When Isaiah saw the Lord Jesus Christ on His throne as Jehovah God, He said, “Woe is me! I am undone! I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips [I am one of them]. For mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isa. 6:5; John 12:41)! Can you imagine what Isaiah must have felt when he later penned these words, “Jehovah has become my salvation! ...He hath no form or comeliness that we should desire Him!...He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised…It pleased the LORD to bruise Him!!” Call on the name of the LORD JESUS, the One who is Jehovah and is become salvation to His people!

All men believe a god. But the God you believe will determine whether or not you are saved. All men call, but it is the One on whom you call in faith that will determine if you are heard and your cry is answered. If you trust and call on Jehovah-Jesus, the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, then you will be saved (Rom. 10:13; Jer. 23:5-6). But if you trust and call on any but Christ crucified, risen and reigning, you will be lost (Isa. 45:20-25; 1 Cor. 15:1-4).

You may believe there is one God. So do the devils, but they are damned. You may believe God requires many things of you. And you may sincerely set about to do what He requires to be accepted and to live. But such faith will not save you. Jesus said there will be many who say to Him “Lord, Lord” and mention all they did in His name (Matt. 7:21-23). But He said He never knew them. They all will be lost!

The prophets of Baal called on Baal. But Baal could not save them, because he was an idol (Isa. 45:20). The Jews were zealous for the law. But God who gave the law did not save them because they used the law unlawfully: they went about to establish their own righteousness to earn life by the law. They refused God’s righteousness. They rejected Christ and Him crucified and relied on their own worth and works to fulfill what God required, but which only Christ could give and did (Gal. 2:21; 3:21).

Most today expect salvation because they meet the condition of believing Jesus. But faith is not a condition God requires us to meet. Faith is the gift of God and work of God that enables us to see and rely on Christ who met all conditions. Faith is not us doing our part so God will save us. Faith is seeing that Christ did our part, all God required of us. Faith is the God-given sight that looks to Christ alone and relies on Him alone as the One who did all in honor and satisfaction to God for His people.

To call on the LORD is to call on Christ as the Lord of all and as the One in whose righteousness alone I may appear before God and be accepted by Him. I must call on Him for righteousness. I must call on Him for life. I must call on Him for faith. I do not bring any of these to Him. I look to Him and call on Him for all. To call on the LORD is to call on Him to find me in Christ, to give every blessing of grace that Christ earned for His people (Eph. 1:21-23).

We often think if we call on the LORD it will result in a change of our circumstances. Or we think if we call on the LORD we will experience something unusual. We think if we call on the LORD we will be able to avoid this or that sin. Let me ask you this question: If the LORD saves you, what will it look like? How will you know He answered your prayer?

The answer of scripture is, if the Lord saves you, it will be seen in this: you call on Him for all grace and look to Him as all of your cleansing for sin and your only covering for righteousness (Rom. 10:4-13). You will see and be persuaded that you are nothing and that He is all (Php. 3:3-9). You will unconditionally and gladly abandon all of your own righteousness and submit to His. You will surrender to Him as the Lord of all. You will know and embrace Him as “the Lord of me and the God of me” (John 20:28).

None call but those who believe (Rom.10:14). All who believe have life (John 5:24; Rom. 8:10). Righteousness is not the result of life; life is the result of righteousness (Rom. 5:17-18, 21; 8:10). Therefore, it you call, you believe. If you believe, you live. If you live, you are justified. But God’s work is in the reverse order: you are justified by the redeeming blood of Christ (Rom. 3:24-25; 5:9). You live because of Christ’s righteousness (Rom. 8:10). And you believe because you have been sanctified by the Spirit of God (John 6:63; 1 John 1:12-13; 3:14-15; Acts 5:31; 26:18; 1 Pet. 1:21-22). You call because you heard the Gospel and in His grace by that hearing, He gave you the sight of faith in Christ to believe Him (Rom. 10:14-17).

Neither your call nor your faith justify you. Christ’s blood and righteousness alone can do that (Rom. 5:9, 17-19). It is God that justifies. He justifies the ungodly (Rom. 4:5). Since they are ungodly when He justifies them, He does not justify them for what they are or for what they do, but only for what Christ did. Neither does He justify them because of what they will do after they believe (Titus 3:5-7), for all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6; Rom. 7:24).

​Faith does not induce God to justify us. Faith does not influence God. Faith is God’s gift to us to stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, that is is in Christ alone. God justifies sinners by the influence of His own grace on the meritorious ground of Christ’s successful, redeeming work (Rom. 3:24). The righteousness by which God justifies us is not our faith as an act of dependence or trust. Nor is the righteousness by which God justifies the act of our will. Nor is it what we are or do, or anything that may be called mine. But God justifies us by the LORD Jesus Christ who is the righteousness of God (Jer. 23:5-6). He is the righteousness of God because He fulfilled God’s law by His obedience of love that led Him to own our sins and lay down His life in death under the wrath of God to satisfy God and redeem us from our sins. In this He fulfilled God’s law (Rom. 13:9; 10:4). He put away our sins by making satisfaction to God’s justice in the sacrifice of Himself (Rom. 3:25). He fulfilled God’s law by His obedience and death. His work to redeem is our righteousness (Rom. 3:24). That righteousness is ours by God’s gift (Rom. 5:17). We see and know Him by the God-given sight of faith, by which we are persuaded and embrace Him with gladness of heart (Heb. 11:13).

Rick Warta

“Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found” (Lev. 6:4).

The law of God required strict equity. Whatever was stolen, whatever was committed in trust and lost, whatever a man found that belonged to another but kept for himself, in all of these and more, God’s law required full restitution. God is holy. He watches over the wrong. He requires restoration of what is taken away and what is lost that was entrusted. Here we have the testimony of God’s justice, the restitution of what we lost, the entrustment of God’s own to Christ, and the anticipation of Christ’s work to restore and to keep what was committed to Him.

The Psalmist spoke of Jesus when he said, “Then, I restored that which I took not away” (Ps. 69:4). We failed to render to God His due. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). But Christ propitiated God, reconciled us by His blood, and redeemed us from all iniquity (Rom. 3:21, 24-25; Titus 2:14). He made restitution to God for His people. He gave Himself a ransom to God for "the many" given to Him by the Father (Matt. 20:28). He restored what we had taken away.

But there is something very notable in the middle of Leviticus 6:4: “...that which was delivered Him to keep.” Whenever a man entrusted a possession to another man for safekeeping, if that possession was lost while under his care, the caretaker was guilty. Christ not only made restitution to God for our sins, for failing to give God the glory due His name, but He also kept all that was His Father’s, all that His Father entrusted to Him to keep and bring again. Jesus said, “those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost” (John 17:12). God our Father entrusted His people to His Son, our Mediator, as our Surety, to bring us to Himself again (Gen. 43:8-9). If Christ failed to keep His sheep, if He lost even one given to Him by His Father, He would have broken this law in Leviticus 6:4. But He did not fail. He could not fail (Isa. 42:4). “He is able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by Him” (Heb. 7:25). None of God's elect shall be lost. All of God’s Israel shall be saved (Rom. 9:8; 11:26-27; Gal. 6:16).

When God brought Israel through the Red Sea, when the waters stood up as a wall on either side while they passed through on dry land, when those same waters became a watery grave to the Egyptians, then all Israel sang the song of Moses (Ex. 15). In that song they said, “Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased” (Ex. 15:16). All whom God redeemed from Egypt were brought through the sea. None of the plagues and not a drop of the waters of judgment came upon them. None in Israel were lost. “Not an hoof shall be left behind” (Ex. 10:26). The weight of the wrong of all of God’s elect was laid on Jesus to pay. Their eternal salvation was put into His hand. God’s word and God’s glory was put into His hand. And He kept all that was entrusted to Him. He lost nothing. He made all of God’s elect sure by interposing Himself for them. “38 I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (John 6:38-39). “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). “16 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” (John 10:17-18). “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” (John 10:27-29).

Do you see by God-given faith that your eternal salvation from sin, your salvation from God’s eternal judgment against you because of your sins, your deliverance from the accusing, lying, murderous devil, your salvation from all of the seduction and idolatry of this religious-political world (Rev. 17-18; Gal. 1:4), your salvation from your own fallen sinful nature; do you realize by faith that all of your salvation from all of these has been laid on the almighty shoulders and put into the unfailing hands of our unchanging, eternal Savior and Lord, who ever lives and is mighty to save (Ps. 89:19; Isa. 63:1; Heb. 7:25; Jude 1:24)?! He shall not fail until He send forth judgment into victory (Matt. 12:20; 1 Cor. 15:54-57; Rom. 7:25). He set His face like a flint to accomplish the eternal will that God put into His hands to do. And He finished that work. He ran the race set before Him (Heb. 12:1-3). He entered heaven to take possession of our inheritance for us (John 14:2; Heb. 6:20).

When Jesus has delivered up all to His Father, when the final accounting is made, nothing of all that was put into His hands shall be lacking (Eph. 1:10; Col. 1:20). All of His people shall be saved. Nothing that is theirs will be lost (1 Cor. 3:21-23). Not one good thing of all the Lord promised them shall fail (Rom. 8:28-30).

We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We have failed to do the one thing for which we were created: to glorify our God. We have stolen all that was put into our hands in trust. But Christ has made restitution for all that we took away. And He has kept all that was given Him (Matt. 11:27; John 3:35; 13:3; 16:15; Heb. 1:3). He alone could and did save those given to Him of His Father (John 17:1-4).

I took and lost all. Christ restored and kept all. My all is in His hands. He did not fail. He cannot fail. He ever lives. He is the Lord God omnipotent (Rev. 19:6). He reigns over all. All things obey His will at His word. Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. God our Father has secured us to Himself by giving us to Christ, putting us in Christ. “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?! I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 7:25-8:1).

Rick Warta

“From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:13).

When we come together in the name of Christ, we come as the Body of Christ, and members in particular (1 Cor. 12:27). As the body can only function when each member performs its part, so we rely on one another. Let me give an example. My sister, who was diagnosed with cancer, phoned this week to give me an update on her health. The conversation went from how she was feeling, the medication she was taking, the cost of it all, to how her family was doing. In every topic, she always expressed her own sense of helplessness, but that she was convinced from God’s word that all things are working together for her good, according to His sovereign will in Christ, and how she loved to hear the Gospel day by day. I mostly just listened. But I came away with a deep appreciation for the grace given to her. She faces the very real prospect of a shortened life. And yet, though she does not know how all of this will accomplish God’s will; though she does not know how her decline in health, her constant sick feeling, how she seems to have so little influence to point her loved ones to Christ, and her sense of utter helplessness through it all; that she does not know what to do; yet, through it all, in all that she said, I could hear God’s upholding grace in her steady confidence in Christ. And so we had “fellowship” in our Lord together. I greatly benefited from all that she said. And I trust she benefited by telling me of Christ her hope.

Now, when we come together as a Church, our first priority should be to hear God’s word, to give thanks, to sing praises to our Savior, to make our supplications in prayer and to worship Him for His salvation. When we talk to one another, we should tell the wonderful things our great God and Savior has done for us, in plain, simple terms, as great sinners needing our only and great Savior.

The body is “fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth.” Never think you have nothing to contribute. When you gather with His people, bring the revelation of Christ to your heart in devotion to Him. Be quick to listen. Be slow to speak (James 1:19). Tell the Lord about your brothers’ and sisters’ needs. Encourage one another to look to Christ who sits on the throne of absolute sovereignty and victory over our sin, over satan, over this world, over death and over all of our enemies. Tell what great things the Lord has done for you. Tell how Jesus is your only hope. Be courteous (1 Pet. 3:8). Speak simply without the leaven of hypocrisy (Luke 12:1). You know Christ is your only hope. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so (Ps. 107:2). Think more highly of others than yourself (Php. 2:5-8). Read God’s word at home. Pour out your heart to the Lord at home. Pray for your loved ones throughout the week. Pray for one another in the Church. Pray for the ministry of the word. Ask the Lord to make Himself known to us and to revive us again (Ps. 80; Ps. 85:6). Ask Him to increase our faith and grow us in grace (Mark 9:24; Luke 17:5; 2 Pet. 3:18). Remember, we serve the Lord Christ! He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Eph. 3:20). When you come together, therefore, make it your priority to hear and worship, but as you are able, talk about Jesus and His love. Your brothers and sisters in Christ need to hear of Him from you.

The Church is the Body of Christ. Jesus said, “As ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25:40). Each one of us who believe Christ are members of His body (1 Cor. 12:27). Even the members of our physical bodies are members of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15-20). Our bodies are the temple of the Spirit of God. Your brothers and sisters in Christ were purchased by the precious blood of Christ (1 Cor. 6:20; Acts 20:28). Therefore, esteem them very highly for His love’s sake. These gracious words from Malachi bring tears of joy to my eyes when I remember those times I have had sweet fellowship in Christ by the words and kindness of my brothers and sisters:

“16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (Mal. 3:16-17).

Rick Warta

“Let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor. 3:21-23).

I remember hearing Don Fortner say that he used to admonish his daughter on occasions by telling her to “remember whose you are.” This is how the Spirit of God admonishes Christ’s people in 1 Cor. 3:21-23. He says, “Ye are Christ’s.”

The Corinthians claimed superiority in comparison to others by comparing that minister who instructed them in the Gospel to the minister that instructed their peer. Some said they were of Paul, some of Apollos, some of Cephas (Peter). This is childish pride. It is to think as carnal men think, to think after the flesh as a natural man thinks (1 Cor. 3:1; John 3:6). The correction Paul makes is: “all things are yours.” If God has given all things to every believer, then there is no room for one believer to boast against another. First, because God has given it, and no one can boast for receiving an unearnable gift of God's grace (1 Cor. 4:7). And second, because if we all receive the same gift of “all things” in Christ, then no one believer is above another. Besides, we are to “esteem the other better than ourselves" as Christ Jesus did, who made Himself a Servant of all when He took on our nature (John 13:1-17; Php. 2:5-8). He said, "I am a worm and no man" (Ps. 22:6). Try on that mind for a while!

But notice how the Apostle Paul does not merely rebuke the Corinthian believers in his instruction. He turns on the foot of their error to redirect them away from themselves and their pride to Christ, His grace and His work of love. He “pivots”, as men nowadays like to say, to teach them the Gospel out of their foolishness. This is what ministers of God’s sheep do. They don’t beat the sheep. They exhort them to understand whose they are: “ye are Christ’s.” And to make them understand what Christ earned for them by the purchase of His blood. By this the Spirit of God turns us from our foolishness to Christ so that we will “offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing” (Ps. 107:22). “By him [Christ]  therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Heb. 13:15). Paul seeks to turn them by this instruction from themselves in their foolish pride to Christ and humility by God-given faith. When we see Christ, we will renounce our foolishness.

The flip-side of a change of mind (repentance), is faith in Christ (Acts 20:21). Faith gives sight of the glory of Christ in His salvation (Ps. 21:5). Believers are in Christ. “In Christ” means He is our covenant Head. It means He is our Surety. It means He is our Redeemer. It means we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. Even our bodies are the members of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15-17; Eph. 5:30). One of the main things this means is that when God looks on Christ, He sees His people. And when He looks for His people, He sees Christ (1 Pet. 3:18; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24; Isa. 53:4-8; Rom. 5:12-21).

We are Christ’s. We were given to Him by the Father in eternal election (Eph. 1:4; John 17:2). By this relation, our sins and obligations became His to pay and fulfill (Matt. 26:28; Rom. 5:14-19; 2 Cor. 5:21). In the same way, all that is His becomes ours (Eph. 1:3; Col. 2:10; Rom. 8:32; Eph. 1:22-23). God laid our sins on Christ, and rewards us according to the merits of His blood and obedience (2 Cor. 5:21; Isa. 53:10-12). Therefore, all things are yours, because all things are Christ’s.

The first item in the list of “all things” is the ministers of Christ to His Church, the gifts He gave the Church when He ascended on high (Eph. 4:8-15). The second item in the list of “all things” is the world. The Church is heir of the world to come (Rom. 4:13; 2 Tim. 1:9). Christ has given the world to His people. Even the world that now is is ours. It continues on its predestined course to fulfill God’s purpose for His elect (2 Tim. 2:10; Isa. 43:1-7; Rom. 8:28): to purify their faith, to overcome the devil and the world by God-given faith (Rev. 12:11; 1 John 2:13-14; 4:4; 5:4). What else is ours? Life and death: all present events and circumstances in heaven and earth; all future events; all future blessings; indeed, whatever is comprehended in “all things!” If God purchased His people at the price of Christ’s blood out from under the sword of His justice; if He purchased them out of the hand of their enemy by His conquering blood (Rev. 12:1-11); then God has and will yet give all things to His people! What would He withhold from that one for whom He gave His Son (Rom. 8:32)?! This is the argument of scripture!

But something else is at once prominent by the comfort we receive from it in the conclusion of these words: “ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” That comforting conclusion is this: as certainly as Christ is God’s, so certainly is the Church Christ’s. Also as certain is that all that the Father has given to Christ by eternal covenant, by His swearing in oath to Christ and to His people in Him (Ps. 89; Gal. 3:16-19; 2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 1:3-11, 22-23; Heb. 6:17-18), of all that is Christ’s, nothing can fail to be given to Him (John 17:1-5; Php. 2:5-11; Rev. 5:9-13).

We find it easy to believe that God the Father will most certainly give all things to our Lord Jesus Christ, His Son and our Mediator. He  is worthy (Rev. 5). In fact, at this present time, He is seated on His Father’s throne in glory, and all things have been put in His hand and under His feet (John 17:1-5; Matt. 11:27; Heb. 1:2; Eph. 1:22).

But of all that the Father has given Christ His Son, most significant and most cherished is His inheritance in His people: the Church, His Bride (Eph. 1:11, 18-23). The Lord Jesus so valued the Church, that He purchased her with His own blood (Acts 20:28; Matt. 20:28; Eph. 1:7). You spend the most for what you most treasure. Jesus gave Himself. It is because Jesus Christ is the Lamb that was slain that He is given all things (Rev. 5:9-13). Nothing will be withheld from Him of all that is the Father’s (Heb. 1:2; John 3:35; 13:3; 16:15)! All things are not only His as the Son of God and as Creator, but all things are His by covenant purpose, as Christ, our covenant Head (Heb. 2:5-10; Eph. 3:11). If nothing that is Christ’s can fail to be given to Him, and if the saints are His inheritance, then we have the greatest possible assurance that we shall be saved...and not only saved, but given all things with Him!

Here’s the conclusion we must not miss: if one believer could fail to receive all that Christ purchased for them, then not only will our inheritance will be marred because it is incomplete, but more impossible than that, our Surety, our Redeemer, our Mediator, our covenant Head, our Husband, will be incomplete (Eph. 1:17-23)! Therefore, nothing of all God has promised and given to us in Christ can fail, because we are His (Song 2:16; 2 Tim. 1:9). Not one sheep of all that is His can perish (John 10:28-29). Nothing of all that is promised to His sheep and purchased for them can fail, because all is given to Christ because He fulfilled the everlasting covenant of grace in His blood (Matt. 26:28; Heb. 13:20). All things are given to Christ that He might give all to the Church. In so giving, Christ is fulfilled in His office as our Surety, Redeemer, Husband, Mediator and Savior (Eph. 1:22-23; Rom. 16:20).

Therefore, there is no need to compare ourselves among ourselves, no need for boasting one against the other. Every believer will receive the same inheritance. All things are ours because the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Christ, and because we are complete in Him (Col. 2:9-10). All things are ours because we are Christ’s. All things are not ours because we earned them. They are ours because our Lord Jesus earned them, because He gives them to us out of His grace (2 Cor. 8:9), because we are His Body, because the fulness of God dwells in Him, and because “ye are Christ’s!”

Rick Warta

I discovered another example how Biblical truth is upheld in our present justice system. This time it was related to auto insurance. My concern was raised because my agent said I could be held liable if my adult children were at fault in an accident. The only condition required was that they reside in my home. This did not seem fair to me. So I asked a lawyer. One thing led to another and I ran into things that are part of our law and reflect the truth of scripture. First, there’s something in the law called “the Doctrine of Vicarious Liability.” This “doctrine” in our laws is expressed by a Latin phrase: "respondeat superior," which means, "let the master answer." And there is also another “doctrine” in today's laws called the “Family Purpose Doctrine.” This “doctrine” is a form of vicarious liability. Under the “Family Purpose Doctrine,” a relative is liable for actions of a family member who resides in their home and uses their vehicle. I find all of these “doctrines” in our present law very interesting because they show the doctrine of Christ’s vicarious sufferings, of His sin-bearing, sin-atoning death and of His answer of satisfaction and obedience by His propitiating death for all who are in Him. These “doctrines” are all argued in our courts with great success by lawyers according to the present laws of our land. Legislators and lawyers understand and recognize the justice of these doctrines. They use them when it suits their purpose. That purpose seems to be to protect innocent victims against the negligent entrustment of a vehicle to an irresponsible driver. The law assigns liability to the person who grants permission, whether that permission is explicitly or implicitly given. But God’s law is perfect and the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth (Rom. 1:16-17). That one (Christ) should be obligated before the law of God for another (elect) because of his relation (in Christ), because of His purpose, because He is willing to pay, able to pay and by the love of His heart posted the bond of His word to pay with His blood, this is the glorious good news of the Gospel! God’s law is perfect. He charged Christ with the sins of His people. And our Lord Jesus bore the guilt of their sins. Their guilt became His guilt. He was held liable. And He paid the full price justice required. His obedience was complete and perfect. His sufferings and obedience were vicarious. This is not the doctrine of men. It is the doctrine of the Gospel. We serve the God of truth, holy in all His ways, our God and Father, our God and Savior. He holds perpetrators liable for their crimes unless the “perp” has a Master to answer for him. Christ answers for us because we are in Him by eternal election, in Him by His glad, voluntary love (Eph. 5:25). “It is God that justifieth, who is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died” (Rom. 8:33-34)! This is God’s “family purpose doctrine.” We are utterly dependent upon both the justice and mercy and grace of God our Father, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

Rick Warta

I had to change the insurance on our home and autos this week. In the process, I ran up against laws that seemed to make no sense to me. So I did some research. I learned that the laws of this land, though often strange to me, in this case, have their basis in the truth of God. I shouldn’t be surprised. God made man in His own image. He has left Himself a witness, even in the legal system of our government. The first thing I investigated was “bail bondsman.” I’ve often wondered what the job of a bail bondsman was. Turns out, a bail bondsman deals with people banks are unwilling to deal with. A bail bondsman deals with criminals. The bail bondsman puts up a bond to the court. The court knows the bail bondsman is good for it, so upon posting the bond, the court will let the accused go free until trial. This is especially important when a person needs to maintain his family and work and home and finances before a trial is held. When the time before trial, or the combination of that time and the trial is long, it is important that the accused be allowed to go about his normal life when others will not be hurt by his freedom. Thus, the court relies on the integrity of the bail bondsman who acts in the place and on behalf of the accused, assuring the court that the accused will appear at trial, and if not, to compensate the court in the amount of the bail bond. All of this corresponds closely to what the Bible calls a “surety.”

I have been reading Genesis 43 and 44 this week. In that historical account, Judah became surety to his father to bring Benjamin to him again. Judah fulfilled his suretyship commitment when he stood before Joseph the governor, who had authority and power over Benjamin. Joseph accused Benjamin. Judah stood up for his little brother. Judah’s plea was the expert plea of our Surety, the Lord Jesus Christ. Judah did not argue Benjamin’s innocence. He began by arguing his father’s love for Benjamin. Judah argued his own willingness to be Benjamin’s surety, to shoulder all obligations to bring Benjamin to his father Jacob again. And Judah pleaded to the judge to take him instead of the lad. He asked to be allowed to fulfill the demand of justice against Benjamin in his own person (Gen. 43:8-9; 44:16-34). Judah’s pleadings with Joseph prevailed. Joseph the governor wanted what Judah wanted. The love of Jacob the father would not be disappointed. Judah’s faithfulness to his father and brother was pleasing to Joseph. Whereas, before, Judah sold Joseph into slavery, now, when he was offered his freedom to leave without Benjamin, he willingly forfeited himself for the sake of his commitment of love to his father and his love for his little brother (John 18:8). Thus, Judah and Joseph wanted the same thing. Judah became surety for Benjamin to his father. He answered all accusations against Benjamin with himself. This historical account so precisely fits the case of our Surety, the Lord Jesus, that we can almost simply replace the names of Judah, Benjamin and Jacob with the Lord Jesus, the elect in Christ, and God the Father. So movingly does the Spirit of God recount the eternal transactions between the Father and the Son in behalf of the Elect, that we are brought to tears when we read it in the picture scripture paints in the lives of these men (Gen. 43-44)! Today’s bail bondsman is a surety to the courts for the criminal. Our Lord Jesus is the Surety to God the Father for His elect, that His Father’s eternal purpose for His people will not go unsatisfied and His love will not go unrequited. In ourselves we are criminals. God’s elect are Christ’s brethren, brothers and sisters of their Surety. They are brethren by election and the predestinating, adopting love of God the Father (Eph. 1:3-7). They are brethren by Christ’s incarnation (Heb. 2:9-18). Joseph is the judge and justice of God in harmony with the eternal purpose of God, wanting the same thing as the pleading Surety: that the will of God concerning His elect be fulfilled. But the court must have its due. Accusations must be answered. Compensation must be made for crimes. Love in self-sacrifice must be rendered as the highest obedience to establish everlasting righteousness in honor of God’s law and as the covering and clothing of His people. The Father sent His Son. Christ fulfilled every role. He is our propitiation, our Advocate and our Intercessor (1 John 2:1-2; Rom. 8:34). He pleads before the court of heaven. He does not deny our crimes. He pleads His Father’s eternal love for His elect. He pleads His Father’s purpose for His brethren, those He adopted to be His sons by Jesus Christ in His eternal purpose (Eph. 1:4-7; 3:11; Num. 14:13-20). He pleads the desires of His own heart that took joy and delight to engage with His Father for His people as their Surety and bring His sons to Him again and fulfill His eternal will in satisfaction of His everlasting love (Prov. 8:31; Heb. 7:22; Eph. 1:1-23; Jer. 31:3; 2 Tim. 1:9). He pleads Himself as Substitute: “let thy servant abide instead of the lad, a bondman to my lord” (Gen. 44:33). And He pleads the release of His little brother and the love of His Father’s heart: “Let the lad go up with his brethren” (Gen. 44:33; John 16:27; 17:23-24). He pleads the impossible consequence of failing to fulfill His Suretyship: “For how shall I go up to my Father if the lad be not with me” (Gen. 4:34)?

Every time I see a sign for a “bail bondsman”, I will always think of my Savior, who became Surety for His elect to the Father in love, and to God in justice. He satisfied both. He fulfilled all. And we are forever free because He answered and paid with Himself! I read the words of Genesis 43-44 with great interest. Every believer taught of God does. We stand as observers, not a participants in this eternal transaction. Justice cried against us. Christ answered for us. The Father chose us in Christ. He adopted us as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself (Eph. 1:5). Our Surety brought us again. We did not have to appear in court. He so thoroughly answered that the court of justice and the love of God looked to Him only, and never once looked for anything from us. We are debtors only. We are the accused. We are the lawfully imprisoned. But Christ answered, paid and obtained our eternal redemption with His own blood (Heb. 9:12)! Oh, wonderful God-wrought task!! For me, what God’s Son has earned!! God laid help on One who is mighty (Ps. 89:19)! Though I could not answer, in my place another stood: One mighty, One worthy, One faithful, the only One good. Christ interposed Himself in eternity and substituted Himself at the cross in answer to God for me (Ps. 89;19; 119:122; Micah 7:7-9)! He is my Advocate. He is my Answer and will be my Answer in Judgment and for eternity (Rom. 8:34)!

God’s law is perfect and the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth (Rom. 1:16-17). That One (Christ) should be obligated before the law of God for another (His elect) because of his relation (the elect were chosen in Christ before time), because of His purpose, because He is willing to pay, because He is able to pay and because of the love of His heart; therefore, on His word, He posted the bond of His blood to pay all (Matt. 20:28; 1 Pet. 1:20; Rev. 13:8; Eph. 5:25). And He fulfilled His word (Heb. 1:3; 9:12). This is the glorious good news of the Gospel! Do you and I, by God-given faith, stand still and see Christ as all of our salvation?

Rick Warta

Two things make it impossible for man to save himself (Matt. 19:26): God’s law and God’s sovereignty. God’s law finds men guilty and banishes sinners from God’s presence. God’s sovereignty bars sinners from demanding from God. God’s sovereignty considers only God’s will. God’s sovereign will is eternal. God works all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:11).

But two things also make salvation certain: God’s sovereignty and God’s grace. God’s sovereignty does the impossible, because salvation is entirely of the LORD (Jonah 2:9). And God’s grace saves the worst of men (1 Tim. 1:15). Thank God for sovereign grace!!

The law necessarily excludes sinners. The law leaves sinners as it finds them: guilty, corrupt, condemned and cursed (Rom. 3:19; Gal. 3:13). The law shuts men up in their sin. The law reveals God’s justice and wrath (Rom. 1:18). The law makes the necessity of God’s promise of grace apparent (Gal. 3:22-24).

By His sovereign grace, God saves sinners. God’s grace does not oppose His law. It fulfills it. Grace even uses the affliction of God’s law on the conscience of sinners as a plow so that the seed of the Gospel will grow deep roots in their hearts and draw them to Christ, who is the sunlight of heaven (Gen. 50:20; Ps. 107:17-21; Hosea. 13:9; Isa. 9:13). Grace answered justice in the blood of God’s dear Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Grace fulfilled God’s law in the obedience of Christ (Rom. 10:4). Grace therefore magnifies God’s law by the obedience and death of the Son of God in our nature (Isa. 42:21; Dan. 9:16; Heb. 2:9), in the place and on the behalf of sinners, finding nothing in them, seeking nothing from them, but doing all for them (Rom. 3:21, 24-25; 5:5-11; 1 Pet. 2:24).

God’s sovereignty engages His grace to save as it pleases Him (Rom. 9:6-16, 23-29). Therefore, God’s sovereign grace provides all, does all, assesses His own work and accepts sinners on that ground alone, on the sole ground of Christ’s redeeming work (1 Cor. 1:23-24; 3:11; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Heb. 2:10-18; 10:5-18). God’s sovereign grace laid the burden to honor His holiness and make satisfaction to His justice on the back of His dear Son in the eternal salvation of His elect people. God laid the full weight of the manifestation of His wisdom, justice, grace and love upon the back of Christ (1 Cor. 1:2-324; John 17:4; Heb. 1:1-3).

God’s sovereignty will not consider man’s will or take man’s advice or entertain man’s opinion or accept man’s contribution (Rom. 4:4-5). But in spite of all that sinful man is, by His sovereign will alone, God will save those He chose to save by His free grace, built upon the justifying-obedience and the justice-satisfying, substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ (Isa. 53:1-12).

By His exalted station and reigning power on His Father’s throne (Eph. 1:20-22; Rev. 3:21), Jesus Christ, the Lord of all (Rom. 10:12; Acts 10:36; Zech. 6:5; 1 Cor. 2:8; Isa. 6:5), sends His messengers to proclaim God’s glory in His salvation of chosen, redeemed sinners (2 Cor. 5:18-21; Matt. 28:18-20; Rev. 22:17). He sends His Holy Spirit -- the Spirit of the Father and of Christ -- to raise those same chosen sinners from death to life by His will: that will that will not be frustrated, and His almighty power that cannot fail (Isa. 14:24; John 5:24; Ezek. 37:4-14; Eph. 2:4-10; Zep. 3:17).

Grace excludes man’s obedience in salvation, in making himself acceptable to God, and in obtaining all blessings. God’s sovereignty makes salvation all God’s will and doing without the will or work of man (John 1:12-13; Titus 3:3-7). Man cannot thwart God’s sovereign purpose. Man’s sin will not prevent it. Nor can man’s will or works coerce God to save him. Sinful man has no influence upon God (Job 35:5-8). Man’s will and man’s works will not induce God to save him. Man’s ignorance and vile nature oppose God’s salvation (Rom. 8:7; 2 Tim. 2:25). Yet these will not keep God from His saving purpose to save His sinful people! God’s sovereign grace overcomes all. In sovereign grace, God teaches sinners that His grace is necessary, so much so, that they fall on their faces before Him, rejoice in His salvation and give Him all the glory. He does this by afflicting them with His law, holding them under that law until His appointed time, often for long periods of time: historically, from Moses to Christ; in our experience, before Christ sent His Gospel to our thirsty souls (Ps. 32:1-2; Mark 5:25). In sovereign grace, God wounds and heals; He kills and makes alive; He brings low and raises up; He shuts sinners up under their guilt and yet justifies condemned sinners in Christ (Deut. 32:39; 1 Sam. 2:6-9; Luke 18:13; Rom. 3:19-25).

Justice demands satisfaction. Righteousness demands obedience. God’s law must be honored. God must be glorified. God’s eternal purpose will be done. Man is devoid of righteousness. Man is unclean. Man’s efforts to make himself acceptable and to entice God to favor and bless him not only make him no better, but leave him all the more polluted (Isa. 64:6). God’s righteousness is revealed against the barren landscape of man’s righteousness. God’s law requires righteousness from man. God’s grace provides God’s righteousness in Christ for His elect. God’s righteousness honors His law and fulfills His will. God’s righteousness cleanses and clothes the sinner (Isa. 61:10). God’s righteousness is the foundation upon which, in grace, He blesses sinners. Grace overcomes all barriers by Jesus Christ. I love what John Newton said:

“May we sit at the foot of the cross and there learn what sin has done, what justice has done and what love has done.”

And I would add this: may we also learn at that cross that there our salvation was done (Luke 23:32-47; Gal. 2:19-20; Heb. 1:1-3; Jer. 17:12; Rom. 8:31-34).

Till round the throne the blood-bought race
Electing love shall bring,
Let sinners saved proclaim free grace,
And Christ exalted sing.  -- John Kent

Rick Warta

The most fundamental truth of scripture is, “Thus saith the LORD.” “Thus saith the LORD” is used over 800 times in scripture. In the beginning, God created all things by His word. Christ, the Living Word, created all things by His spoken word and God told this to us in His written word. God accomplishes His will by His word. “By the Word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Ps. 33:6; Gen. 1; John 1:1-3; Col. 1:16). “8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast” (Ps. 33:8-9).  God commands men by His word. The first temptation satan wielded against man in the garden was, “Yea, hath God said…” (Gen. 3)? Christ’s defense against satan in the wilderness was, “It is written…” (Matt. 4:1-10).

The just shall live by faith. Faith is believing God. “Whatever is not of faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23). Faith is believing God; it is believing His word. The two are inseparable. If we believe God, we believe what He said. If we believe what God said, we believe God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:16-17).

There is nothing more important for us to do in our lives than to know the Word of God, to meditate on what God has said in scripture, and to believe it. May this be our constant pursuit, to know God from His word by God-given faith in Christ. Do not believe satan’s lie. That was Eve’s downfall. The woman was in the transgression because she was deceived. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God (Eph. 6:10-18).

"Without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Heb. 11:6). Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17). Therefore, let us constantly be reading, meditating, and hearing the word of God with our physical ears that God would be pleased to give us hearing with spiritual ears.

​The message of the word of God is the Lamb of God (John 1:1-3, 29, 34; Rom. 1:2-5; 10:16-17). Scripture concerns the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was made after the flesh as the son of David. But He was declared to be (not made) the Son of God with power by the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.

The just live by faith. Faith is living upon Christ: what God has said of Him in His word. The Gospel is according to scripture (1 Cor. 15:1-4). Faith is living upon Christ who is revealed in scripture. When we see Christ by faith, when we know Him, we see and know God the Father (Matt. 11:27; John 12:6-9). This is eternal life (John 17:3; 1 John 5:7-20).

May we therefore spend the moments of our days and the days of our years and the years of our lives learning of Christ from His word. May we meditate on the word of God day and night (Ps. 1). May God shine His word in our hearts that we might see Christ (2 Cor. 4:6), and so lighten our way (Ps. 119:105) and conform us to His image (2 Cor. 3:17-18; Rom. 8:29-30).

​Scripture is “able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15-16). All scripture is given by inspiration of God that by His word the man of God may be perfectly furnished unto all good works. God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Christ from His word. God has called us unto glory and virtue with His word. We cannot know God, cannot believe God, cannot please God without faith, and this faith in Christ comes by hearing His word. Faith overcomes all things because faith looks to Christ who overcame all for us (1 John 4:4; 5:4; Gal. 1:4; John 16:33; Rev. 12:11). “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Pet. 1:4). Just as in the beginning, God created all things by His word, and even now upholds all things by His word, so He has taught us by these things that He has given all things to us that pertain to life and godliness by His word concerning Christ.

Rick Warta

Whenever questions of God’s character or ways or His works arise in our hearts, or when objections arise from our minds or from others in opposition to the truth, we must ever remember how our Lord Jesus Christ answered all such questions and objections: “It is written” (Matt. 4:4, 6-7, 10). By the pen of the Apostle Paul, the Spirit of God raised and answered objections which naturally arise in our sinful hearts (Rom. 9:14, 19). He answered each objection with scripture. Why? For this most fundamental of all reasons: scripture is truth (Dan. 10:21; John 17:17). It is the final answer of God (Matt. 24:35; John 10:35). Faith is believing God’s word as a little child. That child who believes his father answers every mocking objector with, “But my daddy says…!”. May we reject our own tendencies to demand an answer from God to satisfy our sinful ignorance, but rather find our greatest delight and confidence in, “Thus saith the LORD.” May we, as dear children, believe our Father's word.​

Rick Warta