June 25, 2006

 

Imputed righteousness results in imparted righteousness.

Pastor Daniel Parks

 

Daily Readings for the Week of June 25-July 2

                Sunday                    Psalm 93-102                                                          Thursday                                Psalm 119

                Monday                  Psalm 103-106                                        Friday                     Psalm 120-135

                Tuesday                  Psalm 107-113                                        Saturday                  Psalm 136-144

                Wednesday             Psalm 114-118                                        Sunday                    Psalm. 145-Proverbs. 2

 

·         Bro. Ron Wood is preaching today for Buck Mountain Baptist Church in Roan Mountain, TN, where Bro. Gary Perkins is pastor.

·         I am scheduled to preach Wednesday – Sunday for Rescue Baptist Church in Rescue, CA, where Bro. Gene Harmon is pastor. Bro. Todd Nibert, pastor of Todds Road Grace Church in Lexington, will preach here Tuesday night. Bros. Larry Criss and Ron Wood will preach to you next Sunday.

·         Missionary Cliff Hellar and his wife, Martie, are scheduled to be with us on Tuesday, July 4th.

 

Anniversaries in July:

Bob & Sally Poncer-2nd      Doug & Faith Hacker-15th      David & Teresa Coleman-19th Frank & Ann Margaret Gaydovchik-30th         Larry & Carol Brown-31st

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Mary Lou Duff-28th

CHURCH CLEANING IN JULY:  Bob & Mary Lou Duff

NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK

Today: Vicci Rolley (AM) Pam Wood (PM)     Tuesday: Debbie Bartley

 

Sanctified by the Triune God Don Fortner

(Tune: #17 — Come, Thou Fount — 87.87D)

 

1.        Sing all saints, beloved and chosen, you for whom the Savior died,

Claim your gifts and praise the Giver. — “Ye are washed and sanctified,

Sanctified by God your Father, and by Jesus Christ His Son,

And by God, the Holy Spirit, by the holy, Three-in-One!

 

2.        One with Christ, beloved, accepted, righteous made by God’s decree,

Sanctified when God accepted us in Christ our Surety!

Sanctified when we with Jesus lived, and died, and rose again!

Sanctified by God the Spirit when by grace we’re born again!

 

3.        Holiness is ours in Jesus, not by works that we have done,

But by God’s free love and mercy. — Yes, by sov’reign grace alone!

By His Word, and truth, and promise, by His righteousness and blood,

Holiness in Christ our Savior makes us fit to see our God!

 

4.        He will sanctify us wholly in the resurrection day.

Blameless at our Savior's coming, body, spirit, soul shall be!

He perfected once forever, by His blood, the sanctified!

Spotless, blameless, guiltless, perfect is the Savior’s ransomed Bride!

 

22

Righteousness Imputed

James 2:23

 

The Holy Spirit declares, “Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.” He could never have been the friend of God without righteousness; neither can we.

 

                The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world for the purpose of fulfilling all righteousness as the Representative of God's elect. And he did it! He brought in, established, and finished the work of righteousness for all his people by his obedience to the Father as our Federal Head. It is this righteousness, the righteousness of God in Christ that is proclaimed to sinners in the preaching of the gospel (Rom. 3:24-28). Until the righteousness of God, which was accomplished by the faithful obedience of Christ, is plainly declared, the gospel has not been preached. And any gospel that offers sinners any other righteousness than that which Christ has accomplished is a false gospel. It is this righteousness, accomplished by Christ, which is imputed to us for justification and acceptance with God. The Word of God speaks of a threefold imputation.

 

                1. Adam's sin has been imputed to all men (Rom. 5:12, 18, 19). — By God's appointment, Adam was the head and representative of all our race. When he sinned, we all sinned in him; and, sinning, we all became sinners by imputation. God laid the charge and guilt of Adam's sin (our sin in Adam) upon us. We became sinners not by what we do personally, but by what Adam, our representative, did, by what we did in him.

 

                2. All the sins of God's elect were imputed to Christ when he was made sin for us (Isa. 53:6, 8; 2 Cor. 5:21). Our Lord Jesus never committed any act of sin. But when he was made sin as our Substitute, our sins were imputed to him, charged to his account. When he was made sin, he was justly punished for sin as our Substitute, suffering all the just consequences of sin for us, being made a curse for us (Gal. 3:13).

 

                3. And the righteousness of Christ is imputed to every believer, because we have been made the righteousness of God in him (Rom. 3:23-24; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 5:19). We are not made righteous by something we do, any more than Christ was made to be a sinner by something he did. Christ's obedience has been charged to the account of all God's elect, those represented by him, those for whom he lived and died, those who trust him. God looks upon us in Christ as men and women who are perfectly righteous. He reckons us to be righteous in his sight. And you can be sure of this: — If God looks upon us as being righteous, reckons us righteous, and declares that we are righteous, we are righteous! And just as he justly rewarded Christ for our sins, when he was made sin for us, he justly rewards us with eternal life for that perfect righteousness which is ours in Christ.

 

23

Righteousness Imparted

2 Peter 1:3-4

 

Just as the fallen, unrighteous nature of Adam was imparted to all men by natural birth, the holy, righteous nature of Christ is imparted to all God's elect in the new birth. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us for justification. And the righteousness of Christ is imparted to us in regeneration by the irresistible power and effectual grace of God the Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 3:10-12; 1 John 3:7-9).

 

                Some object to the use of the term “imparted righteousness;” but their objection is as baseless as the objections of those heretics who deny the doctrines of the Trinity and Substitution. Though the words “trinity,” “substitution,” and “imparted righteousness” are not found in the Word of God, the doctrines are clearly and unmistakably revealed throughout the Scriptures as the fact that “the wages of sin is death.” The word “impart” simply means, “to make known, tell, relate, or disclose; to give, bestow, or communicate; to grant a part, or share.”

 

                If Christ is the righteousness of God, and he is (Jer. 23:6), and Christ is in us, as the Word of God declares he is (Col. 1:27), no one can reasonably object to the assertion that Christ our righteousness is imparted to us in the new birth, as the Holy Spirit declares by Apostles Paul, Peter, and John (Gal. 2:20; 2 Pet. 1:3-4; 1 John 3:7-9). If Christ lives in me, the righteousness of God lives in me; and if the righteousness of God is in me, it was imparted to me. I certainly was not born with it by nature, and I did not pour it into myself!

 

                I am not saying that the believer is without sin. He is not. Sin is what we are by nature. Sin is mixed with all we do. Sin mars our best thoughts, blackens our best deeds, corrupts our best words, and defiles our best aspirations. I am not saying that the old nature is changed in regeneration. It is not. Flesh is always flesh. It never improves. It never becomes spirit. It only corrupts, rots, and, thank God, in time dies. I am not saying that the believer's works can ever be accepted before God upon their own merit. They are not. We offer up our prayers and sacrifices to God, which are accepted by him, only upon the merits of Christ's righteousness and blood atonement (1 Pet. 2:5). But I am saying that the person who is born of God is a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). He has a new nature, which is “Christ in you the hope of glory.”

                All who are born of God walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-23). We love the law and truth of God. We love holiness. But, oh, the evil of our hearts! There is a constant warfare within. (See Rom. 7:14-25). All who are born of God mind the things of God (Rom. 8:5). This is imparted righteousness. Believers love Christ and one another. They identify themselves with Christ, his gospel, and his church. Believers are men and women of honesty and integrity. They live honestly, pay their bills, and speak the truth. Believers hate their sin and long to be free of it. They are generous, kind, and merciful. In a word, all who are born of God are committed to Christ, sold out to him. And they will continue in the faith, clinging to Christ alone unto the end. Those who do not have this imparted righteousness are no more born of God than those who do not have Christ's imputed righteousness are justified before God.

 

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Grace Bulletin

 

July 25, 2006

 

GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE

2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438

Telephone (859) 236-8235 - E-Mail don@donfortner.com

 

Donald S. Fortner, Pastor

 

SCHEDULE OF REGULAR SERVICES

 

Sunday

10:00 A.M. Bible Classes

10:30 A.M. Morning Worship Service

6:30   P.M. Evening Worship Service

Tuesday

7:30 P.M. Mid-Week Worship Service

 

 

Television Broadcasts

 

Danville

Channel 6 - Sunday Morning 8:00 A.M.

Channel 6 - Wednesday Evening 6:00 P.M.

Channel 6 - Friday Evening 7:00 P.M.

 

Web Pages

http://www.donfortner.com

http://www.sovereign-grace/gracechurch.htm

http://www.freegrace.net/danville/default.asp