The Young Christian and the Gospel

By D. O. Murray, Australia

THE moment forgiveness of sins is received through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christian is eternally and absolutely secure, just as secure and safe as the Lord Jesus Himself. He and the Father have pledged themselves to hold and to keep all that are His (John 10:28-29). Every Christian is indwelt by the Spirit of God, by whom he is sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13-14, Eph. 4:30).

The gospel is the Gospel of God (Rom. 1:1). It is worthy of Him. He is its Author. We have salvation from Him perfect and complete the moment we receive it. Because it is already perfect, nothing can be added to it, nothing can be taken from it. Every trespass was forgiven the moment we were quickened (Col. 2:13). As soon as forgiveness of sins is known, the Spirit of God immediately indwells every Christian (Acts. 10:43, 44). The Spirit of God abides, and will abide, with us for ever, throughout all eternity (John 14:16). Before the Lord Jesus had taken His place at the right hand of God, the Spirit of God had been dwelling with the children of God. After the Lord Jesus was glorified, the Spirit was given (John 7:39, John 14:17). He now dwells in every Christian. Every Christian’s body is the temple of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 6:19). Every Christian is a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). All this had become true of him the moment he received forgiveness of sins through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The first man to receive the Spirit of God was our Lord Jesus. The Father had sealed Him (John 6:27). After the course of thousands of years since Adam, at last there was a perfect man on earth. The Spirit abode on Him and was not given by measure (John 1:32, John 3:34).

There are four principles involved in the Gospel: forgiveness, justification, reconciliation, and redemption. Each is the work of Christ, each is perfect and complete, each is received direct from Him. Forgiveness is through the blood of Christ (Matt. 26 : 28, Rom. 3:25). The Lord Jesus has the power to forgive sins on earth. There is no other place where forgiveness can be obtained (Luke 5:24). We are justified by His blood (Rom. 5:9). Reconciliation is by the blood of His cross (Col. 1:20). Redemption is by His blood (1 Pet. 1:18). God places His own valuation on the blood of Christ. In Egypt, where He saw the blood of the Passover, He passed over that place. It had His personal protection (Ex. 12:13).

The fact of forgiveness does not permit any judgment. Even a child knows that if he is forgiven, then he cannot be punished. Forgiveness discharges the debt (Luke 7:42). Where there is forgiveness of sins, God will remember their sins and their iniquities no more (Heb. 8:12). He will never again bring them to His mind. Judgment for the Christian is not possible (John 5:24) . He already has everlasting life, and is passed from death to life.

Justification brings peace with God (Rom. 5:1). Righteousness is imputed to us without any works by us (Rom. 4:6). Through the blood of Christ we are declared righteous. It is God who justifies (Rom. 8:33). All who believe are justified from all things (Acts 13:38-39). It is not that we have attained a status in righteousness, it is that righteousness is imputed to us. It is a gift, not an attainment (Rom. 5:17). God sees us righteous through the blood of Christ.

To reconcile is to bring into agreement. We were alienated and enemies to God in our minds by wicked works. Now we are reconciled (Col. 1:21). God has done it (2 Cor. 5:19). We are sometimes told that, because we teach that as soon as a man believes in the Lord Jesus, he is eternally secure from judgment, that a man can do as he pleases, and still be secure. This is true. For a Christian to act in such a manner shows poor appreciation of the fact of having been reconciled to God. Reconciliation changes enmity to devotion. A Christian should not continue in sin. He is dead to sin. His baptism should have force in his life. It should separate him from his former manner of life. He should yield himself to God as one alive from the dead (Rom. 6:13). The scriptural pattern is that every Christian should be baptised.

Redemption means the taking of delivery of the thing redeemed. God has claimed us for Himself. We already have redemption through the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, with a view to our being gathered together in one to Himself (Eph. 1:7-12). We await the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:23). This will be the First Resurrection (Rev. 20:6). Every Christian will have part in that First Resurrection. Because of this, it is proof that no Christian will come into judgment. The second resurrection will follow more than a thousand years later (Rev. 20:5).

The notion of a general resurrection is false. It is a relic of mediaeval ignorance. Scripture speaks clearly of two resurrections. The First Resurrection is the resurrection of life. The Second Resurrection will be the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29). Resurrection of the dead is sure, one of the just and one of the unjust (Acts. 24:15), one to life and one to judgment. Every man’s destiny will be fixed according to which resurrection. For the Christian, it will be to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. Unto them who look for Him He will appear for their salvation (Heb. 9:28). The first time He came to put away sins by the sacrifice of Himself. When He appears the second time, it will be for salvation, for the redemption of the purchased possession (Eph. 1:14). The course of events will then soon be in progress, leading to the establishment in power and glory of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ over this Earth. Every saint of God will be raised before that glorious reign begins, from righteous Abel until the end. No one will be missed. They will live and reign with Christ a thousand years (Rev. 20:4). God will rejoice over Israel to do them good. He will assuredly plant them in their own land (Jer. 32:41, Zech. 14:9). Before that reign begins, He will swallow up death in victory (Isaiah 25:. And it shall be said in that day, “Lo, this is our God” (v. 9). The King, our Lord Jesus Christ, will be seen in all His beauty. Israel will see the land promised to them to its most distant borders (Isaiah 33:17). To contend for a general resurrection is untenable.

What says the Scripture concerning the Christian and the Day of Judgment? ‘Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world’ (1 John4:17). Now, in this world, we are as free as the Lord Jesus from coming into judgment. With every sin forgiven by Him, we can stand with boldness. He who washed us from our sins in His own blood will be the Judge in that day.

Every Christian should learn and understand that Christianity deals with facts. It is not merely a system of ethics nor merely a moral code. The Son of God has come. He has died, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. God has raised Him from among the dead. He has passed through the heavens to the right hand of God, where He has set Himself down in perpetuity. From that supreme place, He has sent the Spirit of God to indwell all who believe in Him, that is, in all whose sins are forgiven.

When we received Christ, we entered into a new relationship with God. We became children of God, having been born again, born of the Spirit (John 1:12-13). This second birth is as real as when we were bom of our parents into this world. Until we received Christ, we had to deal with God as a righteous Judge. We were already condemned (John 3:18) and with our mouths stopped, guilty before God (Rom. 3:19). We admitted this when we came to Christ for salvation. It was our need which brought us to Christ. Having come to Him, we received a full and free salvation. He had finished the work, by virtue of which we can stand before God holy, and unblameable, and unreprovable, in His sight (Col. 1:22). Having received Christ, we are given the right to become children of God (John 1:12). By redemption we are sons of God (Gal. 4:5-6). and because we are sons, the Spirit of God is sent into our hearts. He teaches us to know God as Father.

Although we have entered into this new relationship, we still commit sins. Sins are no longer charged against us, for it is written: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Rom. 4:. Instead of receiving the sentence of a Judge, we receive chastisement from God our Father (Heb. 12:6-13). Any judgment

which a Christian can receive is only in this world. “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:31-32). This discipline is from God. He does the chastening. It is for our profit that we might be partakers of His holiness. He earnestly desires our fellowship. He loves us. He is holy and righteous. Our God is bringing many sons unto glory (Heb. 2:10). The Scripture speaks of our “old man” (Eph. 4:22). It is the summation of what thoughts and desires directed us before faith came. The “new man” is created in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:24). As individual believers we are to “put on the new man.” Of saved Jews and Gentiles “one new man” is also said to be made (Eph. 2:15). This is the corporate view, and it is quite distinct from what is mentioned in ch. 4:24. As such we belong to the household of God (Eph. 2:19), and are builded together for "a habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). We, as such, constitute the Church, the Bride of Christ (Eph. 5:32). These are facts— the truth of God. We should submit to Him, to be followers of Him as His beloved children (Eph. 5:1).

Our Lord Jesus now intercedes for us. It is not to secure our acceptance, but because we have been already accepted. God has shown us great favour in Christ (Eph. 1:6). He intercedes for us according to His priesthood, which is after the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7:25). He now acts after the pattern of Aaron, whose activities were in the desert, on the way to receiving the promises. Our Lord Jesus is able to save to the uttermost, right to the very end, all who come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them. Priesthood deals with association between men and God. Not only does our Lord Jesus intercede for us at the right hand of God (Rom. 8:34), He maintains for us the things associated with the Father. If we sin, He is our Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1). If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. His intercession for us is as a Priest with God, and as Advocate for us with the Father. As a priest, He maintains us to the end of our journey here, as a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, having made reconciliation—propitiation—for our sins (Heb. 2:17). As Advocate, He is concerned with our fellowship with the Father.

God made Himself known to Abraham as God Almighty, to Moses as Jehovah, to Christians as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1). God has His purposes and the power to carry them out. As the Father, He is concerned with His sons. The Lord Jesus is the Firstborn among many brethren (Rom. 8:29). His God is our God. His Father is our Father. These are the relationships into which He has brought us and He continues to maintain us in these relationships. The end of the journey is as sure for us as His path was for Him. His first message to His disciples was that His God and Father is our God and Father (John 20:17). His path of life was through death and resurrection to the right hand of God (Psalm 16). Our path might be through death and resurrection. It might be to be alive at His coming, (1 Thess. 4:17), but either way, the end is sure, “and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Amen.
I m a carrier of divine excellence, healing and power

Sure

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