Blog Posts - Yuba-Sutter Grace Church

Salvation is of the LORD

10/25/2019

In Romans 9, the Apostle Paul surveys the national privileges the nation of Israel enjoyed and the promises God made to “Israel.” Paul loved his countrymen. But He wanted to justify God. He wanted to remove any thought that God did not accomplish His will, or that He was unfaithful to His word. He wanted to dispel any claim that His word had somehow failed. He also wanted to silence the objection that salvation must in some way depend upon sinful man. He wanted to do these things in light of the fact that only a small remnant in Israel were saved. Therefore, by the Spirit of God, Paul wrote, “6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed” (Romans 9:6-8). God’s promises, covenants and our salvation depend on God alone. They do not depend on us in any way. God purposed and promised and has spoken. He Himself, by Himself, brings His own word to pass (Isaiah 46:10-11; Hebrews 1:3).

The lesson is clear. outward, national, religious privileges; family relations, general promises and associations with God's people, are not enough to save you and me. Election and redemption by the blood of Jesus Christ and God's call to life must be individual, definite, specific and effectual. God must show each of us individual sovereign mercy and special grace. It must be by His own purpose of grace, by His determinate counsel and will. It is not enough that God chooses to save some. He must have chosen me. It is not enough that Jesus died. He must have died for me. It is not enough that God is the God of all grace. He must be gracious to me. It is not enough that the Gospel is preached. The Spirit of God must write it upon my heart. He must make me hear His Gospel with life-giving power and raise me to life with Christ. It is not enough that we are saved through faith. God must give me faith to believe. I must see with God-given sight. I must hear with God-given ears. I must live upon Christ with God-given life. And all of this must be by God’s sovereign grace. If you and I are persuaded of this, we will individually cry, call, come, take, handle, eat and drink of Christ in His work to save sinners by the sacrifice of Himself according to the eternal will of God.

Rick Warta

Cause and Effect

10/11/2019

“That he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us whom He hath called…” (Rom. 9:24).

This past week has been very windy here in northern California. You know when it’s windy. It’s easy to tell. I expect you didn’t even think to question how I knew it was windy here. We all know when the wind is blowing because we see its effects. Wind exerts a force. You can’t see the force, but you can see the effects of it. Trees bend. Clouds move. Leaves fly about. You feel the pressure and cool sensations on your skin. You easily recognize these as the effects of wind.

An invisible cause is known by its effects. The cause of our salvation is the eternal love and electing grace of God in Christ. If God’s eternal love and electing grace is the cause, what is the effect? How do I know if I am one whom God loves, one He chose in Christ, one He predestinated to be His son by the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ and by the birth of His Holy Spirit? As we know a cause by its effects, we know our election and justification by God’s call. Election is the cause of our salvation. God’s effectual call by His Spirit through the Gospel is the effect of His saving grace to us. How do I know if I am “the called of Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:6)? Because “the called” call (1 Cor. 1:2). How did John’s disciples know that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ? Because, He fulfilled the scriptures that spoke of Messiah: the deaf hear. The blind see. The dead are raised. To the poor, the Gospel is preached. The unbelieving believe. The mute call. These are the effects. God’s electing grace in Christ is the cause. God calls all of His chosen in Christ.

Who are the “vessels of mercy which He had prepared afore to glory?” The answer is given to us. “Even us, whom he hath called” (Rom. 9:23-24). As God the Father chose His people in Christ and predestinated them to be His sons by Jesus Christ, even so, He recorded in scripture that He would call them (Hosea 1:10; 2:23; Rom. 9:24). If God wrote it before in scripture, He determined it before He wrote it. As early as He determined to save, He chose whom He would save in Jesus Christ. As early as He determined to save, He determined to call them. He promised in scripture that He would perform what He determined to do from eternity. And in our lifetime, in our personal history, when it pleases Him, He calls us in fulfillment of His promise (Gal. 1:15). His call is the open manifestation to us that we are His, that we are the called of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:10; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; 1 Pet. 1:2). It is clear from Romans 9:23-24 that God prepared His vessels of mercy to glory before He called them. And so we know that our election to salvation was before He called us by His Holy Spirit.

I know it’s windy. How? I see tree branches bend and leaves fly about. I know my election. How? My understanding and will and affections are turned from unbelief to behold and trust and love Christ by the grace of God. God did it. He sent His word in the Gospel (Rom. 10:16-17). He still sends the Gospel of Christ to us. He applies Christ crucified to my heart by His Holy Spirit. We know these things because He Himself revealed them to us (John 3:8-15; Rom. 10:13-17; John 6:44-45, 63). And thus we know not only our election, but our justification and our future glorification with Christ. God has revealed it. “29 Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Rom. 8:29-30). Who will be with Christ in glory? All whom God justified by the blood of Christ on the cross (Rom. 5:9, 19). Who did God justify in Christ? All those He called to life and faith in Christ (Rom. 8:30). Who did God know in love before time? All those He predestinated to be unfailingly conformed to the image of His dear Son. When we see the vessels of mercy with Christ in glory, we will see the effect of God’s electing, predestinating grace. When we are conformed to the image of His dear Son, then we will know that we were loved and predestinated in Christ before time by God our Father. But we don’t have to wait that long. If we find ourselves believing on the Son of God as our Savior and Lord, believing His work as all of our righteousness and life, then the irresistible scalpel of the Gospel applied by the Spirit of God to our hearts has given us life with faith in Christ (Col. 2:12). The wind blows where it pleases (John 3:8). You hear the sound of it. You see its effects. You therefore know it is the work of the wind. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit of God. They show the effects. They look to Christ. They see and are persuaded by the grace of God, that God made their sins Christ's own and cursed Him for them and therefore, God justified me by Him.

Do you believe on the Son of God? Then you were chosen in Christ before the world began by God the Father, chosen to know Christ, chosen to salvation and eternal life and glory, to sonship, to justification and forgiveness of sins by the blood and righteousness of Christ; chosen to bear the seal of God’s sons, the witness of the Spirit of God in your heart, the Spirit of adoption. You therefore cry, “My Father! My Savior! My Lord! My God!” (John 20:28; Rom. 8:15-17; Gal. 4:4-6).

Rick Warta

Lord Jesus, are we one with Thee?

9/24/2019

"Lord Jesus, are we one with Thee?
O height, O depth of love!
Thou one with us on Calvary,
We one with Thee above.

Such was Thy Grace that for our sake
Thou didst from Heaven come down,
With us of flesh and blood partake,
In all our misery one.

Our sins, our guilt, in love Divine
Confessed and borne by Thee;
The gall, the curse, the wrath were Thine,
To set Thy members free.

Ascended now, in glory bright,
Head of the Church Thou art;
Nor life nor death, nor depth nor height,
Thy Saints and Thee can part.

Oh teach us, Lord, to know and own
This wondrous mystery,
That Thou in Heaven with us art one,
And we are one with Thee.

Soon, soon shall come that glorious day
When, seated on Thy throne,
Thou shalt to wondering worlds display
That Thou with us art one."

James George Deck

"I live by the faith of the Son of God" (Gal. 2:20)

9/24/2019

Every believer is one with Christ. We therefore live upon the Son of God, our Savior. How do we live upon Him? We live by faith in Him: in His Mediatorial life and death, in His risen life, in His reigning power and in His interceding presence at God’s right hand. We who are one with Christ live by faith upon the Son of God.—“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”

Christ in me is my life. Because He lives, I live (John 14:19; 11:25). He is my life (Col. 3:3). I do not live upon what I have done for God. There’s no life in any part of that, but only death! Nor do I live upon what I can do for God. That would be blasphemy. But I live upon Christ: upon who He is as the Son of God and who He is to God for me as Mediator. I live upon what He did for me (John 6:51, 56). I live upon the Son of God my eternal Surety, my suffering, satisfying, successful Substitute, my Savior, my sovereign King, my glorious Lord. I live upon Him by faith, not by works.

Who is He to God for me? He is my wisdom, my righteousness, my holiness, my redemption, my eternal life, my all (John 11:25; 14:6, 19; 1 Cor. 1:23-24, 30-31; Col. 2:3, 9-10; 3:4, 11). What did He do for me by the will of God? He gave Himself for me! He took my sins as a body upon Himself and bore them on the cursed tree (Rom. 6:6; 1 Pet. 2:24). God’s law cursed Him to death with the curse owed to me and which I must pay (Gal. 3:13). But by eternal election, Christ was joined to me in eternal union, and I to Him in that everlasting covenant of grace (Eph. 1:4; Rom. 5:12-19; Heb. 13:20). My sins were charged by God to Him. The debt that I owed God became His to pay. He endured the utmost to pay the uttermost farthing of my debt to God. He bore the wrath of God for my sins (Psalm 85:10; Isaiah 12:1-3; Psalm 88:7; Rom. 5:9; 2 Cor. 1:10). By that same union, God credited to me His obedience in a death that fulfilled God’s law and established my everlasting righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). His death made satisfaction to God for my sins. He washed me from my sins in His own blood. He made me holy before God in love (Eph. 1:4). By His one offering of Himself to God, He perfected me forever (Heb. 10:10, 14). He now dwells in me. He is my life. Though I died with Him, I am alive with Him to live to God (Gal. 2:19). Christ in me is my life. I am one with Him (Eph. 5:30)!

Why do we never grow tired of setting forth Christ and Him crucified? Why is He our only message? Because He is our life. He is our wisdom by which we come to God,. By Him alone we are accepted by God and know God (Isaiah 53:11; John 14:6-9; 17:3). He is God’s power in our salvation from our sins, from eternal death, from satan and from this present evil world (1 Cor. 1:23-24; Rom. 8:33-34). What else is there to a believing sinner than Christ and Him crucified (Gal. 6:14; 1 Cor. 1:17-1 Cor. 2:2)?!

Rick Warta

"Thou hast given commandment to save me" (Psalm 71:3)

9/24/2019

“Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress” (Psalm 71:3).

God commanded the light to shine out of darkness. Much more certain, He commanded the salvation of His elect. When God our Father chose His people in Christ, He chose them to salvation (2 Thess. 2:13-14). He ordained them to eternal life (Acts 13:48). In the counsel of His own will, He determined to save them. He commanded His will be done. I love to think about the absolute certainty of the will of God. I love to think how by His sovereign authority He commands all of His will to be done and then does all of His will by His Son and by His Spirit. “I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it” (Isa. 46:11).

This is what our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ said was the reason why He came into the world and took our nature into union with Himself:

“5 When he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God” (Heb. 10:5-7).

From eternity, God’s eternal will was in the heart of His Son, our Savior. He is the Son of God. All that is in His Father’s heart is in His heart. He is one with His Father: one in nature, one in will, one in work, one in glory. It is to the Father and the Son that God’s one elect people belong (John 17:10). The Father does nothing but what He does by His Son.

“The Father loveth the Son and hath committed all things into His hand” (John 3:35). “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth” (John 5:19-20).

For making this true claim, the Jews sought to kill Jesus (John 5:17). The Father entrusted to His Son all of His will, all of His people and all of His glory. Jesus said,

“15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father...24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. 25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me 26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and my Father are one” (John 10:15).

Christ’s meat and drink was to do His Father’s will (John 4:34). His Father gave Him a work to finish (5:36). He came down from heaven to do that work (John 6:38). That work was to save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21), to raise them up on the last day to eternal glory with Himself (John 6:37, 39-40; 2 Tim. 2:10). His Father commanded Him to lay down His life for His "sheep." That was His work. Salvation of His sheep were the scope of His work. That was His Father’s command. That is the work He finished. That was His success. As a corn of wheat, He could not bring forth this fruit to His Father except He first die (John 12:23-33). But His Father lifted Him up on the cross of cursing. And to our Savior on that cross He draws all of His people to see Him who accomplished His Father’s will and finished His Father’s command to save His people from their sins by His own substitutionary death. He finished the work His Father gave Him to do (John 17:4). He finished all that was written of Him in the volume of the book, all of His Father’s work (John 19:28-30; Heb. 10:7). He forever sanctified and He forever perfected His people by His one offering of Himself in sacrifice of satisfaction to His Father for their sins (Heb. 10:5-14; Isa. 53). And then He sat down on the right hand of God (Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12). This was His Father’s command. He completed that work. Nothing need be or can be added to it. O my soul! Rest here in Christ!!

God our Father has given commandment to save His people. All who believe Christ were called by His Spirit to this salvation by grace (Gal. 1:6; Eph. 2:4-10). They find the greatest comfort in His command: “Thou hast given commandment to save me” (Psalm 71:3)!

Psalm 71 is a sweet song of an old saint who trusted His God and Savior from his youth (v5) until the time of his old age (vv. 9, 17-18). This dear saint reflects on the salvation, the righteousness and the faithfulness of His God and Savior whom he gladly owns as his only trust and hope (v5). He makes supplication to Him to remember His everlasting goodness and His commandment to save him (v3). All who look to Christ also find sweetness in this Psalm. If we are Christ’s, we have been His from eternity, separated to the glory of the grace of our God and Father from our mother’s womb, even before the foundation of the world was laid (Gal. 1:15; Rom. 9:23).

“1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. 2 Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me. 3 Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress” (Psalm 71:1-3).

“15 My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof. 16 I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. 17 O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. 18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come” (Psalm 71:15-18).

To our God and Savior be all praise forever and ever. Amen.

Rick Warta

"They commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed" (Acts 14:23)

9/24/2019

When Paul and Barnabas “had ordained elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed” (Acts 14:23). Paul and Barnabas returned to the cities where they had first preached the Gospel: to Lystra, and to Iconium and to Antioch (Acts 14:21). They returned to those cities to "confirm" the souls of the disciples (Acts 14:22). They strengthened them against the false teachings and contradictions of the Jews. The Jews were self-righteous religionists. We must arm ourselves against this world of religionists and their error by immersing ourselves in the Gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ.

Paul and Barnabas also exhorted these brethren to continue in the faith (Acts 14:22). They had taught them of Christ. They now told them to continue in Christ: not depart from Him, not go beyond Him, but abide in Him (1 John 2:9; John 15).

Faith in Christ overcomes this world (1 John 5:4; Heb. 11; Rev. 12:11). This world is characterized by self-righteous men, who in the wickedness of their spiritual ignorance and pride by their willful ignorance of Christ, oppose Him and oppose the salvation of His people. All such are ungodly and unrighteous. Unrighteousness necessarily follows ungodliness, just as godliness necessarily leads to the obedience of faith in Christ and obedience to Christ in faith. But unbelieving religionists try to silence and overthrow the faith of God’s elect (1 Thess. 2:14-16; 2 Tim. 2:18).

Paul and Barnabas also told these new disciples that "we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Persecution of Christ and His disciples was strong in those days, especially from the self-righteous Jews against believing Gentiles. It is strong today. But it comes in more subtle ways. Paul formerly had been a persecutor and injurious to believers as those were against whom he now strengthened the believers. He was all that until the Lord called him by His grace and revealed His Son in him (Gal. 1:13-16; Php. 3:4-7). Christ turned Paul from a persecutor of Him to a preacher of Him. He turned Paul from injurious to His people to a builder and teacher and comforter and helper of their faith.

Persecution comes most fiercely from those in religious organizations who are secure in their self-righteousness. They generally do what their peers require of them to be accepted by men and what they claim (but it is a false claim) will make them acceptable to God. Such men fear false teachers among men and crave the approval of men. They hate the Gospel because it takes away all that they trust in, and exposes them as false believers and false teachers.

This type of persecution comes in many forms. Sometimes it is openly hostile. At other times it comes through the seeds of heresies, which are designed to drive weak believers from Christ and His Gospel (Galatians, Hebrews, ...). Such heresies appeal to man's fear and pride. But the Gospel appeals to sinners in need of reconciliation. It appeals to sinners that cannot make their own reconciliation with God because we cannot make up for our offense against God. We neither know what is required to remove our offense, nor are we able to provide it. The price is far beyond what any man can meet. God must and did provide satisfaction to Himself in the willing offering of Christ, His only begotten Son.

But having thus strengthened the disciples, Paul and Barnabas "commended them to the Lord on whom they believed" (Acts 14:23). They committed them to Christ, the One they believed. They entrusted them to Him. They left them in His hands.

This is a dear and sweet picture. We pray and preach and are sent to do so. But who really is sufficient for these things (2 Cor. 2:16)? The people are God’s. The message is God’s. The work is God’s. And God our Father has committed (entrusted) His work of saving His people to Christ His Son (John 17:2; Heb. 7:22; Psalm 89:19; Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:21).

It is to Christ alone, then, that we who believe must commit the keeping of our very souls (1 Pet. 4:19; Isa. 45:22). And it is to Him alone that every believer must commit the keeping of one another’s souls. To Christ we commend our loved ones. We do this all the time in prayer and preaching. It is the earnest desire of our hearts to see ourselves and our loved ones in His hands.

The picture that this word “commend” conveys is de-stressing. It shifts all of the weight of all of the concerns expressed in the previous verse to Christ (Acts 14:22). He must save. He must keep. He must preserve and perfect and bring us to Himself. We did the sinning. He must do the saving. We did the offending. He must do the reconciling. We reared up in pride. He humbled Himself in condescending grace to take our nature, to own our sins and to offer Himself to God by substitution, in satisfaction and with eternal success. We do the straying. He does the seeking and returning. We did the murder (Zech. 12:10). He showed us mercy (Luke 23:34). We are unfaithful. He is faithful who promised (2 Tim. 2:13; Rom. 4:21; Heb. 10:23; 11:11). We are without strength. He is Almighty, Faithful and cannot fail (Isa. 42:4; Rev. 3:14). We are ignorant and unrighteous. He is wisdom and righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30; Col. 2:3).

Oh, believer, commit the keeping of your soul to Him! Faithful servants of Christ can do no better than to commend you to Christ, to entrust you and your eternal soul into His hand! May we join the apostle and Barnabas to commend one another to Christ on whom we believe. May our God and Father so commend us to His Son (Psalm 106:4-5; Psalm 65:4)!

Rick Warta

We shall be saved in the same way they are saved

9/24/2019

“We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Acts 15:11).

It humbled Peter to learn that God would save the Gentiles. To Peter, they were only unclean, unholy, and, as he should not eat any unclean thing, he should not have anything to do with Gentiles. He was a Jew, one of God’s special people.

But while he was in a trance, God opened heaven and let down a sheet full of all kinds of unclean beasts. God then spoke and said, “Rise Peter, kill and eat.” Peter refused. He would not kill and eat the unclean animals. But God taught him an important lesson. “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common or unclean” (Acts 10:15, 28).

Later, Peter related this account to prove that God would indeed save the Gentiles. Peter defended the Gospel that he and Paul preached. He said, the Spirit of God “put no difference between us and them [Gentiles], purifying their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9). God purifies our hearts by faith when He points us to Christ’s cleansing blood as the cleansing of all our sins (Heb. 9:12-14). Peter learned the lesson well.

But most of the nation of Israel never learned this lesson. When Christ sent the apostles to preach the Gospel, He sent them first to the Jews. But most in Israel rejected the Gospel. For two thousand years they worshipped idols, killed God’s prophets, and finally killed God’s own Son, His Messiah. When the Lord Jesus sent His messengers to them with the Gospel, as a people, they stubbornly held to their own righteousness in proud unbelief (Rom. 9:31-33; 10:1-3). Therefore, something horrible happened. God destroyed that nation. Ever since they hated, envied and conspired against Joseph their brother, some two thousand years, ever since they were a people, they despised and rejected Christ (Isa. 53:3). What happened? The Gospel was taken from them and given to the Gentiles. As a nation, they were blinded (Rom. 11:8-10).

God cast away that nation. Never again would the nation of Israel occupy a purpose in God’s salvation to the world. The Gospel was taken from them (Matt. 21:43). That nation was destroyed in 70 AD. What a horrible tragedy! They brought their own blood upon themselves (Matt. 23:33-39; Isa. 6:11; Acts 18:6).

But in mercy, in great mercy to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God said He would always have an elect remnant in that nation. Throughout time, throughout this world from among the Jews and in the Gentile nations of this world, God always had an elect people; he never cast away His people which He foreknew (Rom. 11:2; Matt. 7:23). In the end, “all Israel shall be saved” (Rom. 11:25). No, not all in the nation of earthly, political Israel: not the physical descendants of Abraham. It could not be that all of the physical descendants of Abraham shall be saved. Why? Because “They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed” (Rom. 9:8). Only the children of promise are counted for “the seed.” Only the elect of God are Christ’s. And only believers, God’s elect, redeemed people are as Abraham’s true seed (Gal. 3:16, 19, 26, 29).

But the rest in the nation of Israel, those many unbelieving in Israel, are no different than the rest of the unbelieving Gentile world. All of God’s elect shall be saved. Only God’s elect shall be saved; none but God’s elect will be saved. And all of God’s elect are saved by grace, free grace that is God’s sovereign prerogative (Rom. 9:15). God has mercy on whom He will. Salvation is "not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy" (Rom. 9:16). So much for man’s free will and man’s work. God has mercy on whom He will and the rest are left to receive the due reward of their deeds. Is there unrighteousness with God in this (Rom. 9:13)? No. How is it unfair for God to save the ill-deserving and undeserving, even to save them by the blood and righteousness of Christ? How is that unjust? And how is it unjust for God to give men what they want: their own heart’s lust? Would men consider that unjust? How is it unjust for God to then bring upon sinners the due reward of their deeds, since they believe God owes them something and want God to reward them for their good works?

As a nation, Israel is no different than all the nations of the world. Salvation is no different for those in Israel than it is for those outside of Israel. God will save His people by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what Peter declares. He learned his lesson well. He was so humbled that he rejoiced to pillow his head in the grace of Christ. Peter did not say that “The Gentiles shall be saved as us Jews.” Knowing in himself that as a nation he and all Israel had sinned against God from their beginnings, knowing he and all Israel deserved to be cast off because they rejected God in idolatry, killed their prophets and though God repeatedly delivered them from their enemies -- most notably from Egypt -- and knowing his own sinfulness and the sinfulness of his own people, Peter joined the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 6:5). He confessed his own sin. His hair stood up on the back of his neck in fear and with rejoicing to know and confess, “We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they” (Acts 15:11). “Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah” (Isa. 1:9).

If we who are sinners among the Gentiles, do not share the attitude of the Apostle Peter about ourselves and the saving grace of God: that we are only saved by the electing grace of God our Father, the redeeming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the regenerating grace of the Spirit of God, then how much more shall we receive our reward with the wicked!

Not all in the nation of Israel shall be saved. But the elect in all nations shall be. From the beginning and until the end of time, there is and forever shall be salvation only in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Gen. 6:8). We must be humbled to know we are no better than others (Rom. 3:9; Acts 15:9; 1 Cor. 4:7). God makes the difference. He makes that difference in Christ. It is not a difference made in Adam. It is not a difference made in Israel. It is a difference made only in Christ.

Rick Warta

Why Faith?

9/24/2019

We may wonder why God designed that we should be saved through faith. There are many reasons. But one reason is the suitableness of faith to the glory of God. Faith takes God at His word. Faith rests on the word of God. When sight and sense see and detect nothing, faith rests in joyful satisfaction and contentedness on the bare word of God. God accomplishes all things by His word (Psa. 33:6, 9; John 1:1-3). And faith is God’s gift of grace that enables us to see that His work of our salvation is by Christ and in Christ, the Essential, Living Word of God (John 1:1-3). God’s word is the power by which all things are upheld and the foundation on which all things consist (Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:16). Faith is God’s gift that enables us even in the midst of trouble to rest on His word as the unmovable, unchangeable foundation of all things (Rom. 8:31-39; Psa. 46:1-3). Thus, there is a perfect suitableness in faith. God does all in Christ. Faith rests its all on Christ. Faith rests its all on all that God has spoken in His word of Christ and His work.

We cannot separate a man from his words. Out of the abundance of the heart we speak (Matt. 12:34). Much more, we cannot separate God from His word. Out of the abundance of His heart, He has spoken. He has magnified His word above all His name (Psalm 138:2). Scripture is the written word of God. He whose vesture is dipped in blood, created all things by His word and washed us from our sins in His own blood (1 John 1:7; Rev. 1:5). He is The Word of God (Rev. 19:13). God gave to Christ all of His will and promises to do them, and Jesus Christ our Lord faithfully finished what our God and Father gave Him to do (Heb. 3:5-6; 10:5-14; John 17:4; 19:30). Our Lord Jesus Christ said that His word shall never fail. All that Jesus Christ said shall come to pass (Matt. 24:35). By His word He called all things out of nothing in creation. And Christ, the Living Word of God, brought to pass all of God’s thoughts, all that was in His heart (Gen. 1; Isa. 46:10-11; Acts 13:22). His word is Spirit and it is life (John 6:63). His word upholds all things. “For ever, O LORD, Thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to Thine ordinances: for all are Thy servants” (Psa. 119:89-91; Heb. 1:3).

Therefore, the first reason why salvation is through faith, and the first reason we live by faith upon Christ, is because faith perfectly agrees that Christ has done all in our salvation according to God's word (Hab. 2:4; Gal. 2:20; Heb. 10:5-18). Faith stands upon and rejoices in the word that God has spoken of His Son. Faith thus glorifies God (Rom. 4:20).

The second reason why salvation is of faith is that it might be by grace. “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed” (Rom. 4:16). This teaches us about the nature of faith. It is not our work for God. It is not our work to get God to work for us. It is seeing and resting on God’s finished, saving work in Christ for sinners who can do nothing to help themselves (Gal. 3:12; Heb. 4:3, 10). Faith necessarily abandons all that may be called mine and lays hold of Christ all that is His. Faith especially excludes itself, owning that these eyes of faith and this persuasion of faith and the embracing hand of faith are ours by the gift of God’s grace (Rom. 11:6; Heb. 11:13; Rom. 4:20-21; 1 Cor. 15:10; Acts 18:27; Eph. 2:1-10). Faith is ours by the Spirit of Christ. He directs us to Christ and His work for us, to His accomplishments on the cross that obtained our eternal salvation outside of our own personal experience (Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 9:12; 10:10, 14). Christ is both the Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2). And He is the sole object of our faith, the One in whom we find all of our salvation and rest in Him for all (Isa. 45:22; John 14:6-9; Gal. 2:16). To believe in Jesus Christ necessarily means we abandon all else and believe Him alone as everything in our salvation (Gal. 2:16).

Salvation is of faith that it might be by grace (Rom. 4:16). Salvation is by grace, through faith, and that faith is not of ourselves. Faith is not ours by our works. Faith and all of our salvation is by the free gift of God's grace lest any man should boast in himself (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 9:11). We can only be saved if salvation is all of grace, for there is not only nothing in us to influence God to save us, but there is every reason in us to cause Him to reject us! We do not understand what is necessary to make our peace with God and we cannot supply what God requires. If salvation is all of grace, then it is all of God. If salvation is all of God, then it is not of us in any part or in any way. If salvation is all of grace, then Christ, the Word of God, accomplished all that God gave Him to do for us, and we look to Him alone for all.

Because salvation is all of grace, it is certain that all of God’s elect will be saved to the uttermost (John 6:37-40, 44-45; 10:11, 15, 17-18, 27-29; Eph. 1:4-23; 1 Cor. 3:21-23). Thank God for this precious grace of faith that is ours because Christ shed His precious blood for us (1 Pet. 1:7, 19; 2 Pet. 1:1; Rmo. 5:10; 8:32)! Thank God that Christ is all of our salvation, and that He is so by grace alone! I am so glad that the God of all grace determined to save us by His grace alone!

We see these things in the life of every believer. At the end of his life, Jacob looked upon all God had spoken to him. He looked in trust at all God said of Christ. He looked on the work of God’s grace in his life that had been a life struggle, trouble and evil. Then, in the presence of his children, he spoke by prayer to his God and Savior in the hearing of his children. For what was all-important to him, Jacob expressed His hope and prayer to His God and Savior: “I have waited for Thy salvation, O LORD” (Gen. 49:18)! And so it is also said of all of God’s saints, the Body of Christ, the Church of the Living God, the true Israel of God: “It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (Isa. 25:9).

Rick Warta

Seeing Christ in the battle

9/24/2019

When I see that all I am is sin (Rom. 7:18), and when I realize that all I thought I could do to save myself never could and never will (Rom. 3:20); when I then hear of all that Christ did and that I am saved by grace alone, from beginning to end and all in between (Rom. 3:24-25; 11:5-6), then I rest in peace on the word of God and in the arms of my Savior (Heb. 4:1-3).

Rick Warta

"What His soul desireth, even that He doeth" (Job 23:13-14)

9/24/2019

“But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him” (Job 23:13-14).

Consider the statements in this one verse of scripture. First, the LORD is not double-minded as we are. “He is in one mind.” Second, none can turn God from His purpose. Though we are easily influenced and though we can be deterred from our purpose and our work, the LORD cannot be turned. He is both sovereign and almighty. “Who can turn Him?” Third, whatever He desires, He does. He is self-sufficient in Himself. He needs nothing. He gives to all life, breath and all things. He in influenced by none. He influences all. He cannot discouraged. He uplifts the down-trodden. He cannot fail. “Whatever His soul desireth, even that He doeth.” This is grace unspeakable: The desire of His soul is to save the worst of sinners (Rom. 5:5-11; 1 Tim. 1:13-15; Rom. 8:33-34)! Fourth, He Himself does for me what He appointed because of His desire. “He performeth the thing that is appointed for me.” Finally, there is no end to His understanding. No complete search can be made of His works. “Many such things are with Him!” From eternity to everlasting ages, there are many such things that He has revealed which we do not yet understand, many things to be explained that have been revealed and many things yet to be revealed. All that the LORD does, He does by His Son (Heb. 1:1-3; Col. 1:16; John 1:1-3). Let us proclaim His eternal work in our salvation. Let us go to Him at all times, bringing our praises, pouring out our supplications for His help. “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake” (Psalm 79:9)! “For the LORD is a great God” (Psalm 95:3). He is the great and only Savior of great sinners (Psa. 25:11; Heb. 7:25)! Therefore, “I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me” (Psalm 57:2).

Rick Warta