Forgiven. Peace with God through Jesus Christ solely by grace through faith. Restored to fellowship.
The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians is about this indescribable gracious gift. Nobody can do enough good works to earn salvation; 1500 years of Moses Law proved that. And, no one is righteous enough to deserve forgiveness by God. The horrible crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man and Son of God, clearly demonstrated what our redemption cost God. Forgiveness is our only hope, but it can never be bought with money. Simon the sorcerer learned that (Acts 8:20).
Who would be so foolish as to say to God, “I’ll pay you a billion dollars for a mansion in your heaven.” Even a trillion dollars would not begin to pay for the wickedness of the crown of thorns alone on Jesus’ holy head, and would not even make a down payment on the flagellation, or even the first nail.
The Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to announce God’s invitation, and the grace of God revealed at Calvary made salvation free: "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost (Isaiah 55:1).
Ah! only grace took Jesus to Calvary, because of “the great love with which He loved us” (Ephesians 2:4 KJV). Who can stand at the foot of Jesus’ cross, watch the agony of His death, and smugly say to Him, Jesus, you owed it to me? Even a lifetime of good works under the Law is not enough to pay Jesus for the brutally wicked death He died in our place.
Yes, Calvary is a gift of God through Jesus Christ to all who believe and repent with Godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10).
The Holy Spirit blessed Paul to give to all generations a clear explanation of salvation as a gift, revealed and anchored in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Consider: “If a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law” (Galatians 3:21). The Message nails the point:
“We Jews know that we have no advantage of birth over "non-Jewish sinners." We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it — and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good” (2:15-16, MSG).
Martin Luther viewed this simple statement as the heart of the Gospel. It was foundational in his developing the doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone that launched the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation.
Justification is a legal term. It asserts all people are guilty as charged, and the indictment reads, “Rebellion against God.” We have no plea to make; indeed, we can never do enough works of righteousness to make anything close to a plausible defense. The Law makes clear we are guilty as charged. All we can do is admit the righteousness of God’s judgment by entering a plea of guilty, knowing our offense is capital and the punishment is death. It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment; the wages of sin is death (Hebrews 9:27; Romans 6:23). Our names are on the court record. Viewed through the eyes of divine justice, we are all convicted felons.
I was lost and undone without God or His Son,
when He reached down His hand for me.
By: G. E. Wright
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is indeed good news because it offers the one-and-only way out– trusting in the sacrificial death of Jesus to forgive and forget about our sins. This blessing happens when we come to God with a contrite heart in genuine repentance. The gift of God is eternal life because Jesus Christ offered Himself as our substitute, and Jesus keeps His promises. Our Messiah responds to genuine repentance with total forgiveness, and even erases all the charges against us. He lets us walk out of court as free men and women – justified – with our record wiped clean of all present and past sin, leaving no evidence we were ever in court. That is the justifying grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
THE RIGHT TIME CAME, and we can be eternally grateful Jesus Christ unveiled this unspeakable gift.
“When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts [the Holy Spirit], the Spirit Who calls out, "Abba Father." So, you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir (Galatians 4:4-7).
“The full rights of sons” – what a gift for all who repent and accept Jesus as the Son of God. Yes, the Holy Spirit inspires the cry of “Abba Father” [Father Father] by every new believer. And the Father’s warmly felt reply comes speedily: Welcome my beloved to the family of God. The result is every child of God feels adopted and accepted as sons and heirs. Indeed, the value of the inheritance is without price: “everything God has belongs to us” (Galatians 4:5, TLB).
!f the birth of Jesus had occurred even twenty years earlier, for example, everything would not have been in place, including a substitute for such people as Caiaphas the high priest, and Judas. Would there have been another Mary, and Joseph? What about spineless Pilate? Or another John the Baptist? Or the twelve disciples, and Barnabas of Cyprus, and Saul of Tarsus? The list goes on and on.
Roman roads and its governmental system would have adequately been in place. But what about a Caesar Augustus who would order a special tax that would get a Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, the place where Jesus had to be born to fulfill prophecy? (Micah 5:2, 6).
God foreknew the people in the drama of the ages would come together naturally in a thirty-year window of time in first century Jerusalem, so that each of the participants freely and by their personal choice would play their roles in the drama of the ages. God did not manipulate the people and their minds so that everything fell in place, fulfilling each of the prophecies regarding the life of Jesus. God violated the free will of no one.
Instead, at just the right time, Jesus paid the price for our redemption with His own blood. Paul expressed it in classic Trinitarian language, including God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God in Tri-Unity was fully active in the incarnation of Jesus the Messiah, and the inheritance of all believers was the result: “So, [we] are no longer slaves but God's children. Since [we] are God's children, God has also made [us] heirs” (Galatians 4:7, God’s Word translation).
It’s almost too good to be true – but it is true. Surely you can hear your Heavenly Father speaking in your soul, “I’m so happy to have you in my family!” And surely you want to respond, “Abba Father!”
The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians is about this indescribable gracious gift. Nobody can do enough good works to earn salvation; 1500 years of Moses Law proved that. And, no one is righteous enough to deserve forgiveness by God. The horrible crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man and Son of God, clearly demonstrated what our redemption cost God. Forgiveness is our only hope, but it can never be bought with money. Simon the sorcerer learned that (Acts 8:20).
Who would be so foolish as to say to God, “I’ll pay you a billion dollars for a mansion in your heaven.” Even a trillion dollars would not begin to pay for the wickedness of the crown of thorns alone on Jesus’ holy head, and would not even make a down payment on the flagellation, or even the first nail.
The Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to announce God’s invitation, and the grace of God revealed at Calvary made salvation free: "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost (Isaiah 55:1).
Ah! only grace took Jesus to Calvary, because of “the great love with which He loved us” (Ephesians 2:4 KJV). Who can stand at the foot of Jesus’ cross, watch the agony of His death, and smugly say to Him, Jesus, you owed it to me? Even a lifetime of good works under the Law is not enough to pay Jesus for the brutally wicked death He died in our place.
Yes, Calvary is a gift of God through Jesus Christ to all who believe and repent with Godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10).
The Holy Spirit blessed Paul to give to all generations a clear explanation of salvation as a gift, revealed and anchored in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Consider: “If a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law” (Galatians 3:21). The Message nails the point:
“We Jews know that we have no advantage of birth over "non-Jewish sinners." We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it — and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good” (2:15-16, MSG).
Martin Luther viewed this simple statement as the heart of the Gospel. It was foundational in his developing the doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone that launched the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation.
Justification is a legal term. It asserts all people are guilty as charged, and the indictment reads, “Rebellion against God.” We have no plea to make; indeed, we can never do enough works of righteousness to make anything close to a plausible defense. The Law makes clear we are guilty as charged. All we can do is admit the righteousness of God’s judgment by entering a plea of guilty, knowing our offense is capital and the punishment is death. It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment; the wages of sin is death (Hebrews 9:27; Romans 6:23). Our names are on the court record. Viewed through the eyes of divine justice, we are all convicted felons.
I was lost and undone without God or His Son,
when He reached down His hand for me.
By: G. E. Wright
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is indeed good news because it offers the one-and-only way out– trusting in the sacrificial death of Jesus to forgive and forget about our sins. This blessing happens when we come to God with a contrite heart in genuine repentance. The gift of God is eternal life because Jesus Christ offered Himself as our substitute, and Jesus keeps His promises. Our Messiah responds to genuine repentance with total forgiveness, and even erases all the charges against us. He lets us walk out of court as free men and women – justified – with our record wiped clean of all present and past sin, leaving no evidence we were ever in court. That is the justifying grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
THE RIGHT TIME CAME, and we can be eternally grateful Jesus Christ unveiled this unspeakable gift.
“When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts [the Holy Spirit], the Spirit Who calls out, "Abba Father." So, you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir (Galatians 4:4-7).
“The full rights of sons” – what a gift for all who repent and accept Jesus as the Son of God. Yes, the Holy Spirit inspires the cry of “Abba Father” [Father Father] by every new believer. And the Father’s warmly felt reply comes speedily: Welcome my beloved to the family of God. The result is every child of God feels adopted and accepted as sons and heirs. Indeed, the value of the inheritance is without price: “everything God has belongs to us” (Galatians 4:5, TLB).
!f the birth of Jesus had occurred even twenty years earlier, for example, everything would not have been in place, including a substitute for such people as Caiaphas the high priest, and Judas. Would there have been another Mary, and Joseph? What about spineless Pilate? Or another John the Baptist? Or the twelve disciples, and Barnabas of Cyprus, and Saul of Tarsus? The list goes on and on.
Roman roads and its governmental system would have adequately been in place. But what about a Caesar Augustus who would order a special tax that would get a Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, the place where Jesus had to be born to fulfill prophecy? (Micah 5:2, 6).
God foreknew the people in the drama of the ages would come together naturally in a thirty-year window of time in first century Jerusalem, so that each of the participants freely and by their personal choice would play their roles in the drama of the ages. God did not manipulate the people and their minds so that everything fell in place, fulfilling each of the prophecies regarding the life of Jesus. God violated the free will of no one.
Instead, at just the right time, Jesus paid the price for our redemption with His own blood. Paul expressed it in classic Trinitarian language, including God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God in Tri-Unity was fully active in the incarnation of Jesus the Messiah, and the inheritance of all believers was the result: “So, [we] are no longer slaves but God's children. Since [we] are God's children, God has also made [us] heirs” (Galatians 4:7, God’s Word translation).
It’s almost too good to be true – but it is true. Surely you can hear your Heavenly Father speaking in your soul, “I’m so happy to have you in my family!” And surely you want to respond, “Abba Father!”