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February 3, 2013

The law of God, being fulfilled by Christ our Surety, is dead to God’s elect. Our Savior nailed it to his cross. And we are dead to the law.

·      I am scheduled to preach for Fairmont Grace Church in Sylacauga, AL February 22-24. Contact Pastor Larry Criss for further information. Telephone: 859-408-1627 — Email: larrywcriss@mysylacauga.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Faith Hacker-7th     Rachel Coleman-9th

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Sam &Ruth Wall-3rd

NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK

Today: Shante’ Birchum (AM)  Pam Wood (PM)          Tuesday: Stephanie Wall

All Glory to the Savior’s Name! — Don Fortner

(Tune: #66 — Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts —LM )

1.    All glory to the Savior’s name,

Who bore our sin and guilt, and shame,

Who brought in righteousness and died, —

The name of Jesus crucified!

2.    Mercy and justice in Him meet,

In Him salvation is complete. —

The law is fully satisfied,

By Jesus Christ the crucified!

3.    The sight of Jesus crucified

Exalts free grace, and humbles pride.

In Him we see eternal love,

And gain all blessings from above.

4.    Here then my trembling’ soul shall rest,

And hope to be forever blest;

Forever saved, and glorified,

With Jesus Christ the crucified!

            “In the 7th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, verse 3, the law is spoken of under the metaphor of a dead husband. We all know when a husband dies the widow is free from all her marriage vows and service, and is at liberty to be married to another man. This, says the apostle, is precisely the case of believers. — ‘Ye are become dead to the law by the body of Christ,’ in order that ye may be married to Christ, and ‘that ye may bring forth fruit unto God.’ Thus the scriptures most plainly declare that the Decalogue is abolished and is dead.”

W. Hopwood - 1822

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Will you submit?

Romans 10:

There are many who earnestly desire salvation and eternal life who will never be saved. There are many thoughtful and zealous men and women who very eagerly seek salvation, who will perish under the curse of God’s holy law. They want to be saved; but they will not bow to God’s way of salvation. — “I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:2-3).

Mark those words, “have not submitted themselves”. —Many will not be saved, multitudes will perish forever in hell under the wrath of God, because they will not submit to God’s righteousness, that righteousness established by God in the Person of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have I described you? Are you yet without hope, unsaved, lost, and sinking rapidly into hell because you will not submit to salvation by grace alone through the righteousness of a Substitute? You talk about grace, waiting for grace, and praying for grace. You may talk about wanting to trust Christ. But you only deceive yourself. Your problem is that you keep trying to do something, find something, feel something, or experience something, anything of your own that you can bring to God with the blood and righteousness of Christ for salvation.

Proud man wants to save himself. You believe you can do it. You will not submit to salvation by Christ alone.

If you would be saved, you must make your suit before the bar of God as an undeserving, hell-bent sinner seeking the unmerited gift of his salvation on the footing of mercy alone! This is the thing the carnal mind cannot do. — It cannot beg for grace. You think that you can work out a righteousness of your own that God will accept, or you vainly imagine that you can at least say, or do, or think, or feel some good things that will supplement the righteousness and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You will not be saved by pure grace alone. But there is no other way.

In order to be saved, you are going to have to throw away your filthy rags of self-righteousness. You will have to come to Christ in your naked guilt, sin, and loathsomeness, or you will never be an heir of eternal life.

“Nothing in my hands I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling;

Naked come to Thee for dress,

Helpless look to Thee for grace;

Foul, I to the fountain fly;

Wash me, Savior, or I die.”

            Will you submit to the righteousness of God; or will you perish forever clinging to your own filthy rags of self-righteousness?

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“Christ is the end of the law.”

Romans 10:4

“Christ is the end of the law.” It is entirely correct to do with that statement exactly what the whole religious world says we must not do with it. Take it and run with it just as far as possible. There is no sense in which Christ is not the end of the law. He is the fulfilment of the law, the conclusion of the law, the finality of the law, the object of the law, the reason why the law was given, and the termination of the law.

            “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.” There is no righteousness of any kind, justifying righteousness or sanctifying righteousness, to be had by our personal obedience to the law. It is written, “If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain!”

            Christ is not the end of the law for everyone. The Son of God did not fulfill the law’s demands for everyone. He is the end of the law for God’s elect, for all who trust him. “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.”

Holy, Just, and Good

When the apostle Paul declares, “Christ is the end of the law,” he is not telling us that the law is evil. It is not (1 Timothy 1:8-9). It is an evil thing to misuse the law; but the law is not evil. Writing by divine inspiration, the apostle tells us those apostate religious leaders who try to mix law and grace, who try to put believers under the yoke of bondage, desiring to be teachers of the law, do not know what they are talking about, “understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.” The law was never intended, in any sense, for those who are righteous before God. The law was given for the unrighteous. The law is not evil. It is holy, just, and good. It would be well if all men lived in conformity to the law’s commands, both in outward practice and in inward principle. Indeed, it is ordained of God and used by all civil governments to protect society from those who would otherwise disregard all respect for the rights, property, and lives of others.

Delight in the Law

When the Scriptures affirm, as the New Testament constantly does, that Christ is the end of the law and that believers are entirely free from the law, the Spirit of God certainly is not suggesting that believers are free to break, or disregard God’s holy law. Not only is the believer not free to break the law, he has no desire to do so. To those who believe, God’s commandments are not grievous (1 John 5:1-3). Every child of God in this world truly delights in the law of God after the inward man (Romans 7:22). If we could, we would love God with all our hearts. If we could, we would love our neighbor as ourselves. But we do not have the ability to do so.

            But (Blessed be God for his wonderful grace!) Christ fulfilled the law for us, and we fulfil the law in him. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, we fulfil the law. So declares God the Holy Spirit (Romans 3:31l 8:4).

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Don Fortner

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