Two Minutes With The Bible (2)

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The Logic of the Plan of Salvation
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


In I Cor. 1:22 we are told that “the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom.” This is doubtless why God chose Paul, with his profound intellectual background and acumen, to proclaim “Christ crucified,” the “wisdom of God” as well as the “power of God” (I Cor. 1:23,24).

Paul was a gifted logician as well as a theologian, and nowhere is this more evident than in his epistle to the Romans, where, by divine inspiration, he presents the logic of God’s plan of salvation. Again and again, throughout the epistle, he uses that word so prominent in mathematics and in logic: “therefore.”

“Therefore thou art inexcusable…” (Rom. 2:1).

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight” (3:20).

“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested…. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law” (3:21,28 ).

“Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access…” (5:1,2).

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (8:1).

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors…” (8:12).

“I beseech you therefore… that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (Rom. 12:1).

It is an inexorable, unchangeable law that sin results in death. But the Lord Jesus Christ, “who did no sin,” took our place and “died for our sins.” Thus it is also an unchangeable law that “He that hath the Son hath life.” “The law of the Spirit” is “life in Christ.” The moment one trusts Christ as Savior the Spirit gives him life, the life of Christ, which is everlasting — indeed, eternal life (Rom. 8:2; I John 5:12).

 

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Two Aspects of Christian Liberty
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free… If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:32,36).

The true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ enjoys glorious liberty, and our Lord Himself said that there are no strings attached… “Ye shall be free indeed,” free even from the most oppressive of all slave masters: sin. While the Law never saved one man from sin, the Lord Jesus, by His death on Calvary did, for we read that “Christ died for our sins.”

Therefore the Apostle wrote by divine inspiration: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1). His letters thunder severe rebukes against believers who “desire to be under the law.” To the Colossian Christians he wrote:

“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [substance] is of Christ” (Col. 2:16,17).

But true liberty is used for good, otherwise it only reverts to bondage again, for whatever overcomes a man becomes his master (II Pet. 2:19), and doing evil can only harm ourselves and others. Thus the Apostle says further:

“But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak” (I Cor. 8:9).

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13).

“…Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth” (Rom. 14:22).

 

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Small Change and a Free Gift
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

Has the cashier at the restaurant or the check-out girl at the supermart been asking you: “Do you have the two cents?” or “You don’t have the change, do you?” If so, it’s because there is a coin shortage all over the U.S. and will be for some time.

All kinds of coin-using machines have created a shortage of coins for other purposes. Isn’t it strange: a penny is hardly worth picking up these days, and President Eisenhower called our dollars “dollarettes,” yet people seem to be spending more money in small amounts.

You can make more and more purchases with coins these days. Some people say that you can buy anything with money, but they’re wrong — very wrong.

The things we need most cannot be bought with any amount of money. The air we breathe, the water we drink (we pay only for the service), love of family and friends. These things can’t be bought. And the most precious treasure of all: salvation, eternal life, can’t be bought at any price.

God doesn’t want our money. He calls it “filthy lucre.” He’s not going into business, selling houses and lots in heaven, much less will He pervert justice and pronounce us innocent for a consideration. But He does pity and love us and He can and will give us eternal life if we trust in the merits of the One who died to pay the penalty for our sins.

“The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

“For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8 ).

Our Lord said to the Samaritan woman:

“If thou knewest the gift of God… thou wouldest have asked…” (John 4:10).

Have you asked?

 

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Encouragement to A Weary Soldier
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

During his ministry at Corinth, the strain of battle began telling on the Apostle Paul. He found himself haunted by fear and depression. Later he wrote of it.

“I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling” (ICor. 2:3).

It must not be supposed that fearlessness was characteristic of a nature so sensitive as Paul’s. On the contrary, he was often afraid. His, by the grace of God, was rather the courage that went on braving dangers in spite of his fears.

After having left the synagogue at Corinth, the strain of meeting, week after week, right next door, with all the embarrassing situations inevitably involved, may well have caused some of his followers, and possible himself, to question the wisdom and propriety of the step he had taken, adding to his mental depression (though this step, moving into the home of Justus, next door, was most appropriate under the circumstances). But the Lord was to endorse the act again in an unmistakable way.

It would appear from several passages in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians (especially II Thessalonians 3:1,2), that this letter was written while Paul was becoming apprehensive about the work at Corinth and that it was after this that the Lord appeared to him in a vision to encourage him.

Let the reader try to place himself in Paul’s position while reading Verses 9,10 of Acts 18 so as to appreciate its force more fully:

“Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, BE NOT AFRAID,–BUT SPEAK,–AND HOLD NOT THY PEACE:–FOR I AM WITH THEE,–AND NO MAN SHALL SET ON THEE TO HURT THEE;–FOR I HAVE MUCH PEOPLE IN THIS CITY.”

Ah, tomorrow he could begin the work anew, assured in advance of the outcome! Whether he “continued” in Corinth (Verse 11) a year and six months longer or all together is perhaps impossible to ascertain, but we know that his ministry there was exceedingly fruitful.

 

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Faithfulness to Our Commission
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

In Paul’s day, his “preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery” encountered opposition on every hand. For faithfully proclaiming the glorious message which had been committed to his trust, he was constantly made to bear affliction and reproach. In one of his earlier epistles we already find a long list of the perils and persecutions he had by then been called upon to endure (II Cor. 11:23-33) and this opposition, bitter and relentless, continued throughout his ministry. In his last letter, written from prison in Rome, he calls attention to the distinctive character of his message, and adds:

“Wherein I suffer trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds…” (II Tim. 2:7-9).

The almost constant suffering to which the apostle of grace was subjected naturally had its effect upon timid souls. Some, who saw the truth and the glory of his message, lacked the courage to stand with him in making it known. Others, who had started with him were tempted to — and some did — turn back. Of his first appearance before Nero, the Apostle had to say:

“At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: pray God that it may not be laid to their charge” (II Tim. 4:16).

In the light of all this it is not strange that Paul should write to Timothy:

“FOR GOD HATH NOT GIVEN US THE SPIRIT OF FEAR; BUT OF POWER, AND OF LOVE, AND OF A SOUND MIND.

“BE NOT THOU THEREFORE ASHAMED OF THE TESTIMONY OF OUR LORD, NOR OF ME HIS PRISONER; BUT BE THOU PARTAKER OF THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE POWER OF GOD” (II Tim. 1:7,8 ).

 

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A Good Soldier of Jesus Christ
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

“Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (II Tim. 2:3,4).

In the soldier it is courage and self-discipline that are important. It has been well said that the measure of a good soldier is not how much he can “give,” but how much he can “take,” how much he can endure — how much it takes to make him give up.

It is a sad fact that many of God’s people simply do not want to be soldiers. They are sure that the battle for the truth can be won by “love.” They decline to obey God’s specific order to “fight the good fight of the faith” (I Tim.6:12). Some even find fault with those who do stand as soldiers for Christ and wield the Sword of the Spirit in defense of the truth.

But if God does not wish us to be soldiers in the fight of the faith, why did He command us to be such in the first place, and why, in Ephesians 6:10-20, does He urge us to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might,” instructing us to “Put on the whole armour of God,” naming each piece separately, so that not one might be missing? Why does He bid us to “take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God”?

Does He mean that we should put our sword in the scabbard and go on dress parade, to show what fine soldiers we are? No! We are to wield the Sword of the Spirit, “standing against the wiles of the devil”, and to keep standing until, “having done all,” we are still found “standing.”

Four times in this passage the word “stand” is used, and God has provided a complete armour so that we may be enabled to stand.

But there is more. A “good soldier,” says the Apostle, is careful not to “entangle himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (Verse 4).

What a lesson! Should not we, who have been bought with the precious blood of Christ, be “good soldiers” for His sake, single-minded, and disentangled from the affairs of this life?

 

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The Primaries and Christian Faith
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

The presidential primaries are now in full swing, with nearly all the candidates talking confidently about winning, but it has long been a question just how much these primaries mean. Some, indeed, have started by winning in the primaries and have gone on to become president. But others have done well in the primaries, yet have never even come close to being nominated by their own parties.

It’s something like this with faith. The primaries are like mental assent, or intellectual faith. Before a person can be saved he must, of course, know about sin and salvation and must give mental assent to what the Bible says about these things. He must agree that Christ died for man’s sins.

But while intellectual faith is a good start, it is not enough to save you. You must go on from there to trust yourself to Christ, who died for our sins (I Cor. 15:3), otherwise your intellectual faith has done you no good.

God wants our heart trust; it is this kind of faith that honors Him, and it is this kind of faith that saves. In Romans 10:9-13 He says:

“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith: Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If Christ is not a risen, living Savior, He is no savior at all. We must believe this in our hearts if we are to call upon Him for salvation.

Thank God that “He showed Himself alive, after His passion, by many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3) and that millions have indeed found the peace and joy of sins forgiven through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His redemptive work at Calvary.

 

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Things New and Old
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

When our Lord had finished His familiar discourse on “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,” He said:

“THEREFORE, EVERY SCRIBE WHICH IS INSTRUCTED UNTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE A MAN THAT IS AN HOUSEHOLDER, WHO BRINGS FORTH OUT OF HIS TREASURE THINGS NEW AND OLD” (Matt. 13:52).

A new era had just dawned in the world’s history. A new message was being proclaimed. John the Baptist had begun to cry: “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” and the Lord Jesus and the twelve had taken up the same message.

Some listened eagerly, others turned away — among them many of the scribes, the Bible teachers of the day. They did not welcome any new teaching. Yet Christ’s message of the kingdom in no way conflicted with the Old Testament Scriptures. Indeed, it was based on the Old Testament and confirmed by it. This is why our Lord reminded His hearers that the right kind of scribe would bring forth out of the treasure-house of Scripture, things both new and old.

How this lesson is needed today! Some cast away precious treasures out of the Bible, contending that they are old and out of date. Others, while clinging tenaciously to old truths, reject new light. While mere professors of religion too often cast aside old truths with the complaint that they are outworn, true possessors often reject new light simply because it is new. They vie with each other to be orthodox instead of vying to find more light from the unfathomable Word of
God.

Is it possible that we have drained the Well of Scripture dry? Are there no more precious stones in that exhaustless Mine? Have any of us received all the light that shines from the Holy Bible?

Then, cost what it may, let us keep digging into the Scriptures, that as we minister to others we may bring forth out of the divine Treasure-house things both new and old.

 

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Melting Hearts
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

Melting hearts, in Scripture, are consistently associated with discouragement and fear. Note a few examples:

“And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt…” (II Sam. 17:10).

“Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt” (Isa. 13:7).

“The heart melteth and the knees smite together…” (Nah. 2:10).

Christians, therefore, should not pray for melted hearts, as so many do. There are too many believers with melting hearts now! Indeed, men of God, down through the ages, have always found it a real task to keep the hearts of Christians from melting. Fear can easily become cowardice and cowardice, like courage, is extremely contagious. For this reason God explicitly instructed the military officers of Israel to announce to their armies:

“What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart” (Deut. 20:8 ).

If ever God’s people needed confidence and courage it is in the day of crisis — especially spiritual crisis — in which we live. Here Paul’s word to the Ephesian believers is appropriate:

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against [wicked spirits] in high places” (Eph. 6:12).

Thank God! While the opposition of our adversary during “this present evil age” calls for special courage and steadfastness of heart, God has made particular provision for us, for He has given us more light on His Word than was given those of former ages and we can meet the enemy with “the whole armor of God.” Moreover we have God’s Word through Paul, that battle-scarred warrior:

“God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, His prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God” (II Tim. 1:7,8 ).

 

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Big Mistake
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

Several times in the last few weeks commentators over radio, TV and in the newspapers have made a big mistake. This was in connection with the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra, Jr.

Frank Sr., as we know, had to pay the kidnappers $240,000.00 for the ransom of his son. One after another the news commentators declared that this amount was by no means the highest amount ever paid for a ransom. In the Bobby Greenlease case, they said, the Kansas City auto dealer had to pay $600,000.00 to ransom his son — the highest price ever paid for the ransom of a human being.

Here they are wrong. $600,000.00 is by no means the highest price ever paid for the ransom of a human being.

St. Paul, by divine inspiration, wrote in I Tim. 2:4-6:

“God will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

“For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.

“Who gave HIMSELF a ransom for all…”

Did you get that? Christ gave Himself a ransom for all. All mankind had been taken captive by Satan and sin, but Christ paid the price of our ransom. That price was Himself — His own life, which He gave on Calvary’s cross to pay for our redemption.

All that was accomplished at Calvary was not revealed, however, until God raised up the Apostle Paul, who goes on to say in Verses 6 and 7 of the above passage that this mes- sage was “testified in due time,” by him.

When sin had risen to its height in the world’s rejection of Christ, God reached down from heaven to save Saul, the chief of sinners, and sent him forth as the Apostle Paul to proclaim salvation by grace through faith in the Christ who had died for sin. This is why the Apostle declares in I Tim. 1:15,16:

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering…”

 

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Church-Going
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

There is an important passage on church-going in Hebrews 10:23-25:

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering…. And let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is… “

We are often urged, these days: “Go to the church of your choice.” The implication is that one church is as good as another — just so you go to church. But this is not so.

The Scriptures teach that the true Church is composed of those who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior who died for their sins. Such are told to “hold fast” the faith which they have professed, without wavering. This must come first, for it is only those who have first exercised such faith who can meet together with unity of mind and purpose to encourage each other “to love and to good works.”

It is a truly blessed experience for those who have been saved by the grace of God, to assemble to express their praise together in song, to lift their hearts together in prayer and to join together in the study of God’s Word so as to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In these days of tension and confusion there is a tendency for even the most sincere Christians to be so occupied with temporal things that they deprive themselves of the encouragement and spiritual uplift that comes from getting together with other Christians. But these are just the times when true believers need the encouragement of each other’s company and should particularly remember the admonition of Scripture not to forsake “the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is.”

 

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The Hope of Glory
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

We are taught in Romans 5 that the believer in Christ receives justification, peace with God, access to God and the “hope,” or anticipation, of sharing His glory some day. God wants His children to enjoy this coming glory by faith, to live in eager anticipation of it.

How much there is to humiliate us in this life! God created man in His own image and likeness, but man sinned and fell from his exalted position. To Adam God said:

“Cursed is the ground because of thee; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.”

Since that dreadful day man’s life has been a constant struggle. Everything tends to go wrong rather than right. Each has his share of trouble, sorrow, sickness and then — death, the greatest humiliation of all, when in sickness and pain, or at best in utter weakness, he must give up this life itself.

Sin and the fall! This is what modern science and philosophy fail to face up to. Most popular scientists and philosophers today hold that man has come up from the slime pit and the ape to modern man; that man is improving all the time. But the truth of God’s Word is that man has fallen through sin and is growing worse morally and spiritually until now he can kill more of his fellowmen faster than he ever could before.

But it is this fact, this fact of sin and the fall that God has so graciously provided for. He took all the suffering and shame, paid all the penalty for our sins, and then rose from the dead so that we might rejoice in the hope, the eager anticipation, of glory to come!

As St. Peter puts it in I Pet. 1:3:

“[He] hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

 

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What About Me?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

Hebrews 2 states that unbelievers are, “through fear of death… all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Ver. 15). How often they must ask themselves: “What will become of me: finally become of me?” The best they can hope is that God will be merciful to them and accept them at last, but God cannot do this without a just basis, and since unbelievers have rejected His gracious payment for sin, they must remain under its condemnation. Many hope that physical death will be the end for them, but they fear that the Bible may be true and that death will not be the end.

This writer once talked with a profane barber who had boasted that he was his own “God,” and would be until they put him “six feet under.” To this we replied: “The Bible says that ‘it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this is the judgment.’ You may not believe this, or accept it as the Word of God, but you can’t prove it isn’t so, and I would urge you to look into it carefully, asking God to give you light.”

Here we ask the reader a very personal question: Are you saved? Have you accepted Christ and His payment for your sins, now standing before God “justified from all things,” and “accepted in the Beloved”? If not, we beg you: do not delay. These are serious times and who knows how soon God will take His own away and bring this dispensation of grace to a close. Then it will be too late, so we urge you, face up to your sinful condition now, and place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who, in infinite love and grace, bore the burden of your guilt and condemnation at Calvary. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” (Acts 16:31).

 

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Not Dying For Lack Of Love
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

It has been said that “the world is dying for the lack of a little bit of love.” When this statement is examined in the light of Scripture, however, it is found to be the exact opposite of the truth. Listen to what God’s Word says about this:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8 ).

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:9,10).

Many about us are dying in their sins, but not “for the lack of a little bit of love.” It is rather because they reject the great love that God has manifested to us in His Son. We are told in John 1:10,11 that “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” This is the problem: men are rejecting His love. “And this is the condemnation,” says John, “that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light” (John 3:19).

But while others reject Him, you may accept Him as your Savior and know the joy of sins forgiven and of everlasting life, for “as many as received Him, to them gave He the power [Lit., right] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).

“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand.
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on Him” (John 3:35,36).

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

 

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The Mystery
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

In Eph. 3:1-3 “the dispensation of the grace of God” is specifically called “the mystery” (i.e., secret). It is thus designated for two reasons:

1. It had been “kept secret since the world began, but now,” through Paul, had been “made manifest” (Rom. 16:25). “In other ages” it was “not made known” (Eph. 3:5). Rather, “from the beginning of the world” it had been “hid in God” (Ver. 9), “hid from ages and from generations, but now… made manifest to His saints” (Col. 1:26).

2. It was at the same time the explanation, the key, to all God’s good news, including that which had been proclaimed in ages past. It explained how it was that Abel could be declared righteous by bringing an animal sacrifice, “God testifying of his gifts” (Heb. 11:4), how Noah could become “an heir of… righteousness” by building an ark (Heb. 11:7), how anyone could be saved under the dispensation of the Law, and how it is that we can be saved today by grace through faith alone.

Thus we have in Paul’s epistles, not only the gospel [good news] of “the secret” (Eph. 3:1-3), but at the same time, “the secret of the gospel” (Eph. 6:19,20).

This great secret, revealed to and through Paul, has rightly been called the capstone of divine revelation, for it concerns God’s eternal purpose in Christ. Through Paul, the chief of sinners saved by grace, God has now made this glorious secret known to us (Eph. 1:9) that we, in turn, might make it known to others (Eph. 3:9).

 

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Glorious Deliverance
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

In I Thes. 1:10, the Apostle Paul, by divine inspiration, assures believers that the Lord Jesus Christ has “delivered us from the wrath to come.” He refers, of course, to deliverance from the penalty of sin. But in other passages he declares that we are also delivered from the power of sin.

In Col. 1:12,13, for example, he gives thanks to God “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.”

This deliverance, and the glory of our heavenly position and blessings in Christ, we may enjoy experientially now, by grace. Rom. 6:14 says: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law but under grace.” This does not mean that it is not possible for the believer to sin, but rather that it is possible, in any situation, not to sin. Thus the same passage in Romans goes on to say that we should not yield ourselves as servants to sin, but to God, who, in grace has broken sin’s power over us.

Finally, the believer in Christ will one day be delivered even from the presence of sin, for at our Lord’s coming for us “we shall all be changed” (I Cor. 15:51). Believers should long for Christ’s coming for them, not merely because these bodies of humiliation will then be glorified, but because from that moment on they shall never again be tempted or defiled by sin. What a change that will be!

In II Cor. 1:10 the Apostle includes all three tenses of the believer’s deliverance. Here he tells how God has “delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver, in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us.” This is why he could write to the Philippians about his confidence that “He who hath begun a good work in you will perform [complete] it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

Some may not feel the need of deliverance now, but we all need deliverance from sin and its results. If you have not yet experienced this deliverance, why not place your trust in Christ who died to “deliver us from the wrath to come.”

 

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What Shall We Do?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

When John the Baptist appeared as Christ’s forerunner, God’s chosen people had lived under the law of Moses for fifteen hundred years but had not kept it. Hence John’s call to repentance and baptism for the remission of sins (Mark 1:4).

John was in earnest, too, for when the thoughtless multitude came to him to be baptized, he sent them back, saying: “Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance” (Luke 3:7,8 ).

Their lives were to be changed and they were to show it. When the people asked: “What shall we do, then?” he told them to live for others rather than for self (Luke 3:10,11). When the tax collectors asked: “What shall we do?” he demanded that they stop cheating the tax payers and live honestly (Vers. 12,13). When the soldiers asked: “What shall we do?” he told them to forbear violence, false accusation and bribery (Ver. 14).

Clearly, righteousness was demanded under John’s message. His hearers were to repent, be baptized, and bring forth the fruits of true repentance. When our Lord appeared, He proclaimed the same message as John (Matt. 3:1,2; 4:17). A lawyer asked: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” and He replied: “What is written in the law?” When the lawyer recited the basic commands of the Law, our Lord answered: “This do and thou shalt live” (Luke 10:25-28 ). God was still demanding righteousness. They were all under the Law (Gal. 4:4,5; Matt. 23:1,2; etc.).

Some suppose this was all changed after Calvary by the so-called “great commission.” This is not so. When, at Pentecost, Peter’s hearers were convicted of their sins and asked “What shall we do?” Peter commanded them to “repent and be baptized… for the remission of sins” just as John had done (Mark 1:4; cf. Acts 2:38 ). He did not tell them that Christ had died for their sins.

Paul was the first to say: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested… [We] declare His righteousness for the remission of sins” (Rom. 3:21-26). When the Gentile jailor fell on his knees and asked: “What must I do to be saved?” Paul replied: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30,31). This is God’s message for sinners today, for “we have redemption through [Christ's] blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).

 

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Redeemed
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

“We have redemption through His blood…” (Eph. 1 :7).

Our English word “redeem” is actually a translation of three beautiful Greek words:

Agarazo: to buy at the market.

Ex-agarazo: to buy out of the market.

Lutro: to set free (upon receipt or payment of the ransom
price.)

It is the last of these that is used in Eph. 1:7. The believer in Christ has liberty — purchased liberty — through Christ’s shed blood.

First we were “bought with a price” and “redeemed to God” (I Cor. 6:20; Rev. 5:9). Further, we were “redeemed from the curse of the law” (Gal. 3:13). And now, best of all, we have been set gloriously free (Eph. 1:7; Gal. 5:1).

Why not turn in your Bible to Ephesians 1:6-8 and read this brief passage thoughtfully to see the boundless generosity of God’s dealings with those who put their trust in Christ as their Savior.

“To the praise of the glory of His grace” God “hath made us accepted [or, hath engraced us] in the Beloved One, ” in whom we have, “redemption” and “the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us…”

Redeemed! Purchased out of the slave market of sin and the law — and set gloriously free! Does this foster loose, careless conduct? By no means! When our Lord had given a blind man his sight, He said to him: “Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole,” but the record hastens to add that he “followed Jesus in the way” (Mark 10:52).

Could anything be more natural? And could anything be more natural than a redeemed, liberated sinner longing to please and serve his divine Benefactor? The Apostle Paul expressed this well when he wrote, in II Cor. 5:14: “The love of Christ constraineth us.”

 

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Enemies Reconciled To God
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

“When we were enemies” (Rom. 5:10).

Think of it! God has good news for us even in our willfulness, our enmity against Him! “When we were enemies”, says Paul, “We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son”.

Here we can almost hear some reader object: “Of all things, don’t charge me with being an enemy of God. I’m a religious person, I go to church regularly, I even give to the church”. Ah, but God does not say that the unsaved are not religious. Perhaps 999 out of 1,000 are religious. The point is that by your ungodly, sinful life, and certainly by rejecting God’s gift of salvation, you have made yourself an enemy of God. You may not be an enemy against the “God” you have conjured up in your won mind, but you are certainly an enemy against God, the God of the Bible.

But despite all this God still sends His ambassadors out to offer reconciliation to all His enemies everywhere — “by the death of His Son”. Think of it! We who believe are reconciled to God, not by some effort or payment offered by us to placate God, but “by the death of HIS Son”. He bore the enmity as His own creatures mocked Him, spat in His face and nailed Him to a tree. This is grace indeed! And this is not all, for the whole passage reads:

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

“And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement [Lit., reconciliation]” (Rom. 5: 10,11).

The argument of this passage is that if, as His enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more “being reconciled”, we may be assured that our living Savior will keep us safe. And not only are believers safe in Christ, but all the while we “joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received”, not only help in our helplessness, or the forgiveness of our sins, but “the reconciliation”, by which we are brought nigh to God and experience His love toward us.