences.

Interestingly enough, in I Kings 15:5, it says, “David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” Notice how David’s life is summed up. The adultery and murder are not denied, but they are not what defines him. Though David sinned grievously, God still holds him forth as one who walked in His ways. This distinction is vital for the believer. Sin may stain us, but it does not define us if we are in Christ. God remembers His children in Christ’s righteousness, not in their shame. Just as David’s life is remembered as a walk in God’s ways, so the believer’s life, though marred by failure, is summed up in grace, “ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.” I Corinthians 6:11. Such is the triumph of divine grace, that God does not define His people by their darkest day, but by His eternal purpose in Christ. David’s sins were real, but the record of heaven calls him “a man after God’s own heart.” What God declared of David, He declares of all who are in Christ, their story is no longer written in sin, but in righteousness. “This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 54:17. The believer’s comfort is not that he has never fallen, but that Christ has never failed. His obedience stands where ours falters, and His blood speaks pardon where our conscience condemns. MPJ

An Arminian Transcript: “I hope the Lord will bless us as we come together in His name. Try to do the Lord's will. That's the main thing in this life, doing the Lord's will. And His will is that not any should perish, but that all should come unto repentance. Jesus paid the way for every man, boy, woman, and girl at the age of accountability to get to heaven. He shed His blood, the only way from earth to heaven. And we can come to Him, and all that do come to Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit gets born again. When you give up yourself, you give up sin, you give up the world. You want the Lord above everything else in this world. I tell you, and you pray through, out of your own heart, talk to God, reason with God out of your own heart. You've got to have forgiveness of your past sins. And I tell you, the Lord will transform you and change you on the inside like He did me over 30 years ago. I tell you, it's a joy to be saved. I've already made my peace, my calling and election for sure. The Bible says if you do that and you rebel against the Word of God, then you'll be cut off and that without a remedy. But you just need to come to the Lord and while there's time, while the door is open, while He's extending His salvation to you, like we've always said and like the Bible says, that God always offers mercy before judgment. And thank God He’s got mercy upon me.”

The above is the first paragraph, without any alteration, of a sermon transcript that was featured on SermonAudio this week, broadcast by some Baptist “Church” in Georgia. As I began to listen, one thing became immediately crystallized in my mind, which is the undeniable fact that a “great gulf fixed,” Luke 16:26, separates the gospel of Christ from this message! This is no variation of the gospel, but its reversal. It replaces the promise of God with the possibility of failure. It tells the sinner that he is not helpless but whole, not guilty but capable, not ruined but repairable, so long as he tries hard enough. Such a message is not merely weak, it is anti-Christ. It is a “gospel” of self-redemption, man exalting himself in the place of Christ. II Thessalonians 2:4. It’s idolatry in religious dress, a golden calf built from the fragments of human will, and is as opposite to the gospel as light is to darkness, as life is to death. Isaiah 5:20.

Just as the Lord described the impassable chasm between heaven and hell, so too there is an unbridgeable gulf between the grace of God in Christ Jesus and the man-centered religion of Arminianism. One proclaims what Christ has done, finished, effectual, eternal. The other proclaims what man must do, conditional, uncertain, and dependent upon his own contribution. This “gulf” is not only doctrinal but personal, for it exposes the way a man regards himself before God. Matthew 12:34. It's the difference between a beggar who cries for mercy and a boaster who prescribes remedies. And so it is with all who trumpet such sermons, (blind guides leading the blind,) because they do not see themselves as ruined sinners, every word flows with blind confidence about what man must do, what man can offer, what man must decide. But this is the exact opposite of how the gospel addresses us. The gospel does not flatter the strong, but lifts the beggar from the dunghill. Psalm 113:7. Not only does it not come to the “whole,” it's not even addressed to them. Luke 8:10. Christ declared, “they that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32. Those who imagine the way to life is “trying harder,” “praying through,” or “making peace with God” have never been silenced before God. Job 42:6. They speak as if sinners were not ruined and undone, but as if they were moral agents, capable of negotiating peace terms with the Almighty. This ‘poisons’ the very well of salvation. A “gospel” for the “whole” is nothing but poison to the sick. “For their vine is of the vine of Sodom… their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.” Deuteronomy 32:32-33. MPJ

KJV Preservation: It’s no pleasure to differ so widely from many whom are esteemed in the way of Christ, and whose ability and general knowledge far exceeds our own; but to use the words of another, “the Word of God is the greatest, most necessary, and most important thing in Christendom,” and we might add in all of the world, as there is nothing more essential, the neglect of which is to forsake our “own mercy,” Jonah 2:8, and to shut our ears to the only voice that speaks from heaven. Hebrews 1:1-2. For believers, there is nothing more precious as it is the ‘looking’ glass to behold “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” II Corinthians 4:6. Every glimpse of divine glory, all comfort in affliction, every beam of hope that penetrates the thoughts and settles the mind in “that blessed hope,” Titus 2:13, comes to us through the word of the Lord. It is the sacred lantern by which we behold Christ, the bread by which we are nourished, and the rock upon which we stand. Ephesians 2:20. All truth emanates from its pages, as it governs our lives, formulates our thoughts, and determines the course for all our decisions. It is the only light in a world of darkness, without which man is blind to God’s truth, deaf to His voice, and lost in his own reason. All else will fail! Religion will crumble, nations shall fall, and we all will fade away as a leaf, Isaiah 64:6, “but the word of the Lord endureth for ever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” I Peter 1:25. There is nothing more needful, nothing more glorious, nothing more divine! 

Inspiration without preservation would leave us with no certainty, for what good is a Word once given if it cannot be found today? In every age, God’s people have clung to the Word as their most precious treasure, whether Israel receiving the law at Sinai, David delighting in the Psalms, or the apostles preaching Christ from the Scriptures. It is in this same spirit that we approach the Authorized Version, not as a mere artifact of history, but as a vessel by which the everlasting Word of God has been preserved, proclaimed, and cherished. Paul thanks “God without ceasing,” that when the Thessalonians received the word of God they “received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” I Thessalonians 2:13. And if the Word is in truth from God, then it deserves the same reverence as the divine Source from which it flows.

The God who breathed out every word of Scripture has also kept every word intact. Our Lord declared, “it is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” Luke 4:4. He was quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3, where the same truth was first recorded. But this raises an unavoidable question, how can we live by every word unless every word has been preserved? If even one part has been lost, then the command becomes impossible. Christ did not say we live by most of God’s words, or by whatever fragments might survive the ages, but by every word.

Such a claim leaves no room for uncertainty; it demands assurance that every word remains intact, and it is here that the Spirit of truth, John 16:13, bears witness with divine authority, persuading believers to receive the Bible as Christ Himself received it in His earthly ministry. Our Lord never spoke as the skeptics of modern criticism. He affirmed Moses as the author of the Law, Mark 12:26, David as the sweet psalmist, Luke 20:42, and Daniel as the prophet Matthew 24:15; to Him, these writings were not fragments of uncertain origin, but together they formed one Divine Book, the Scriptures. Christ testified that they were given by the Holy Spirit, Mark 12:36, that not one word could be broken, John 10:35, not one jot or tittle could pass away, Matthew 5:18, and that every line carried God’s authority. Matthew 4:4,7,10. If this was the testimony of Christ concerning the Scriptures, can we believe any less? Christ’s view of Scripture must be ours. He affirmed Moses, David, and Daniel as true authors; He spoke of the writings collectively as the Scriptures; He declared them Spirit-given, unbreakable, and imperishable. To deny the preservation and authority of Scripture is not merely to disagree with men, but to set ourselves against the very testimony of Christ. And if Christ Himself bore witness to the Scriptures as inspired and enduring, then it follows that any view which separates inspiration from preservation leaves us with a hollow confession.

What profit is there in speaking of inspiration if preservation is denied? What comfort is it to say there once was an inspired Bible, if no such Bible exists today? Inspiration severed from preservation is like a candle without a flame, or a sword without an edge. The very purpose of God breathing out His Word is undone, unless He also supernaturally keeps that Word for every generation. If Scripture exists only in the originals, then Scripture no longer exists at all. Scripture, in the Bible’s own usage, is not confined to the originals but applies equally to copies and translations. When the Ethiopian eunuch sat in his chariot reading from the prophet Isaiah, Acts 8, he did not hold the original scroll penned by Isaiah’s hand, yet the Spirit calls what he read “Scripture.” The noble Bereans “searched the Scriptures daily,” Acts 17:11, but they did not possess autographs from Moses or the prophets, only copies, and yet these are honored with the name “Scripture.” Our Lord Himself, when He entered the synagogue at Nazareth, read aloud from the book of Isaiah, Luke 4:16-21; and it was no original autograph, but a synagogue copy, and yet Christ declared, “this day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Likewise Timothy, from his earliest childhood, was acquainted with the “holy scriptures,” II Timothy 3:15, not fragile originals locked away in some museum, but copies preserved and received as the Word of God.

This is consistent throughout the whole Bible. Never once is the term “Scripture” used to describe an original manuscript. It always speaks of the Word of God as preserved in the hands of God’s people, the custodians of the faith, to whom the oracles of God were committed, Romans 3:2, and in like manner, in every generation, among those who are members of the household of faith. The preservation of holy scripture was never left to scholars, nor shut up among the curiosities of men, but openly committed to the household of faith itself, the living witness which stands as “the pillar and ground of the truth.” I Timothy 3:15. To them, as Paul declares, “were committed the oracles of God,” Romans 3:2, and through them the scriptures have been preserved in every age, not by clever reasoning but by the absolute authority of God, ensuring that the household of faith might ever hold the lamp of truth in their hands, unbroken, unquenched, and shining through every generation until the end of time. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:8.

And it is here, among Christ’s sheep, that the scriptures remain, guarded and maintained not by clever reasoning but by the faithfulness of Almighty God, Matthew 24:35, that across the centuries the sheep of Christ’s pasture might be called and gathered by the voice of their Shepherd. John 10:16. In other words, the Bible was never meant to be a relic of the past, but a living Word preserved among Christ’s people in every age. Inspiration is not locked up in some long-lost autograph, but lives on in the preserved Scriptures God has given to His church. “My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.” Isaiah 59:21.

Some argue that the King James Bible has been faithfully preserved, yet somehow deny that it is inspired. But how could such a thing be possible? If what God originally gave was inspired, then to preserve it is to preserve that inspiration. Inspiration does not evaporate in transmission. To claim otherwise is theological double talk, an attempt to separate what God has joined together. Preservation without inspiration would reduce the Scriptures to a lifeless relic, a mere form without the Spirit, like a corpse embalmed but no longer living. But the Word of God is not dead; it is “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword.” Hebrews 4:12. What good would it do us if the Lord merely secured the form of His words, yet withheld the divine breath that gives them life? Inspiration cannot be limited to a one-time event in the distant past, for the Bible itself testifies that, “all scripture is given by inspiration of God,” II Timothy 3:16, present tense, not was. If Timothy’s “holy scriptures” (copies) were inspired, then so are the preserved Scriptures in our hands today. Otherwise, the promise of God is void, and the people of God are left with a book that looks like Scripture but lacks the authority and power of Scripture. Such a notion not only undermines faith, it contradicts the very nature of God who has magnified His Word above all His name. Psalm 138:2.

Among the prevailing opinions of modern scholarship/criticism is their assumption that God’s direct involvement with His Word ceased once the original autographs were penned. Inspiration, they say, was confined to that first act of breathing out His words, and preservation is acknowledged only so far as it relates to the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. Beyond this narrow scope, the transmission of Scripture is treated as little more than a human enterprise, fallible men making fallible copies, translators exercising only their own skill, but without the living hand of God. Yet this view strips preservation of its very power, reducing it to a natural process rather than the providential work of the Spirit. To suppose that the God who gave His Word with infallible care would then abandon it to the corruption of apostate men is nothing less than unbelief masquerading as biblical scholarship. Such a thought diminishes the supremacy of Christ over His own Word, and makes man the final authority. If the Lord has promised to keep His Word pure in every generation, Psalm 12:6-7, then translation itself must be under His guiding hand, lest His promise be made void.

And this is the inevitable result, to deny God’s active hand in preservation is to embrace what can only be called a deistic view of Scripture, as though God merely breathed them out at the beginning, wound them up like a clock, and then stepped aside to let the ravages of time take their toll for better or for worse. After all, it's only God's holy word, the voice by which He makes His truth known to His people.” John 10:27. Would God, having breathed out His Word, then entrust its safekeeping to the careless custody of Augustinian monks or to the rigid traditions of pharisaical scribes to safeguard His inspired text? Shall we imagine that through the long centuries of the reign of papal popes, who did everything in their power to conceal the Scriptures from the common people, God stood aloof, watching His Word bound in cloisters and chained to pulpits? Or that He left it to the skeptical ravings of “Bible” scholars gone mad, dissecting the living Word as though it were a dead specimen, or to so-called ministers who bow down before the shifting sands of Greek definitions as though the original tongues were gods in themselves?

This is not the God of the Bible. His Word is not a relic to be buried in the ruins of history, but a living, abiding seed, I Peter 1:23, incorruptible, eternal, preserved by the same hand that first gave it. The LORD does not merely observe history, but He minutely orders, directs, and orchestrates every single event in time in an all-comprehensive manner to the glory of His infinite majesty and power. “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Revelation 4:11. Would the God who thundered from Sinai, who wrote with His own finger upon tablets of stone, now fall silent and surrender His testimony to the slow decay of parchment and the endless disputations of “biblical” scholars, men who, under the guise of wisdom, have done all within their power to undermine the Bible? How can that be? The same God who spoke with power then still speaks with power now. What Rome once attempted by locking away the Scriptures from the common people, the modern critics attempt by eroding confidence in their authority. One sought to chain the Bible; the other seeks to destroy its credibility. Yet in both cases the aim is the same, to keep the Word of God from being received as it is in truth, the living, abiding voice of the Almighty.

The same God who gave His Word has also kept it living in the tongues of His people. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35. His words remain not only in ancient manuscripts, but in the tongues of His people, preserved by the same God who first gave them. What blind reasoning could ever persuade us that the Lord, having supernaturally inspired and preserved His Word, would then withdraw and abandon the work of translation to the pride and arrogance of human reason? Are we to believe that God, who governs the fall of a sparrow and numbers the hairs of our head, would leave the most precious treasure He has entrusted to His people, the very words of life, to stand or fall on the skill of scholars? To imagine that God left His Word at the mercy of scholars is to make man the keeper of Scripture instead of God. If He preserves His Word, He also governs its passage into the tongues of His people. Preservation that does not reach the common tongue is preservation in name only. If the word of the LORD is to be “very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it,” Deuteronomy 30:14; Romans 10:8, then it must be in the tongue His people understand. The Lord, in His mercy, has ever made His Word plain to His people, clothing eternal truth in the tongue of common men, ensuring that His Word is not a sealed artifact, but the living voice of the Shepherd to His sheep. “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63.

The tragedy of modern versions is not simply their contradictions, but their consensus, that man sits as judge over the Word of God. In their arrogance, men have placed God’s Word on the dissection table and are handling it like a corpse to be examined, subjecting it to their scalpel, not realizing that it is they who will one day be judged by it. John 12:48. Such tampering has only one result, a Bible reshaped in the likeness of man rather than received as the voice of God. Men have reconstructed the Bible after their own image. Instead of bowing to the authority of God’s Word, they have refashioned it to reflect their own philosophies, their own doubts, their own culture, and their own sin. Where God has spoken plainly, they insert ambiguity; where He has exalted Christ, they diminish Him; where He has drawn clear lines, they blur them. This is not preservation but perversion, not translation but distortion. It is the old lie of the serpent clothed in modern scholarship, “yea, hath God said?” To reconstruct the Bible after man’s image is to dethrone God and enthrone human wisdom. Every time a verse is cut away, every time Christ’s deity is diminished, every time the objective “faith” of Christ is substituted for the subjected “faith” in Christ, (otherwise known as Luther’s sola fide,) or the propitiatory work of Christ is diminished, the hand of man reshapes Scripture into a reflection of himself. But in contrast to man’s tampering, we behold the hand of God guiding His Word with perfect care.

Here the contrast is plain, man corrupts, but God preserves, and it is in this very contrast that we behold the marvel of God’s providence in history. He raised up men, fitted them with rare ability, and ordered the times so that the translation of His Word into the English tongue was carried out with meticulous care. Yet our confidence is not in the brilliance of men, but in the faithfulness of Christ, who declared that His words shall never pass away.

Here is a challenge to those who dismiss this so-called “extreme” view: If not the Authorized Version, then what? Name the Bible to which you will bow without hesitation, the book whose every word you receive as the voice of God. If you cannot identify a present and preserved Scripture, then you have no absolute authority at all, only the shifting sands of human opinion and scholarship. But Christ’s sheep do not live by uncertainty; they live by “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. The question cannot be avoided, was the Spirit of God at work in the giving of the Authorized Version? If the answer is “no,” then we are left with nothing more than the work of men, subject to error and uncertainty, and the church has no sure Bible in her hands. But if the answer is “yes,” and we confess that it is, then the Scripture we hold is not merely the fruit of human scholarship, but the result of God Himself guiding and overruling, so that His Word might be faithfully transmitted to His people.

It is with some reluctance that I take this further step, for I have no desire to offend those who preach Christ, yet necessity compels me to say a few things plainly. Thinking about those who have preached, or who are presently engaged in declaring the gospel, one cannot help but notice how many of them use only the King James or Authorized Version. Perhaps it provides them with a feeling of standing in the “old paths,” or gives a certain air of orthodoxy, tradition, or calvinistic flavor. Yet one cannot help but wonder how many truly regard it as the very Word of God, inerrant and preserved. Many will say that it is the most faithful translation, drawn from the most trustworthy text, and that they stand emphatically upon all which the bible teaches, taking it as their final authority. (One cannot but wonder, if it’s their final authority, what is their other authority?) But when pressed, that “final” authority often turns out to be something else, some imagined reconstruction of “the originals,” or the turn of a lexicon or word study that will usually tilt in the direction of one’s preconceptions. In this way, the KJV becomes for them more a banner to wave than a foundation to rest upon. They climb aboard the King James bandwagon with great enthusiasm, but quickly disembark at the first stop, the so-called “original text,” (which, ironically, does not exist,) where human scholarship lures them from trusting God’s preserved Word. They all follow the breadcrumbs of one another, lest they fall out of fellowship with their fellow deniers of an inspired Bible. 

How often have we heard this expression? “This is the best translation!” Why does everybody talk like that, all following one another’s tail, as if mouthing the same safe phrase were proof of conviction? It sounds orthodox, it sounds traditional, but it is little more than a borrowed cloak of credibility. To call the Bible merely “the best” is to imply degrees of imperfection, as if God’s Word were a matter of preference rather than certainty. Saying “the best translation” is not conviction but compromise, and it dodges the real question. Do you believe it is the Word of God?

In this present dark age, when delusion runs unchecked and error parades itself as truth, it is all the more needful that those who name the name of Christ be rooted and grounded in the certainty of God’s preserved Word. “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3. To be unsettled here is to leave ourselves open to every wind of doctrine, and to be swept along with the erroneous conclusions of the skeptics.

There is so much more that could be said, from ancient tamperings, to Origen’s Alexandrian corruptions, to Jerome’s Vulgate, and down through Westcott and Hort with their so-called “new” text, to which I might add, that these two men, along with those who embrace their skepticism, must rightly be named among the chief corruptors of the Word of God, who have done more to destroy the reputability of scripture than any that have gone before, by exalting a handful of corrupt manuscripts over the time-tested text of the church, they sowed seeds of doubt that have borne bitter fruit in nearly every modern version. The lingering effect of their work has not been greater confidence in the Bible, but a widespread suspicion that no Bible can be fully trusted, as though the voice of God must be filtered through the judgment of critics. Their legacy is confusion, not clarity; uncertainty, not assurance.

God is not the author of confusion, I Corinthians 14:33, yet confusion is exactly what arises when the authority of Scripture is questioned and parceled out among a multitude of competing versions, allowing scholars and publishers to set themselves as arbiters of truth, rather than falling down before the absolute authority of Scripture. Each new rendering, each alteration of words, echoes the ancient whisper of the serpent, “Yea, hath God said?” Instead of one sure voice, men are met with a babble of contradictions, and doubt spreads like leaven until confidence in Scripture itself is weakened, a slow erosion that strikes at the very heart of the gospel witness. What man unsettles with his revisions, God establishes with His unchanging Word. Isaiah 40:8.

With these thoughts in mind, I will go out on a limb to confess that I am “shipwrecked” in the persuasion, (which many may call extreme,) that the Authorized King James Bible is God’s inspired, preserved, and only authority; the sure and settled Word of God in our own tongue, and present and perfect testimony of His truth in English, and that God still speaks, and that his voice can be distinctly heard speaking in this word. Anything less than this inevitably reduces God’s promises to the myths of “lost originals,” depriving the sheep of Christ’s fold of the one sure voice of their Shepherd, and leaving them to wander amid the clamor of man’s opinions.

For me, the matter can end no other way. If God has preserved salvation in Christ, then He has likewise preserved His Word, the very instrument by which that salvation is made known. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart, for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16. MPJ

Additional Comments: Thanks, brother. That was a very long post, and I really appreciate you or anyone taking the time to read it. I actually started writing it a few months back and only stumbled across it again on Friday. After proofreading it three or four times, I noticed some repetition here and there, but honestly I was so weary of re-reading it that I just decided to post it as it stood. My desire is that it might prove helpful to those confused about this important matter of Bible preservation, and what people dismissively label “King James onlyism,” a term I don’t much care for. For me, it’s not about waving a banner for a translation or a party spirit, but about clinging to the certainty that God has not left His people without a sure and settled Word. I believe this is a matter of confidence in the faithfulness of Christ, not merely in the skill of translators or the traditions of men. If the sheep of Christ are to know the Shepherd’s voice, then that voice must be clear, preserved, and distinct. That is why I wrote what I did, not to stir debate, but to encourage trust in the living Word of God that still speaks with absolute authority today. With brotherly love in Christ, Marc

Hey brother, I appreciate the question. It's a good one. When I speak of the King James Bible as the inspired and preserved Word of God, I’m not narrowing that down to the first 1611 printing with its spelling quirks, marginal notes, or printer’s errors. What I’m speaking of is the text itself, the inspired words, not the incidental features like old spellings or typesetting of a particular edition. The same way we don’t say Timothy had to hold the very first parchment of Isaiah to have “the Scriptures,” II Timothy 3:15, we don’t need to hold the very first printed sheets from 1611 to have God’s Word today. The translators’ work, brought forth by God’s providence, gave us a settled English Bible. Later printings only corrected typographical slips and standardized spelling, but the substance, the inspired, preserved words, remained the same. So, no, the claim isn’t that only the first printing of 1611 was inspired, but that the Authorized Version, as God has preserved and carried it forward, is His pure Word in English. Hope that's sorta helpful. Marc

Divine Imputation: A friend asked me to share some thoughts on divine imputation. I'll preface it with this, that much of what I'm attempting to convey is going to sound like a ‘personal’ confession of faith, and in a sense it is, but not in the spirit of setting up an “article of faith,” but I really don't know how to word it any differently without losing precision, or blurring the truth or lessening its weight. This is simply where I stand at present, until the LORD is pleased to give clearer light. I Thessalonians 5:21.

Divine imputation is the legal act of God’s grace whereby He accounts Christ as bearing the guilt of His people, and His people as possessing the righteousness of Christ, on the basis of Christ’s suretyship. Negatively, God “will not impute sin” to His elect, Psalm 32:2; Romans 4:8, because their guilt has been transferred to Christ, who “bare” their “sins in his own body on the tree,” I Peter 2:24, as it is written, “and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6. Positively, God imputes to believers the obedience and righteousness of Christ, so that they are “made the righteousness of God in him,” II Corinthians 5:21, justified “without works,” Romans 4:6, and accepted as “complete in him.” Colossians 2:10. This ‘act’ does not make Christ inherently sinful, nor believers inherently righteous; it is a judicial reckoning grounded in covenant headship and substitution. Romans 5:19. As Adam’s disobedience was imputed to his posterity unto condemnation, so Christ’s obedience is imputed to His seed unto justification and life. Romans 5:18-19. Imputation is not transfusion but reckoning. Our sins were counted to Christ, though He remained spotless; His righteousness is counted to us, though we remain sinful in ourselves. By this gracious exchange, “Christ was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification.” Romans 4:25.

Union is the fountainhead. Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:4, crucified with Him, Galatians 2:20, buried with Him, Romans 6:4, raised and seated with Him in heavenly places. Ephesians 2:6. Complete in Him, Colossians 2:10, abiding in Him as branches in the Vine, John 15:4, and joined to Him as his body and bride. Romans 12:5, 7:4. All that God does for His people flows from this vital oneness with His Son, in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Acts 17:28. Imputation, therefore, is not a bare transaction carried on at a distance, but God’s reckoning of what is already true in Christ our Head.

Union explains imputation, for apart from being one with Christ, there could be no reckoning of His righteousness to us or our guilt to Him. Imputation explains substitution, for the only reason Christ could stand in the sinner’s place is because their sin was truly charged to His account and His obedience counted to theirs. And substitution explains why God is both just and the justifier, because at the cross justice is satisfied, and grace is magnified, so that He remains righteous while declaring righteous the one who believes in Jesus. Romans 3:26.

Next, the ‘conversation’ turned to the “reality” of imputation, something I have not thought about for years, and in attempting to trace back the dividing points of what has been said before, is all a giant cloud bank to me now. Yet even through the haze, one thing remains clear, Christ is not divided, nor is He parceled out into the finer points of theological systems. Union with Him is whole, and all that flows from Him is one. Sometimes our distinctions serve clarity, but they can also make us forget that all righteousness, all life, all salvation is bound up together in the Person of Christ Himself.

The “real imputation” vs. “not-real imputation” talk is a false dichotomy. Scripture never makes that division. When God imputes, His reckoning is true and effectual, because it flows from our union with Christ and His suretyship. Imputation is not make-believe and not infusion; it is God’s judicial accounting, Christ made sin for us, we made the righteousness of God in Him. Romans 4:6,11.

Sometimes the phrase “real imputation” is used as if others believe in a “fake” or “unreal” imputation. But no one who believes the gospel is saying that. What God imputes is real. His reckoning corresponds to truth. Christ’s righteousness is real, and when God imputes it, it is as unchanging as the word of God which declares it. To say otherwise is to diminish both His righteousness and His grace. Imputation isn’t about adding adjectives like “real” or “not real,” as these only distract from the unity and simplicity of the gospel. Scripture’s own language is clear enough without our embellishments. If God reckons us righteous in Christ, then that is fact, not fiction. Blessed be “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jeremiah 23:6. MPJ

PS: I just wrote a short post on imputation, not to really answer much of what you brought up, but just to sort of gather my own thoughts together. You mentioned the darkness during the crucifixion showing our inability to look into such mysteries, and that is so true! At the cross the heavens grew dark, and in that silence we can see our own limits. The gospel humbles us because it takes us where human reason cannot go, into the mystery of God forsaking His beloved Son that sinners might be received. As Paul says, “great is the mystery of godliness.” I Timothy 3:16. On the other hand, as the Lord grants us a clearer view of this gracious reckoning, it draws us into greater awe of His sufferings, even when so much remains beyond our understanding. Just a glimpse of Christ crucified is enough to humble us and fill us with gratitude. We may not understand every detail, but we do know this. Christ “was made sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” II Corinthians 5:21. I think you “touched” the heart of it, righteousness is not floating in the air, but bound up in union with the Righteous ONE. “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us…righteousness.” I Corinthians 1:30. Todd is so very correct when he says, “these are not matters to argue about but to bow in total reverence.” Have a great night, Marc

“It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” John 6:45. What a promise! There is nothing haphazard, nothing left up to man to figure out; not resting on our wit, our wisdom, nor our ability to somehow reason our way to God, but grounded wholly in Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. John 14:6. No exceptions, no uncertainties, every one of the elect shall be taught by God. God alone is the Teacher, Christ alone is the Way, and every one taught of the Father shall come. Here is the immovable ground of our consolation, not man’s attempt to puzzle out the gospel, but the eternal promise of God’s distinguishing grace in Christ. II Timothy 1:9.

When Scripture says that God’s people are “taught of God,” John 6:45, it does not imply that every saint becomes a skilled theologian, able to frame every truth in precise words. Rather, it means that the Spirit has written the truth of Christ on their hearts, so that when the gospel is proclaimed, they know it to be the voice of their Shepherd. John 10:27. It is a knowledge of recognition in distinction from a knowledge of articulation. In other words, the Spirit-taught “yes” in the believer’s soul will always align with the truth of Christ, even if they may lack the vocabulary to express it. The Spirit’s teaching ensures recognition of the truth, beyond human vocabulary. John 16:13. Salvation is in Christ, not in the measure of our comprehension, and yet that true knowledge, however simple, always has Christ as its content and boundary. MPJ

“Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” Matthew 23:15. This passage speaks directly to the spirit of religious zeal divorced from the truth of the gospel. Christ condemns the pharisees not for their lack of energy, sincerity or effort, but for their corrupt message and system. Their labors multiplied deception rather than truth, producing converts bound more securely in delusion than they had been before. And this is not confined to the Pharisees of old.

Today’s institutionalized and contemporary “church” is much the same, cloaking itself in scattered and detached fragments of bible truth, offering a general confession that has no root in Christ. Zeal without truth, converts without Christ. The name of Christ or rather “Jesus” is employed only to lend credibility to their system which, though cloaked in ‘christian’ attire, is nothing more than man-centered idolatry. The end of this kind of religion is always the same, it loses sight of God and collapses into a baptized humanism, where everything is for the benefit of man. Its creed is human need, its gospel is human comfort, and its god is man enthroned beneath a bible veneer. Everything bends toward man. Christ is no longer proclaimed as “Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” Philippians 2:11, but diminished to a life coach, a problem-solver, or personal advisor - a divine therapist, a self-help guru, in essence nothing more than a resource at man’s disposal to secure his own happiness. “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” Romans 1:25.

It is the “gospel” turned on its head, man becomes the center, and their caricature of Christ is pushed to the margins. Everything turns manward. The Scriptures may still be quoted, but they are stripped from their context and repurposed to build an idol of man’s own making. Such a system, however draped in the trappings of christianity, is nothing but idolatry draped in biblical language. When they “convert” you, you “become” twice the child of hell, before, you were a “lost” sinner, but now you are a deceived sinner. In that sense, its converts are not merely lost sinners in need of grace, but now deceived sinners imagining themselves safe because of a false gospel. MPJ

Have we ever attempted to convey some gospel truth to someone, especially in regards to sovereignty, election, particular redemption, &c., and along with the usual scowl, are reprimanded with these words or similar, “you must think you are really special, part of some chosen few, better than the rest of us,” &c., which reproach is heavy indeed, and cuts deeply, for it contradicts the very spirit of the gospel in the believer’s heart, which is not to magnify oneself, but to glorify God in Christ. “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory.” Psalm 115:1. For the believer knows better than anyone that the exact opposite is true. Grace leaves no room for boasting, for how can one who has been brought low in the dust imagine himself higher than his neighbor? Isaiah 26:5. To have glimpsed even the hem of Christ’s garment is to be stripped of all pretensions, and to see oneself as vile and bankrupt before God, Isaiah 6:5, which makes it nearly impossible to think less of others. Such a sight leaves the soul with no pedestal upon which to stand, no superiority to claim, no comparison to make, for the believer has seen the truth of his own condition, that he is undone and without strength. The Christian’s confession is not, “I am better,” but rather, “I am nothing, and Christ is all.” One paradox of the gospel is that the more it lifts us in Christ, the more it breaks us in ourselves. The world supposes that election and particular redemption breed arrogance, but the opposite is true. These truths have a crushing effect on pride and cultivate nothingness. A believer who has tasted the grace of God in Christ Jesus knows himself as nothing more than a debtor to that grace. MPJ Additional Thought:The Lord’s people often find it impossible to think less of others, because they already think so little of themselves outside of Christ.

A trademark of the Papist religion, and most of its Protestant stepchildren, is that “ignorance is bliss,” yet ignorance breeds nothing but pride! For pride thrives only where the heart is veiled, and man remains ignorant that outside of Christ he possesses nothing but sin and death. John 3:19. Should a man be awakened to the truth that he drinks from a fountain that he cannot command or fathom, and walks in a light not his own, a light he cannot kindle nor quench, his pride collapses at once. This lays open the deep folly of pride, for pride can only grow where light has not yet entered, “having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” Ephesians 4:18. To know the truth of our condition is to know we are but dust, and that whatever good, wisdom, strength, or grace we possess has been received, not produced. The proud man boasts of much, but in truth he possesses nothing but his sin. Jeremiah 9:23-24. Pride is therefore not merely ignorance in general, but ignorance of grace in particular. To see Christ rightly is to see self rightly, and in that sight pride withers. I Corinthians 4:7. For how can a man boast, when he lives by borrowed breath, walks in a borrowed light, and is upheld at every moment by a mercy whose depths he will never exhaust? Ignorance is not bliss, and ignorance of Christ is fatal! Hosea 4:6. MPJ

In Matthew 9:36, we read that when Christ “saw the multitudes,” that he “was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” In reading this, it struck me how the Lord did not divide them into classes of worthiness, nor did He withhold His kindness from one group while extending it to another. In one sense, He acknowledged only their need, not whether they were Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, respectable or despised, moral or immoral, learned or unlearned. His compassion was not parceled out according to human distinctions, but flowed to all who were lost and wandering.

He ‘saw’ them all alike, lost, needy, perishing. There is surely a lesson here for us as we consider the people the Lord brings into our lives. People with so many different backgrounds, different beliefs, and different ways of life; all kinds of people, all so amazingly unique and wonderfully crafted; people of every ethnicity, people of every religion, and every background, &c., even those whose lives run ‘contrary’ to God’s design. And if Christ looked on such multitudes with compassion, should it not be the same with us? For apart from Christ, all men stand in the same condemnation, and all alike are in need of the same mercy. Whether neighbor or stranger, friend or foe, the religious or irreligious, all alike need the same gospel, the same Christ, the same salvation. To embrace them, (not in the “bonds” of Christ, for that is impossible outside the gospel,) in the bonds of humanity, and in the truth that apart from Christ we are all in the “same condemnation,” Luke 23:40, (“for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23,) and outside of Christ have no hope and are without God in the world. Ephesians 2:12.

In a sense, I would equate it to seeing ourselves in others, or “myself in everyone’s eyes.” Titus 3:2-3. In their weariness, we see our own weakness; in their wandering, our own straying; in their sin, our own corruption; and in their need, our own desperate need of Christ. This recognition keeps us from pride and makes compassion natural. For if we see ourselves in another’s misery, we cannot despise them without despising ourselves, and more than that, without forgetting the pit from which we were dug, and the mercy that first raised us up in Christ. “For who maketh thee to differ from another, and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?” I Corinthians 4:7. MPJ

Aging & Christ: “Even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you, I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” Isaiah 46:4. For many of us, aging is no longer just a passing thought that we can just set aside for the time being, but a truth that becomes clearer with every passing day. It's a blessed consideration in the light of the gospel, but in any other light, almost inconceivable to attempt to navigate! We wake to find ourselves older, weaker, more aware that this life, however precious, is brief. “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:14. A truth that becomes clearer as the years go by. The mirror shows it, the calendar confirms it, and the aches of our bodies remind us that time marches on. II Corinthians 4:16. Scripture speaks plainly, “man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.” Job 14:1-2. What a sobering testimony of our fleeting existence, and striking reminder of our dust-like state before Almighty God. Genesis 18:27. We have no power to add a single day to our lives, and no strength to hold back the hand of time. Matthew 6:27. And yet, as the days pass and our strength wanes, we are reminded of how utterly dependent we really are. Aging has a way of humbling us, as it tends to strip away illusions of self-sufficiency, reminding us that our strength was never our own to begin with, pointing us beyond what is passing to Christ, the unchanging ONE, who upholds our life from the first breath to the last. “My times are in thy hand.” Psalm 31:15.

And if I’m honest, my greatest fear at the hour of death, or in the long or short seasons leading up to it, {though I'm sure I can come up with about a dozen more, being so fretful and unbelieving at times,} is not pain as such, nor even dying itself, but perhaps losing my mind and forgetting the gospel truths that have been my lifeline. Thoughts of Christ delight my soul, and keep me alive, as it were. I think, what is life apart from Christ? What is strength, or memory, or health, if the LORD seems absent? “Because thy lovingkindness is better than life.” Psalm 63:3.

Here’s also where my struggle deepens. I love this world; I love my family, my work, my 'brethren' in Christ, etc., and just the “ordinary” affairs of daily life. I can whittle away hours just soaking in the world around me, observing people, watching birds, strolling through a garden, watching the sun set, or simply sitting quietly with a cup of coffee, etc., I love it all, and I constantly stand amazed at the artistry of God’s hand in creation. To me everything is “the grace of life,” I Peter 3:7, and I’m so thankful for it all! “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” I Thessalonians 5:18. And perhaps because of this, I have never been one to look at life and call it “all a mess,” though I realize, more with each passing day, that here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Hebrews 13:14. Along those thoughts, I have often been bewildered, and unchristianized in my own mind, as I listened to brethren, some much younger than myself, longing to go home and be with Christ, and speak of the world as some dark and detestable place! That's not me! I'm not ready to go anywhere! Yet I know this also, the Lord has His own way of instructing us.

Another thing that I'm constantly learning is the fact that the Lord often doesn't give ‘grace’ until it is needed, and though now we may look upon, whatever it is, as almost unbearable, when the Lord's appointed time comes, we may find it made sweet in Christ; strength is not given until we are brought into weakness, or in other words, those things that we fear that the Lord may bring upon us as we are growing older and more feeble, (whether they transpire, or others take their place,) may just be the very things that drive us closer to Christ. And the grace we imagine we will lack, He withholds until the moment it is required, but when it comes, the bitter is turned to sweet in Christ. “And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” II Corinthians 12:9.

Perhaps the older we grow, the more we see that ‘our’ story is not about how well we have kept ourselves, but how faithfully the LORD has kept us. Genesis 24:1. Looking back, the pages are full of our sin, weakness, wandering, and unbelief, but woven through them all is the unbroken thread of Christ’s sufficiency. Romans 5:20-21. How fragile we are, but also how faithful Christ is. “My flesh and my heart faileth,” Psalms 73:26, and indeed it does, and we're not called to pretend otherwise. We know that we cannot sustain ourselves, “the journey is too great” for us, I Kings 19:7, but Christ giveth “power to the faint,” Isaiah 40:29, “for he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Psalm 103:14. MPJ

Additional Thought: Thanks. We all struggle, maybe not in exactly the same ways, but there is a common thread that ties every believer together in Christ. That thread is His mercy, mercy that finds us in our frailty and never lets us slip away. “It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23. I think perhaps the older we grow, the more precious it is to be kept, as in one sense, when our “hands” can no longer hold tight to all that which once defined us, they are freed to cling more tenaciously, by His grace, to Christ alone. Have a wonderful day, Marc

Just today, August 24th, 2025, I read that a well-known celebrity paid nearly thirteen million dollars for a sports card, a small piece of cardboard with a picture on it! Notwithstanding whatever shrewdness may be involved in such a transaction, consider the irony of it all in light of the “one thing needful.” Luke 10:42. Only one thing, and no amount of wealth can buy it. The treasures of men vanish with time; they fade like grass, riches rot, and beauty decays. It’s good to be often reminded, as Abraham confessed, that “we are but dust and ashes.” Genesis 18:27. Our life is but a vapor, appearing for a little while and then vanishing away. James 4:14. And yet, knowing this, men will still bankrupt themselves for the things of this world, while showing no interest in salvation, no regard to truth, no time for Christ.

We may cling to anything and everything in this life, only to discover in the end that we have nothing. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36. In fact, to cling to anything but Christ is to be left with nothing. Without Him we are hopelessly lost, whether we know it or not, boast of religion or despise it, whether we appear moral or plunge headlong into sin. At the end, all distinctions vanish, only Christ matters. “Thus saith the LORD, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me.” Jeremiah 9:23-24. MPJ

LIFE SURGE: My wife on her FB feed keeps getting these advertisements for some sort of inspirational event coming to our area next month sometime. It's called LIFE SURGE. Here is how they describe themselves. “WHAT IS LIFE SURGE? Life Surge is a one-day live event designed to inspire, train, and equip believers to advance God’s Kingdom. We believe in faithful stewardship, using wealth as a tool to expand God’s Kingdom, share the gospel, and leave an eternal legacy. Life Surge empowers Christians to integrate their faith into their work and wealth, maximizing their impact for Christ. Join thousands of believers who are ready to honor God with their resources and live with eternal purpose. Through powerful worship, world-class speakers, and biblical financial insights, you’ll walk away, with clarity on your divine calling, be grounded in biblical wisdom for your finances, equipped with practical tools to build a legacy, be reignited with purpose to impact your family, community, and the Kingdom. This is a Movement. Not a Concept. This is a Transformation. Not a trend. This is a Community. Not a CROWD.” That’s quite the statement!

As I’m trying to read their mission statement, there’s this annoying countdown timer at the bottom of the page telling you that you have only a few hours to buy tickets at a special reduced price. Here is that breakdown: “Right now if you click on the link you can purchase a $197 ticket for the special price of $49, but only while this deal lasts. Additionally, there is a $497 option, but that has already been sold out. That included: The Best Seats. Priority Entry. Life Surge Digital Program. Life Surge Keepsake Wristband. Life Surge Tour Lanyard. Fresh Boxed Lunch Included ($15 Value) BONUSES. Photo with Tim Tebow. Photo with Calvin Johnson. Photo with Willie Robertson. So, are You Ready to Surge Your Life God's Way?”

This completely boggles the mind! How does any of this have even the faintest resemblance to Christ, the Scriptures, or the Gospel itself? It’s nothing more than a religious sideshow, a shameless charade clothed in “christian” language, making a mockery of anything remotely related to God or the scriptures; and the saddest part is how desperate and undiscerning people must be to engage with such deception, mistaking it for some expression of christianity when it is nothing but a lie. There is not the faintest trace of true christianity in any of this, unless one mistakes christianity for little more than niceness, feigned humility, and outward kindness. Meanwhile the gospel is silenced, the truth is dragged through the mud, and multitudes are kept busy with religion and all its pageantry.

It's so obvious that they use what the world calls Christianity as a tool to propel themselves forward and to promote their own agenda. They dress it up in spiritual language and market it with slick slogans, but at the heart it is nothing but self-exaltation. They say it’s about “advancing God’s Kingdom,” but in reality it places man at the very center. Notice how every promise revolves around you, your wealth, your calling, your purpose, your legacy. Christ is mentioned, but only as a convenient accessory to serve man.

One of the most troubling aspects of this Life Surge message is their constant obsession with building a legacy. A legacy for who? For your name? For your fleeting, pathetic life which God gave you for one reason only, that Christ might be glorified, whether in your salvation or in your destruction. “The LORD hath made all things for himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.” Proverbs 16:4. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the exact opposite of this man-centered sham. It is not about you! Scripture never once calls anyone to build a legacy! Philippians 3:7-8. On the contrary, it calls believers to lose their lives for Christ's sake, Luke 9:24, to set their “affection on things above, not on things on the earth,” Colossians 3:2, it declares that “all flesh is grass,” Isaiah 40:6, that the “world passeth away,” I John 2:17, and that “here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” Hebrews 13:14. The believer’s hope is not in being remembered for a legacy, but in being found in Christ and His righteousness alone. Philippians 3:9.

Listen to these words of David, spoken when he was hidden away in a cave, cut off from all the comforts of life, betrayed by his own men, and reduced to a man with nothing left but to cast himself wholly upon the Lord, “I cried unto thee, O LORD; I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.” Psalm 142:5. What a confession. The weight of his words are staggering, he did not cry, “give me back my kingdom,” or, “let my name endure,” but rather, “thou art my portion in the land of the living.” What else is there to seek? What else endures? As Peter would later declare, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” John 6:68. Now listen to David again, many years later, no longer in the cave but reigning as king, “the LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup, thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” Psalm 16:5-6. From the darkness of a cave to the splendor of the crown, David’s confession was the same, the LORD was his portion. “Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” Psalm 73:25.

What a contrast to the spirit of the age, which treasures wealth, reputation, and legacy as the measure of all things, and then sprinkles it with a veneer of religion, not enough to interfere with anyone's life to any great extent, but perhaps just enough to soothe the conscience, christianize one's ambitions, and call a worldly life “Christian.” “Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits.” Isaiah 30:10. It is religion made safe, designed to give the illusion of heaven while clinging fast to the world. “No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24. David’s confession silences all such pride. It shows us that true blessedness is not found in what we gather, leave behind, or secure for our name, but in having the Lord as our portion. This makes the spectacle before us all the more nauseating, as men exploit the name of Christ not to proclaim Him, but to enrich themselves.

After all, I hope we for a minute don’t think this has anything to do with money? My wife looked up how much Tim Tebow makes for a single speaking engagement, and the figure is somewhere between $75,000 and $100,000, and up to a million dollars for “special events.” That's hilarious, these guys figured out how to make some serious money! One night on stage and he makes more than many of us do in a year. I work 45 hours a week at a meat processing plant and have never once made $75,000 in a year, yet these “christian celebrities” can pocket that in an evening under the guise of ministry. Dang, that’s a lot! Well let’s just hope these guys are tithing off of all this, as giving God the leftovers, sounds like a perfect business model for overall success in life. Do we not see the truth of Christ’s words here? “For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” Luke 16:8. The people of this age know how to scheme, how to market, how to build platforms, how to draw crowds, how to amass fortunes, &c., and nowhere is this more evident than in religious spectacles of this nature, built on marketing and strategy rather than Christ. They discovered a clever way to package religion, turn “christ” into a brand, turn “worship” into an event, and the name of “jesus” into a money-making empire. Essentially, it’s the shallow world of christian celebrities and entertainers, where the name of “christ” is commercialized, religion is packaged, sold and consumed like cheap entertainment, and the world loves it, as it loves its own. John 15:19. That is why these spectacles are applauded, celebrated, and embraced, because they are born of the same spirit as the world itself. The world recognizes its own voice in the message, its own image in the methods, its own cravings in the promises, and so it loves what it sees. “They are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.” I John 4:5.

At times one almost feels driven to disown any connection with what the world calls “christianity.” Not from a spirit of pride or self-righteousness, as though we ourselves were anything, but from a sense of profound astonishment that we've been given any measure of ‘gospel’ light to detest this sort of religious fraud that substitutes man for Christ. And if our Lord was zealous to cleanse His temple then, how much more should His people now be zealous to protest against these things, with hearts stirred that the worship of Christ should not be trampled under the feet of religious merchants. The child of God cannot stomach a religion that flatters the flesh, exalts man, and dares to profane the holy name of Jesus. As it is written, “the name of GOD is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you.” Romans 2:24. MPJ

“Jesus saith to him, he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit, and ye are clean, but not all.” John 13:10. In reading through John 13, only the day after writing my “timing of justification” post, and not looking for anything in particular, but Christ, John 5:39, I couldn’t help but pause at the 10th verse, where the Lord speaks about being clean. “Ye are clean,” are his exact words, and as I thought about them, other scriptures came to mind, like I Corinthians 6:11 & Jude 24.

I was struck with how these words could perhaps relate to the matter of justification, especially the thought that God has never looked upon His people apart from Christ, but ever as comprehended in Christ their Surety, when they were chosen in Him before the world began. (“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” Ephesians 1:4.) Had they been viewed in themselves, apart from their Head, they must have perished with Adam in his transgression; but being comprehended in Christ their Representative, they were never separated from Him in the divine mind. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” I Corinthians 15:22. (Highlights the two representative heads: Adam bringing death – Christ bringing life.) Hence their sins could be justly imputed to Him, and His righteousness as justly imputed to them. II Corinthians 5:21.

With those thoughts in mind, when Christ said to His disciples, “ye are clean,” we know that He was not pointing to some outward ceremony of washing, but to that inward purging which only His blood could accomplish. From the standpoint of the gospel, they stood clean even before the cross was lifted up, for in the eternal counsel of God they were already comprehended in Christ their Surety. The cleansing was not uncertain, nor depended upon the unfolding of time, but upon the finished certainty of Christ’s sacrifice, settled in the purpose of God, secured in the covenant of grace, and therefore as sure before it was offered as after it was shed.

This is why the Old Testament saints were no less clean than the apostles gathered in that upper room. Though the blood had not yet been shed in time, it was already accounted as shed in God’s decree and covenant. Their sins were not merely passed over in suspense but put away in Christ, whose death would in due time ratify the eternal counsel of God. Thus Abraham, Moses, David, and all the elect before Calvary were justified the same way as Peter, John, and all believers today, through the one offering of Christ, once for all. Hebrews 10:14.

Everything consummated at the cross, reconciliation, redemption, justification, was not the beginning of salvation but its public fulfillment in history. Christ, the eternal Surety, carried the guilt of His people before they ever believed, before they were ever born, before time itself. And for that very reason, Christ was able to say with authority to His own, “ye are clean.”

What a statement! “Ye are clean.” Whatever else may be said about this text, I absolutely love these definitive declarations of Christ that define the believer’s standing in Him. Such words are not left to our feelings, nor to our wavering experiences, but rest entirely upon His authority and His finished work. Additionally, in these words, “ye are clean” we see that even in our weakest moments, Christ does not re-apply His blood as though our standing depended on repeated cleansing. Rather, He reminds us that in Him we are already clean every whit, and then, in condescending grace, He stoops to wash the “dust” from our feet, not to make us His, but because we are His. “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” Revelation 1:5. MPJ. Additional Thought: I do not say this to exclude other interpretations that may be faithfully drawn from the text, but to unfold the gospel truth that seemed to shine out here, that the disciples were already accounted clean in Christ, even before the cross, but never apart from the cross.

“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, the LORD, the LORD GOD, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.” Exodus 34:5-7. The moment Adam transgressed, the law declared its verdict, “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:20. Yet Adam lived. Why was he not instantly destroyed? Indeed, how is it that mankind itself still exists? Was his sin somehow excused? Was it overlooked? Could justice be suspended in midair, or set aside, even for a moment? “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.” Habakkuk 1:13. God never overlooks sin! Every transgression must either be borne by the guilty or answered in the appointed surety. Romans 3:25-26. This was no suspension of justice, but the very essence of the gospel. The sentence that should have consumed Adam was accounted to Christ. Isaiah 53:6. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.” II Corinthians 5:21. God hath made Christ to be sin for us, and Adam’s transgression was no exception.

God’s forbearance in delaying judgment was never leniency apart from justice, but was always grounded in Christ, looking to the work He would accomplish in His death and resurrection. Romans 3:25. The second half of that verse from II Corinthians 5:21 tells us, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Adam was spared, not because God overlooked sin, but because righteousness already stood for him in Christ. In a gospel sense, Adam’s continued existence was grounded in this, the righteousness of Christ secured life for him, just as it does for every saint across all ages. Christ’s work reaches backward and forward. The cross looks both directions. Romans 3:25 makes this explicit, that God set forth Christ, “to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” That includes Adam, Abel, Abraham, and all the saints before the cross. They were spared and accepted because Christ’s atonement, though accomplished in time, was reckoned from eternity. In other words, Adam lived because Christ was “made sin” for him, and Adam was accepted because Christ is “the righteousness of God” for him. Christ was no afterthought, but “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8. Adam lived because Christ stood.

Justice was not delayed but always secured in Christ until revealed at the cross. “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Romans 3:25-26. From what I can ‘see’ this passage shows why Adam and others were spared before the cross, not because justice was suspended, but because Christ was the appointed propitiation. II Timothy 1:9. There, delayed justice met its appointed hour, when all the sins of all God’s elect, from Adam onward, were executed upon Christ. Isaiah 53:11. God’s mind toward His people did not change at the cross; it was there revealed what had always been true, grace given in Christ Jesus before the world began. Titus 1:2. .

Alongside these considerations, let me add this thought, which is that the testimony of scripture consistently shows that those that belong to Christ, (“and ye are Christ’s,” I Cor. 3:23,) have never been considered apart from Christ, and that justice on their behalf has always rested in Him. Ephesians 5:32. In a gospel sense justice never regarded them outside of Christ’s righteousness. “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” Ephesians 1:4. Thus, every sparing of Adam, Noah, Abraham, and all the saints before Christ’s death was not “justice on hold,” but justice already reckoned as satisfied in their representative surety. Hebrews 9:26. When Christ laid down His life, it was the representative death of all the elect in HIM. “I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10:15. What was settled in eternity was unveiled at Calvary. II Samuel 23:5. In that moment, that “which was kept secret since the world began,” Romans 16:25, was now “made manifest.” Daniel 9:24. Besides, if the elect had ever been regarded apart from Christ, their end would have been Adam’s end, perishing under the curse. But they were never seen outside of Him. From eternity they were chosen “in Him,” Ephesians 1:4, and in time they are called, justified, and glorified in Him. Romans 8:30. His people have always been seen in Christ, never apart from Him. “I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6. No sin is ever excused or overlooked; every transgression is either laid on Christ, or the sinner perishes under its full weight apart from Him. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23. This shows both sides, that sin always receives its due wages, death; and that life is only found in Christ. Thus salvation is not a story of God setting aside justice for grace, but of justice and grace embracing in Christ. “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Psalm 85:10. MPJ

Timing of Justification: Roughly two years ago, I was asked by a friend to share my view on the “timing” of justification, a subject that, at the time, seemed to be stirring no small controversy, and one which was being used as a battering ram to take out any with opposing views to their own. I declined! And then again, a different friend a few months ago asked the same question, and once again, I just answered with probably two sentences, as I attempted once again to avoid the topic. Not because I didn’t care or had nothing to say, but because I knew I wasn’t then, and I’m still not now, completely settled in my own mind. I’ve heard solid, scripture-based arguments from both sides of this question, and it’s made me want to tread cautiously.

For clarity, I will call the two positions under consideration eternal justification and justification exclusively at the cross. In short, eternal justification holds that before creation, God set His elect in Christ and, on that basis, reckoned them righteous, with the cross in time as the appointed moment when that eternal verdict was executed and revealed. Justification exclusively at the cross asserts that justification was accomplished at a definite moment in history, when Christ bore His people’s sins, satisfied divine justice, and was raised for their justification, making the cross the decisive point at which God declared them righteous.

Both views, when seen in the light of the gospel, leave no room for the third; namely “justification by faith” understood in the unscriptural sense that God’s act of justifying the sinner takes place when he or she believes. This makes faith not the God-given gift that bears witness to an already-secured righteousness, but the condition upon which God’s verdict depends, as though His acceptance were suspended until man performs the act of believing. Such thinking is simply arminian conditionalism dressed in theological double talk, making man’s response the decisive hinge instead of Christ’s finished work. It shifts the ground of justification from the cross to the sinner’s experience, thereby denying the once-for-all accomplishment of reconciliation when God, in Christ, reconciled His people to Himself through His obedience unto death, perfectly satisfying the law and securing righteousness on their behalf. Philippians 2:8. This is foreign to the gospel and must be refused outright. Ephesians 5:11.

Quite honestly, I’m not exactly sure what the “reformed” view even is in all its details, but as I understand it, they generally teach that a sinner is justified at the moment he believes, sola fide, with faith being the point at which righteousness is imputed to him. (Some gospel regenerationists in the “grace” camp also embrace a distorted form of this.) To my mind, this comes uncomfortably close to arminian thought, the only ‘calvinistic’ safeguard being that such faith they call “the gift of God.” In this way, grace remains in the vocabulary, yet the decisive hinge is still the sinner’s act of believing, rather than Christ’s completed work in time, which alone secured our righteousness before God. John 19:30.

In thinking about the “timing” of justification, we can say before anything else that our safety lies not in tracing that moment on a calendar, but in beholding the unchangeable CHRIST as “the LORD our righteousness.” Jeremiah 23:6. Whether one holds to an eternal decree or an exclusive cross-centered accomplishment in time, the heart of the matter for all who look to the LORD for salvation is that justification is in Christ alone, grounded in His work alone, and made known to us by the Spirit, who will never let us rest anywhere else. To lose sight of this is to lose sight of the gospel itself. I Corinthians 1:30-31.

With that foundation laid, the question naturally follows, if our justification rests entirely in Christ, when did God first regard His people as righteous in Him? This is where the distinction between eternal justification and justification at the cross comes into focus. Those who believe in eternal justification, rightly understood in the light of the gospel, also affirm justification at the cross. The issue is not the reality of justification at the cross, but the point, “according to God’s eternal purpose in Christ,” Romans 11:5, at which His people were first declared righteous in His sight. Eternal justification affirms that before the world began, God set His elect in Christ and beheld them clothed in His righteousness, Numbers 23:21, with that verdict grounded wholly on the certain accomplishment of His atoning death and resurrection in time. Revelation 13:8. “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” Ephesians 1:11.

In the light of God’s immutability and absoluteness, it’s a bit difficult to see how one who has an understanding of the gospel can deny that justification has an eternal aspect? God is eternal and unchanging. Hebrews 13:8. His purpose in Christ unshaken, His counsel unalterable, His will unthwarted from everlasting to everlasting. “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.” Acts 15:18. Is it not the common confession of all believers that before the foundation of the world, God determined to glorify Himself through an elect seed given to His beloved Son, and in that eternal purpose secured for them all the blessings of grace? “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” Ephesians 1:4. These blessings were first given to Christ as the Head and Representative of His elect, and thus to them in Him, so that their acceptance and righteousness were never apart from Him. Ephesians 1:3. Though they did not yet exist in time, they stood in Christ from everlasting, blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, and destined to be made manifest through His redeeming work in history. II Thessalonians 2:13. These are not speculative musings, but the plain testimony of Holy Scripture, which speaks with one accord on this glorious theme.

Before the beginning of time, God’s immutable decree placed His elect in Christ, clothing them in His righteousness, with the cross fixed as the appointed hour when that righteousness would be openly declared. Thus the “cross” is no mere token of an eternal decree; it is the place where salvation was accomplished, guilt was once-for-all removed, and righteousness was secured for all time. I Peter 2:24. That is where redemption was purchased, not only manifested but judicially secured, and where God’s eternal plan was carried out in history. “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.” I Corinthians 15:3. With this in the forefront of our thoughts in ascribing “greatness unto the Lord,” Deuteronomy 32:3, the witness of scripture makes it additionally plain that God has always viewed His people in Christ and never apart from the merits of His death on the cross, accomplished in time.

Grounded in the absoluteness of God’s purpose, Isaiah 46:10, this truth declares that Christ’s suretyship did not begin at the cross but from eternity, when He pledged Himself to fulfill all righteousness on the behalf of his people. “By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament,” Hebrews 7:22, which same chapter reminds us that Christ’s priesthood is “unchangeable,” 7:24, grounded in “the power of an endless life.” Hebrews 7:16. Such a priesthood admits no alteration, for the Surety who undertook the cause of His people from everlasting is the same, Hebrews 13:8, who in time secured their redemption, and who now ever lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25. “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” II Timothy 1:9. From eternity, God’s elect were counted righteous in Christ, not apart from the cross but because of it, the eternal decree and the finished work in history forming one indivisible foundation, secured by the atoning work that Christ would unfailingly accomplish in time. “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” I Peter 1:19-20.

The timing of justification, seen in the light of God’s eternal purpose, sweeps from everlasting to everlasting. In God’s decree, it is eternal; at the cross, it was accomplished; by faith, it is received and enjoyed. From beginning to end, it is grounded not in man’s work or will, but in Christ alone. This is the gospel, “that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” II Corinthians 5:19. To deny its eternal aspect is to confine God’s purpose to the unfolding of time; to confess it is to rejoice in the immutability of the grace of Christ, and in the unbreakable link between God’s everlasting decree and the perfect sacrifice that consummated our eternal redemption, Hebrews 9:12, “declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” Isaiah 46:10. This unbroken harmony between God’s eternal counsel and Christ’s work in time naturally leads us to see that what some frame as two distinct doctrines are, in truth, one undivided reality in the gospel. “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” Mark 10:9.

Eternal justification and justification at the cross are not competing doctrines when understood in the light of the gospel; they are two sides of the same unbreakable truth. Those who hold to eternal justification in a Christ-centered way do not deny justification at the cross. One speaks of God’s eternal counsel in Christ; the other of His finished work in history. Our ‘eyes’ look back to that moment at the cross, (the legal ground of justification,) because there, in that appointed hour, God’s eternal decree was executed in history. This is when justice was satisfied, guilt was removed, and everlasting righteousness was brought in. “But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,” Hebrews 9:26, “to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness.” Daniel 9:24.

Let me be so bold as to speak on behalf of all the Lord’s people, whatever differences may exist in how they describe the “timing” of justification, every one of God’s elect is united in this, we are justified at the cross. Isaiah 53:11. There, and there alone, Christ bore our sins, satisfied divine justice, took away our iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness for His people. Daniel 9:24. This is not a side doctrine nor a mere point for debate; it is the very heart of the gospel. Whether one delights in the eternal decree or speaks chiefly of the finished work in history, we are of one voice in declaring that our righteousness is Christ crucified and risen, and our standing before God rests on His blood and obedience alone. II Corinthians 5:21.

There is so much more that could be said on this, and perhaps in time I'll return to it, as a few more considerations still press on my mind. For now, I will simply close by saying that if in any way I have misrepresented the truth, misunderstood others, or clouded rather than clarified the gospel, I ask your forgiveness. May it please the LORD to mercifully correct and keep us all in the simplicity that is in Christ. “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” Titus 1:2. MPJ

“Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.” Job 40:4. The hymn writer John Newton once wrote, “I have lived hitherto a poor sinner, and I believe I shall die one.” As we sink lower instead of rising higher, we may imagine God sees us as we see ourselves, failing, declining, unworthy. Especially when our gaze lingers on our own sinfulness, and we start to think that God looks at us with the same disappointment we feel toward ourselves, forgetting that He only sees us in His Son. Colossians 3:3.

We can become so aware of our remaining sin that we ask, almost in despair, “LORD, why do You still allow me to be so frail?” Such thoughts can lead to darkness of mind and bondage of spirit, drawing our eyes away from the unshakable truth that the Father never accepted us for what we are in ourselves, but for what Christ is on our behalf. In those moments, we forget that His mercy toward us is not measured by our strength, II Corinthians 12:9, and that His patience and purpose remain perfect and unchanging. Psalm 33:11. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Psalm 103:13-14.

We are “accepted in the BELOVED,” Ephesians 1:6, not in the ebb and flow of our condition; on our worst day as on our best, our righteousness is Christ alone, unchanging, perfect, forever enough. Philippians 3:9. “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6. MPJ

LORDSHIP SALVATION: Last night in reply to a few messenger posts, a new friend from FB mentioned the term “lordship salvation.” This first paragraph is how I replied, and just left it at that. “I’ve heard the term “lordship salvation,” and I suppose I could google it, but I’m not entirely sure what it means, so I apologize. I don't keep up with all the latest theological trends or people, as I basically live in a cave, and only come out every once in a while, usually just long enough to refill my coffee and make sure the world hasn’t ended yet. Their life, like ours, is in the hand of the LORD. I'm so thankful that He is ‘patient’ with us all, and that He always teaches His people Christ. I should mention perhaps, that I do not follow social media on any platform, nor engage in FB apart from just posting my latest thoughts. If I'm allowed to live another 10 years, as I hope to semi-retire when I turn 70, I'll hopefully have a little more time for stuff like that? For now, I know my own tendency to get sidetracked too easily!”

So yeah, let me get sidetracked here for a few minutes, because I just googled the phrase, and this is the result, “Lordship salvation is a theological view that asserts saving faith in Jesus Christ necessarily involves a commitment to submit to His authority and Lordship in all areas of life, leading to a transformed life characterized by obedience and good works. It emphasizes that true saving faith is not merely intellectual assent to the truth about Jesus, but also a conscious decision to follow Him as Lord and Master.”

Well, that's a bad start before we even get out of the gate, since I completely deny this notion of “saving” faith. In fact I cringe when I hear gospel ministers toss that term around, like it’s some spiritual currency we hand to God in exchange for salvation, instead of the empty hand that simply receives what Christ has already accomplished. Isaiah 55:1. Faith doesn’t make salvation happen; it bears witness that salvation has already been accomplished in Christ. To call it “saving faith” risks confusing the evidence with the essence, as though the fruit of salvation were the root. Scripture never says we are saved because of our faith, it declares that Christ saved His people by His own blood, Hebrews 9:12, and faith is the God-given recognition of that finished work. “Saving faith” as a phrase can subtly reverse that order, making salvation feel contingent on an act in time, although for all that criticism, I do realize that the term can actually be used in a gospel sense.

From there, it’s only a short step to redefining the gospel as our commitment, surrender, and obedience, which seems to be exactly what “lordship salvation” does? It seems like the good news of what Christ has accomplished is replaced with a checklist of what you must now do. The promise of “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” Acts 16:31, is gutted, and in its place is a demand to prove your faith by a life of submission and obedience. In other words, you aren’t saved by Christ, you’re saved by Christ plus your surrender, your commitment, your performance. This is not simply adding a few rules; it is splicing human effort into the very heart of salvation. And the moment you make salvation depend on anything you must produce, it ceases to be grace. Romans 11:6. In that moment, grace is displaced, Christ is diminished, and you are crowned as your own deliverer. This hardly seems like the good news of Christ, but the old news of man’s effort dressed in gospel words. Galatians 5:4.

The gospel is not a staged offer, receive Christ as “Savior” today and upgrade to “Lord” at some later date. Nor is it a preconditioned contract where you must sign away a lifetime of obedience before Christ will save you. That is salvation by terms and conditions, works in disguise. To divide Christ into “Savior now” and “Lord later” is to fracture the gospel. Salvation is not a cooperative project, it is the once-for-all work of Christ for His people. His obedience is complete, His blood is enough, His righteousness is perfect. Faith receives Him entirely, and even that has nothing to do with us. “Not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8. Whether you make obedience a prerequisite or a later upgrade, you have made salvation hinge on you, not Christ.

Yes, the redeemed will follow their Redeemer, but that following is the outworking of salvation, not its price tag. Scripture says we are God’s “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” Ephesians 2:10. This is echoed in the sure foundation of God’s Word, “the Lord knoweth them that are his; and, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” II Timothy 2:19. CHRIST knows His own sheep, plus He alone knows how to manage his flock, and the mark of His workmanship in them is clear, they follow Him, and by His grace they depart from iniquity. John 10:27-28. Lordship salvation confuses this order, making the proof of life into the source of life.

These thoughts are piecemeal, so I may revisit this topic at a future date, DV, especially if I read up on it a bit more, but one part of me is saying that this is hardly even worth the time, as it seems so obviously wrong! In fact it seems like it's got its own detonation device, and carries within itself the cause of its own destruction, as a house divided against itself cannot stand. Matthew 12:25. The few arguments I’ve read in its defense, when carried to their logical conclusion, collapse under their own weight. It’s not so much that you have to labor to refute it, it practically lights its own fuse. “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein, and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.” Proverbs 26:27.

I mean, really, “you must receive Jesus as both Savior and Lord?” Christ is LORD whether you ‘receive’ Him, acknowledge Him, deny Him, or never even think about Him at all. Your opinion changes nothing. God has already declared Him to be “both Lord and Christ,” Acts 2:36, and His throne is not vacant, waiting for your consent. He reigns by the decree of God, a decree that does not await the consent of man, and is as unchanging as the ONE who gave it. Daniel 4:35.

In a twisted sort of way, this sort of thinking imagines a throne vacant until man consents to fill it. That's insane, the gospel is not an invitation to help Christ onto His throne; it is the proclamation that He already reigns, and that He has finished the work of salvation for His people at the cross. Faith does not make Him Lord, it simply receives the Lord who already is. Philippians 2:9-11. With those thoughts in mind, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say this isn’t merely bad theology, it’s dangerous. Galatians 5:9. In fact, I believe it falls squarely into the category Paul warned of in Galatians 1:6-9, “another gospel,” which is no gospel at all. This does not exalt Christ, it reduces Him to a helper in our self-salvation project. It shifts the pivot point of redemption from His finished work to our act of receiving, surrendering, or obeying, dethroning grace and enthroning human effort. II Corinthians 11:3-4. So no, this is not just a slightly different emphasis. It is another gospel, one that subtly dethrones Christ from the work He finished, and seats you beside Him as co-savior. And that is not salvation at all. Colossians 2:8. MPJ