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Jan 04

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THE BIBLE

Is there a better subject to start the New Year with, than, the Bible? The Bible introduces us to God, a being without equal! God introduces us to the beginning of man, as God breathed into “the dust of the ground,” and there is the beginning of humanity! God introduces the Devil to us, and as Peter would later write of Satan, he is our “adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). And with sin, came the greatest tragedy of the humanity, spiritual separation from God.
In the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, humanity was without an answer to sin: “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Heb. 10:5). It would take the twenty-seven books of the New Testament to reveal the only answer for sin, as Peter would write of man’s redemption: “but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:19). In these twenty-seven books, the Holy Spirit would give to humanity God’s saving power, as Paul wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16). Why Paul answers: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Rom. 1:17). But, it is up to humanity to understand, what is within “the gospel of Christ.” But from where does the gospel get its“power” to save? When Paul used the Greek word “gar,” from which we get the word “for,” he was telling us a “reason” the “gospel of Christ” is “the power of God unto salvation!” The “gospel of Christ” is the revelation of “the righteousness of God!” Not God’s personal “righteousness,” but the means by which he makes man “righteous,” or justified!
The “gospel of Christ” is the answer, the only answer, for the first sin committed and the last sin committed before Christ returns to judge the world, as Paul wrote: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). If we have not been redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:19); we will pay the price for our own sin: “For the wages of sin is death;…” (Rom. 6:23). But thanks be to God, all those who have been redeemed with “the precious blood of Christ” will enjoy “the gift of God” which “is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.6:23).
Therefore, I introduce you to one of my favorite verses, it comes from the words of Paul, as he spoke by the Holy Spirit to the elders of the church in Ephesus, as he was prepared to depart from then for the last time: “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). In these final words, Paul is placing “alongside” of the elders “God” and “the word of his grace!” Why is this so important? Let Paul answer: first, “which,” that is “the word of God’s grace” “is able to build you up” and second, it is able to “give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified!” Is there anything greater? No! No! Not one thing!
The Old Testament tells us about the first sins committed and the New Testament tells us about the answer to sin; the answer for all sin! This my friends, is the answer to this statement: “There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10-12). There is our state, the state of all humanity! But then God, through the Holy Spirit spoke to all humanity, saying: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). All of God’s plan, from the first sin, until God revealed “the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. or therein is the righteousness of God …” (Rom. 1:16-17).
Yes, the Bible, the greatest Book, “the Book,” that stands alone among books!

Frank R. Williams

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