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The Love of Christ

7/19/2016

Love fulfills its own requirements for the one it loves. The love of God in Christ finds in Christ every provision required to remove every barrier found in me. In love, Christ offered Himself to make perfect forever all whom He loved and all for whom He gave His life (Heb. 10:14). The love of God in Christ receives me in Christ with the infinite joy of God Himself (Zeph. 3:17). God’s love is never disappointed with the one He loves. And His love produces fruit in me. It draws out my love to Him. I must have Him. I must know Him in His love in Christ. I cannot live without Christ. Knowing Him is eternal life itself (John 17:3; Eph. 3:17-19).

The love of God in Christ provides all in Christ and never looks for anything in me. The love of God produces love in me by persuading me of His free, all-providing, all-sufficient grace in Christ. This persuasion is faith. This is love that overcomes all to have the one it loves! Oh, my soul! Never doubt the love of God in Christ! To do so is to look for cause outside of Christ, beyond Christ.

The wisdom of God instructs us: To attempt to deserve love, even from another person, by giving all that you have for it, will be viewed with utter contempt. How much more the love of God in Christ?! “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned” (Song Sol. 8:7). We hold this fundamental misconception of God's love all the time: it depends in some way on what it finds in me. But how can one loved from everlasting, created without giving counsel to God, made for God’s purpose and at His pleasure, even a disobedient, sinful man, ever think to earn the love of God?

The love of God is beyond comprehension, beyond measure. Its borders are outside of time; its center is in Christ, outside of me. God Himself, in His own person, is the very definition and source of love; love is who God is in His very essence and character. “God is love” (1 John 4:8)! Therefore, His love finds reason only in Himself, makes provision only from Himself, and is everlasting as He is eternal.

God’s love is seen by what He has done. Love works: “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). Oh doubting heart of mine! Never measure God by yourself! Never think God’s love starts, stops or changes with your fickle faith, unpredictable moods and unfaithfulness! Never think God’s love is earned or kept by you. Never think God’s love is outside of Christ. Because God is holy, His love is holy. To love a sinner, He must love that sinner in His Son. “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame, before Him in love” (Eph. 1:4).

Fear will never turn a sinner to God. Fear has torment (1 John 4:18). Fear in the conscience produces dead works: works without faith, and works without love. Only grace produces love to God in the heart of man (Luke 7:47; 1 John 4:19; Gal. 2:20). Only grace produces love to Christ and love to His people. Grace fulfills all for the sinner in Jesus Christ. Grace brings all to the sinner. Grace brings the sinner to God. Grace gives without cause to the one deserving punishment (Rom. 5:10). Grace gives all to those whom God loved in Christ, even all things God has given to His Son (Rom. 8:32). Grace put a man at peace with God. Grace inflames the heart with a desire to see and know and love God all the more. Duty will never produce love. Fear cannot. Only grace, free and everlasting, grounded on the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 5:21), can save and keep and sanctify a sinner!

Rick Warta

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God’s Sovereignty in Salvation

7/16/2016

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God is sovereign. He is sovereign in all things: creation, providence and salvation. Yet we see His sovereignty in salvation in Isaiah 6:9-11 and Matthew 13:13-16 especially, because He hid the Gospel from some but explained it to others. This is true throughout time. When God sent Isaiah to Israel He said, “Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed” (Isaiah 6:9-10). Jesus quoted Isaiah in Matt. 13 and applied his prophecy to what He did by speaking in parables.

God's sovereignty in salvation means He shows mercy on whom He will (Ex. 33:19; Rom. 9:15-16). It means He saves of His own prerogative and not for any good found in man. It means God’s salvation is not limited by any sin in man. It means His salvation is not for any good in man before or after salvation. God saves for His name's sake alone (Ps. 106:4-8)! God's sovereignty means His choice alone determines who will be saved, not man’s decision. God's sovereignty means that before the world began, He gave to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, all those whom He would save (John 17:2; Eph. 1:4). It means that Christ died for those God chose, those His Father gave to Him, and that He did not die for others (John 6:39; 10:11,15; 17:2,9; Rom. 3:25; 8:32; Eph. 5:25). It means that the Spirit of God gives life to those for whom Christ died, but He leaves others in their sins (Eph. 2:4; Rom. 9:10-16). In other words, “Salvation is of the LORD" (Jonah 2:9)!

God's sovereignty immediately humbles proud man. What is our reaction to this? The effect in our natural mind is that we hate God. If God alone makes the difference (1 Cor. 4:7), if He chooses to show mercy to whom He will; and I can't make Him show favor to me and bless me; if by the death of His Son, He takes away the sin of some and raises some, but does not take away the sin of all and does not raise all men to life, then we will naturally react this way: God is a monster! Yes, this is the reaction of the natural man to the truth of who God is.

But what should our reaction be? What is the reaction produced by the Spirit of God in the heart of a sinner? Listen to what these in scripture said when they came face to face with God in His sovereignty.

The leper, foul, plagued, dying and helpless, came to Jesus and worshipped Him! He said, “Lord! If you will, you can make me clean” (Matt. 8:2)!

The Syrophoenician woman came to Jesus because a devil troubled her daughter (Matt. 15:21-28). She said, "Have mercy on me thou Son of David, my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil!" Jesus did not answer her one word. She then went to Jesus' disciples and cried to them. His disciples asked Jesus to send her away because she cried after them, as if "making intercession" to Christ against her (Rom. 11:2). Then Jesus said, "I am not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." He meant that He was sent only to save God’s Elect! She then did what every sinner who has no merit and no power to help themselves will do when in the presence of the sovereign God of glory! She came and worshipped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" But Jesus answered her, "It is not right to take the children's bread and give it to dogs!" By His answer He meant that His mercy was bread for God's children only, that it was not meant for her because she was a spiritual dog! What did she say to that? “Truth Lord! Yet the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table!” She owned that she was a dog. She owned that the bread of mercy was for the children of God. But she also owned that she was His dog, the Master's dog, Christ’s dog, and she knew that her Master was good, and if He gave her only as much as a crumb of His mercy, she would have all of her heart’s desire and be forever grateful; He would never hear the end of it!

You see, when we hear that God is sovereign in salvation, knowing that we are sinners, deserving only to be forever cast out, there is only one thing we can do: worship Christ as our sovereign God, as the only Mediator between God and men, and seek from Him mercy to save a dead dog as I am! Anything else is accusing God of injustice, blaming God for my sin, presuming that all is well between me and God when all is not well. Anything less than worshipping Christ and coming to Him for sovereign mercy in salvation is arrogant pride. Anything less is failure to worship God, and an assertion that I deserve His goodness! But if God ever saves me, it will only be because He did it for His name's sake, because of His goodness, out of His free grace, His undeserved sovereign mercy! Lord! So find in Christ cause and merit to have mercy on me! Look upon Him in His offering of Himself for sinners. Think on Him, and receive me (Philemon 1:12,17)!

Salvation means that the God whose laws we have broken, whose glory we have disregarded in pride, whose person we have despised, has chosen to rescue us from our self-destruction. It means that in His wisdom, God has purposed to make His perfections known by honoring His justice, magnifying His law, lavishing His grace, setting forth His righteousness, and making known the breadth and length and depth, and height of His eternal love for His enemies by the death of His Son (Eph. 3:17-19; Rom. 5:10). Salvation means God, out of His own goodness, unmotivated by anything outside of Himself, did all of the work to rescue those who deserved hell, and bless foul sinners with all of the blessings of heaven together with His Son. To make spiritual dogs His own dear children by adoption, by blood redemption and by spiritual birth and resurrection! Now, what claim could such a sinner have on this salvation?! Can a sinner cause God to choose him?! Can a sinner earn the death of Christ? Can a sinner earn the Spirit of God?! Can a sinner earn being made a son of God?! A thousand times NO! There is only one thing a sinner can or ever should do: fall down and worship the sovereign God of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ! He is worthy. He alone can save. “Lord! If you will, save this dead dog sinner!”

Rick Warta

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Two Trees: Law and Grace

7/9/2016

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“Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgression, until the Seed should come to whom the promises were made” (Gal. 3:19).

The question is this: if God promised Abraham righteousness, justification, indeed, eternal salvation in Jesus Christ over 430 years before the law was given (Ex. 12:40); if the inheritance of eternal salvation in Christ is not by the law, but because of God’s promise; if the law cannot disannul or add certainty or fulfillment or blessing to God’s promise in Christ, then why was the law given?

This question runs parallel to questions arising from what happened in the beginning, in the Garden of Eden. Why did Adam and Eve not eat of the Tree of Life? Why did they instead eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? The answer to these questions reveal man’s heart, God’s eternal purpose in Christ, and the fulfillment of His promise to His people in Christ.

The law was added because of transgression. Although the promise was given and its fulfillment sure, man was sinful. In his sin, he will not give God the glory. Man wants some glory for himself. Man is not satisfied to trust a Savior and His salvation unless he can make some contribution to give greater confidence to himself that he will be a partaker of blessings from God. Thus runs man’s nature. This is the mind of the flesh. Man naturally gravitates to his flesh, the law and works. He is more confident in these, because he can see and touch them; he can control the outcome, at least in his deceived mind he thinks that he can. Whenever God’s requirements are set forth, or whenever God describes the character of those who are blessed and the character of those who miss blessings, natural man gives his answer. “The sturdy dreamers answer, ‘To the death we’ll follow Thee!’“ Israel expressed it thus when God was about to give His law: “All that the LORD hath spoken we will do” (Ex. 19:8). If man can remain in control, even partially, to ultimately control the outcome; if he can contribute something; if what he is and what he does, or what he is capable of doing, perhaps only his good intentions, are factored into the equation, then he gains two things in his vain mind: first, a greater sense of security; second, satisfaction upon reflection of his contribution. Thus, man trusts in his own heart and seeks his own glory. But, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways, saith the LORD” (Isa. 55:8).

God’s bare promise is sufficient. God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Christ cannot fail (Isa. 42:4). God cannot change (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8). The LORD will do all His pleasure. He has spoken it; He shall also bring it to pass (Isa. 46:10). His counsel is immutable (Heb. 6:17). Nevertheless, for the consolation of His people, God confirmed His promise by an oath (Heb. 6:18; Gal. 3:17). And yet, Christ came to save sinners. The righteous have no need of salvation. We must hear the Gospel as sinners. “Where there is no law, there is no transgression” (Rom. 4:15; 5:13). Therefore, by adding the law, man’s sin became apparent to man (Rom. 3:19); righteousness by man’s obedience became a hopeless cause (Rom. 3:20); man’s inward corruption was exposed, became evident and apparent (Rom. 1:29-32; 3:10-18; Psalm 14:2-3; Jer. 13:23; Job 25:4; Gen. 6:5; Eccl. 7:29). In short, “The law entered that the offense might abound” (Rom. 5:20).

Thus, ungodly sinners, impotent sinners, sin-plagued, hell-deserving and hell-bound sinners who cannot recover themselves or bring one good thing to God, find their need of a Savior. The law makes the promise good news to sinners. Only sinners can hear the Gospel. Only sinners find the Gospel good news (Matt. 9:12-13). Moreover, the law foreshadowed God’s grace to sinners in Christ in all of the sacrifices and throughout the prophets (Lev. 16; Isa. 53; Hosea 13:9,14:1-8; Micah 7:18-20; Habakkuk 2:4).

The Garden of Eden provides the pattern that unfolds throughout time. The Tree of Life is in the midst of the garden. But there also is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But what is that? It represent God’s holy law. “For by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:19). It represents salvation by works. “Thou shalt not eat of it” (Gen. 2:17). “By the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in [God’s] sight” (Rom. 3:20). It is "the ministration of death." “In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17; 2 Cor. 3:6-7). Eating expresses partaking with satisfaction and in dependence for life. Deceived, man thought he could eat, depend on, come to God, know God, and enjoy greater blessing by living on the principle of law: relying on personal obedience for righteousness before God in some form, even as small as eating a piece of fruit. But in eating, by depending on the principle of law and works, man became guilty, he was separated from God, from life, from knowing God, and thus became a slave of sin. Sin abounded in him. His very nature became enslaved to sin because, contrary to God’s command, he depended on the law for righteousness. "Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law" (Rom. 9:31-32). “They that are after the flesh,” living on the principle of law and works, “do mind the things of the flesh” (Rom. 8:5). Thus, “The carnal mind,” the way man thinks when he is of the flesh and lives by law-works-righteousness before God, “is enmity against God. It is neither subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom. 8:7-8). As long as we live in dependence on what we do, what we can do, what we are, what we can become, etc., we cannot please God; sin is our master; we are the complete slaves of sin and under the bondage, a “debtor to do the whole law” (Gal. 5:13; Jer. 17:9).

What is the answer? It is Christ! It is God’s promise! It is Christ’s obedience! It is Christ’s satisfaction to God for the sins of His people by His own sufferings and death in their place under the wrath of God. The command is, “believe the Gospel!” That is, find Christ and Him crucified, who He is and what He accomplished, to be all of your salvation and satisfaction to God, your acceptance with God, your righteousness, your life, your all (1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 10:4; Philip. 3:8-9). Seek to be found in Him alone. Look away from all you naturally know and trust. Hear the Gospel, the good news! God is holy. He cannot look upon sin. He only accepts the perfect obedience of His Son (Rom. 9:31-32; 10:1-4). He has thus provided Himself the Lamb (Gen. 22:8). Christ has finished the will of God (John 19:30). He purged and cleansed His people from all their sins in His death on the cross (Heb. 1:3;10:1-23). He obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12). His obedience is their righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). He has perfected forever all whom He sanctified in His one offering (Heb. 10:10,14). God alone gets all the glory (1 Cor. 1:31; John 17:1-4).

Everything we naturally think leads us to scramble to find a reason in ourselves for hope, evidence in ourselves for improvement, basis in ourselves for confidence. Even looking to see what God has done in me is mistaken. A favorite question my friends used to ask me when I was much younger was, “What’s God doing in your life?” I don’t know! But I do know what He has done in Christ. And I do know this: that all that God is doing in my life is showing me that Christ is all. Who He is and what He has done and is now doing for His people is what God has been doing in my life from all eternity.

Do you find Christ and Him crucified to be the “Tree of Life” to your soul? Do you see that your eternal life, your standing before God, your righteousness, the cleansing of your sin, and all blessings from God are given to you only in Christ (Eph. 1:3-ff)? Do you find this principle now within you, that all you thought to accomplish, perhaps all you think you had accomplished, is revolting, repugnant, even garbage to your spiritual senses, and that your only confidence, your only true joy, and all your peace is Christ and Him crucified? It’s what God thinks of Christ alone that satisfies and gives life to sinners (Ex. 12:13; Rom. 4:25; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Cor. 1:30; Jer. 50:20; Num. 23:21; Jer. 23:6). If Christ is thus your confidence, then you have eternal life (1 John 5:9-12).

Christ has come. The law has been honored, because He, the Lawgiver and Judge, has fulfilled it in love to God and for His people. “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Gal. 3:24-25). We are no longer under a schoolmaster. We are no longer under the law. We are under grace. We eat from the Tree of Life. We depend on Christ (Gal. 2:20). We live on Christ (John 6:33-35; 51,53-58). We are satisfied with Christ and Him crucified for sinners (Gal. 6:14; Philippians 3:7-10). The Gospel is always “news” to us: it is never old; it is always new. When we hear it, it is as if we are hearing it for the first time, because we are sinners, condemned, helpless and hopeless in ourselves. We can bring nothing from ourselves. In every requirement, and for every sin, we must look to Christ alone. To know God, to please God, to come to God, we look to Christ alone. May God give us ears to hear this Gospel in our heart and ever rejoice and admire Him for His purpose of grace!

Rick Warta

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The Love of Christ

God’s Sovereignty in Salvation

Two Trees: Law and Grace

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The Love of Christ

﻿God’s Sovereignty in Salvation

Two Trees: Law and Grace

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God’s Sovereignty in Salvation