Grace Bulletin
February 27, 2005
GRACE BAPTIST
CHURCH of DANVILLE
Telephone (859) 236-8235 - E-Mail don@donfortner.com
Donald S. Fortner, Pastor
Sunday
10:30
A.M. Morning Worship Service
6:30 P.M. Evening Worship Service
Tuesday
Channel 6 - Wednesday Evening
Channel 6 - Friday Evening
Harrodsburg Channel
6 - Friday Evening
http://www.donfortner.com
http://www.sovereign-grace/gracechurch.htm
http://www.freegrace.net/danville/default.asp
Ahithophel may slander my name, Shemei may
curse me, many may lay snares before me and say, “There is no help for him
in God,” and in my foolish weakness and unbelief I may even fear that all
things are against me, but all are servants to my soul’s everlasting good. — “If God be fore us, who can be against us?”
Daily
Sunday Deuteronomy
12-14 Thursday
Deuteronomy 25-27
Monday Deuteronomy
15-18 Friday
Deuteronomy 28-29
Tuesday Deuteronomy
19-21 Saturday Deuteronomy 30-32
Wednesday Deuteronomy
22-24 Sunday Deut. 33-Joshua 1
·
I am
preaching this morning for Shiloh Baptist Church in
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Amy Coleman-3rd Stephanie Wall-4th
Today:
Shante’ Birchum (AM) Pam Wood (PM) Tuesday:
Celeste Peterson
O The Wondrous Love of God — Don Fortner
(Tune: # 393 — Take My Life and Let It Be — 77.77)
1. O the wondrous love of God!
Who its heights and depths can tell?
God the Son has shed His blood,
And redeemed my soul from hell!
2. O my soul! Sweet myst’ry this —
All my sins on Christ were laid,
All my guilt He took as His,
By His death atonement made!
3. I in Him am justified,
Freed from sin (and more than free),
Guiltless, holy, sanctified, —
Righteous, in the Crucified!
4. Savior, Lord, to You I bow,
Conquered by Your love and grace.
Saved unto the utmost now,
By Your blood and by Your grace.
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“He Hath Made Him Sin for
Us” — What is not said here?
If we are to
understand 2 Corinthians
It is not stated, as it is most commonly suggested, that God the Father made his Son “a sin-offering.” The Scriptures do declare, “thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.” Our all-glorious Christ is our sin-offering. We have no offering for sin but him. But that is not what this text says. Here the Holy Spirit declares, “He hath made him sin for us.”
The Apostle does here tell us that Christ was made “a sacrifice for sin.” He is that. We rejoice to declare that when our blessed Savior died as our Substitute, he offered himself “one sacrifice for sins” and “sat down on the right hand of God.” Because of his one sacrifice “there remaineth therefore no more sacrifice for sin!” But here the Spirit of God tells us, “He hath made him sin for us.”
Again, the Holy Spirit does not tell us here that Christ was “reckoned to be sin” by his Father. That is the way we would read the text, if we followed the implications of our translators in adding those words “to be.” Yes, he was reckoned to be sin and punished as such for us. But here we read, “He hath made him sin for us.”
In the same line of thought it
must be pointed out that our Lord Jesus is not here said to have sin imputed to
him. Sin was, indeed, imputed to our Substitute, it was laid to his charge, but
that is because “He hath made him sin for
us.” Yet, as far as the words of
Holy Scripture are concerned, it is nowhere stated in the Book of God that sin
was imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is not a single passage in the
Bible that speaks of our sins being imputed to our Savior.
In
Romans 4 the word “imputation” or its equivalent (accounting or reckoning) is
used seven times. It is mentioned again in chapter 5 (v. 13). But in those
places God the Holy Spirit speaks of sin not being imputed to us and of
righteousness being imputed to us. Yes, our sins were imputed to Christ when he
was made sin for us, and because “He
hath made him sin for us.” But the
Word of God never uses the word impute, or any word like it, to speak of sin
being imputed to Christ.
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God the Holy Spirit here tells us that our all-glorious Redeemer was “made sin for us.” — “He hath made him sin.” John Gill wrote, “He was made sin itself…The sins of all his people were transferred unto him, laid upon him…He sustained their persons and bore their sins. And having them upon him, and being chargeable with, and answerable for them, he was treated by the justice of God as if he had been not only a sinner, but a mass of sin.”
I am fully aware that natural reason
opposes it. And many have endeavored to make the Word of God say something
else. We are told that Christ had sin imputed to him, that he bore the guilt of
sin, that he was charged with the debt of our sins,
that he became accountable for our sins, that he bore all the effects of our
sins, and that he was treated as if he were sin. But this plain,
straightforward, blessed statement of Holy Scripture is almost universally
denied by men. — “He hath made him sin.” Yet, there it stands. — “He hath made him sin.” How can this be? What can it mean?
“This is the Lord’s doing;
and it is marvelous in our eyes” (Ps. 118:23). In human law and reason,
among men, I fully acknowledge that guilt cannot be transferred, but only its
effects. Among the sons of men, a third person may cancel my debts, but not my
crimes. But the Spirit of God is not revealing things men can, or may do. He is
telling us what our God has done. And in this great affair of salvation our
great God stands infinitely alone. In this, his most glorious work, there is
such a display of justice, mercy, wisdom, and power, as never entered into the
heart of man to conceive. Consequently, it can have no parallel in the actions
of mortals. — “Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it
from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a
Saviour; there is none beside me” (Isa. 45:21). — “Who is a God like
unto thee, that pardoneth (BEARETH) iniquity,
and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth
in mercy” (Mic.
Were our sins transferred to
Christ and made to be his, or was our Savior only treated as if that were the
case? What do the Scriptures say? I am not even slightly concerned about
what men say concerning this matter. I only want to know this: — What does God say in his Word? This is what God says. — “He hath made him sin.” The word “made” is very significant. It is
not a legal term, but a word that carries the idea of “create.” It means, “by one act gather together and cause to be.” Paul is telling
us that God the Father, by one great, mysterious act, gathered together all the
sins of all his elect throughout all the ages of time, and caused his darling
Son to be sin for us (Isa. 53:6, 12; 1 Pet. 2:24).
The Word of God plainly
teaches that Christ our blessed Surety was made sin for us, that he bare our
sins in his own body on the tree, that the Lord God laid upon him our
iniquities, that “He hath made him sin.”
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