The Reformed Gospel, Part 1

     The Reformed Gospel is described as the Gospel of God (Romans 1:1), the Gospel of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:12), the Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 24:14), the Gospel of the Grace of God (Acts 20:24), the Gospel of Peace (Ephesians 6:15), the Gospel of Salvation (Ephesians 1:13) and the Gospel of the Glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4).

     The Gospel is defined as of supernatural origin (Galatians 1:10-12), the Good News of God’s power (Romans 1:16), the Gospel of Mystery (Ephesians 6:19), the Gospel of Revelation (Ephesians 3:1-6), and the Gospel of the Deposit of Truth (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).  The source of the Gospel is hope (Colossians 1:23), salvation (2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14), faith (Acts 15:7), life (1 Corinthians 4:15), immorality (2 Timothy 1:10), afflictions (Philippians 1:16) and peace (Ephesians 6:15).

We Are Called to Share the Gospel of Glad Tidings

     We are called to share the Gospel of His unified imputed righteousness.  We are called to believe and repent towards God of the sins we have committed.  The Glad Tidings of the Gospel is the Good News for lost sinners, because God has chosen to be gracious, filled with loving-kindnesses and tender mercies. 
     Have you repented of your total depravity?  Have you repented of your transgressions, iniquities and sins?  May God grant you the God-appointed Spirit's repentance for your sins through His crucified Son.  Amen.

78-Disputations on the Denial of the Despisement of Jesus Christ

1.     Jesus Christ was despised and rejected of men.

2.     The hatred of men was predicted by the messianic predictions.

3.     The Almighty Father made known the treatment of His dear Son.

4.     Seven hundreds before He was born Isaiah prophesied the mistreatment of His Son.

5.     Isaiah was totally accurate in his prophecy.

6.     The prophecy of Isaiah demonstrates its inspiration.

7.     God worked through Isaiah to state this vital truth.

8.     We should have welcomed the Messiah.

9.     His vocation and mission was that of mercy and grace.

10. Jesus forgave sins, healed the sick and raised the dead.

11. We see that He was not welcomed with open arms.

12. Jesus is the Holy One of God.

13. He did not appear attractive to unregenerate men.

14. Man is desperately wicked and by nature hates the Messiah.

15. The OT records much against man but the NT also says that the carnal mind is against God.

16. There is no cloke for sin apart from the covering of Christ at the Cross of His imputed unified righteousness.

17. Jesus was sinless but in comparison to man it demonstrates that man by nature because of Adam is wicked.

18. Christ preached the absolute sovereignty of God.

19. The Lord does what He pleases.

20. The fact that God does what He pleases is distasteful to man.

21. God does what He pleases in accord with His will and He does not consult with His creatures.

22. God does what He pleases and does not consult with His creatures.

23. We ought to forgive and pray for people who hate us.

24.Jesus forgave His enemies at the Cross, "Father, forgive them...." Man is spiritually depraved and hates whatGod acts according to His good pleasure.

25. God does what He pleases with His own.

26. His mission was to glorify His Heavenly Father.

27. Jesus has His rights to the crown of glory in absolute sovereignty.

28. Jesus was hated, rejected and despised of men.

29. Jesus upheld His holy and sacred law.

30. Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets.

31. He was despised and rejected of men in Isaiah 53:3.

32. Jesus enforced the Ten Commandments,

33. Because He enforced the Ten Commandments, He was despised and rejected of men.

34. Jesus hated unbiblical human tradition.

35. Man is a religious being but He does not know the Living God.

36. The image of God is not entirely destroyed from the fall of Adam.

37. People all the time pay worship to false gods.

38. Man has a religious to him.

39. Jesus charged the Jewish people making the Word of God of none effect through their tradition.

40. Jesus cleansed the temple but the priests were sore displeased in Matthew 21:15.

41. Jesus repudiated empty professions.

42. Jesus confronted the Jewish leadership in being of their father the devil in John 8.

43. Christ exposed and renounced sin.

44. Because Jesus hated sin, this explains why the Jews did not accept Him.

45. Jesus’ holiness caused His advertises question Him.

46. Jesus’ words tested everyone.

47. Jesus was despised because of His inward purity.

48. God looks at the heart but man looks at the outward appearance.

49. Jesus demanded true repentance.

50. Jesus came to save His people from sin and the wrath of the Father.

51. He gave Himself to save His people.

52. Jesus taught the denial of self.

53. The depravity of man killed Jesus Christ.

54. He was hated of men.

55. People were abominable, disobedient and every work reprobate.

56. He was hated because of authoritative teachings.

57. The yoke of Christ is rejected of men.

58. The depraved man wants nothing more then to be “lord” over his life.

59. The gospel of Christ is rejected by men because man is sinful, wretched and wicked.

60. People intellectually reject Christ.

61. People deny that Jesus is God Incarnate.

62. People deny that Jesus came to save sinners.

63. People demonstrate their depravity in rejecting Christ.

64. Christ comes to sinners first and then sinners respond.

65. Jesus saves from sin, God’s wrath and hell.

66. The question is not what you will do with Christ but what He will do with you.

67. No one can be a Christian and deny the Incarnate Second Person of the Trinity.

68. It is anti-Christian and unchristian to reject Jesus.

69. Christians suffer because of Jesus.

70. God’s people are objects of hatred by mankind.

71. The object of hatred by people is God.

72. The object of hatred by people is Christ.

73. The object of hatred by people is light.

74. The hatred of men is a sign of a Christian’s discipleship.

75. The hatred of men is a sign of a Christian’s election.

76. The hatred of men is a sign of a Christian’s regeneration.

77. The hatred of Christ in the end is the outcome of hell.

78. The hatred of the Holy Trinity is the outcome of hell.

The Holy Love of God in and through Christ

We are called the live holy lives unto our Lord.  He desires us to be holy as He is holy.  We ought to repent of our sins throughout the day to our Lord Jesus.  We ought not to leave repentance to a dying hour but we ought to know that all our sins are already forgiven in past, present and future occasions of sin.  We ought to turn to the Lord in faithful repentance.  He accepts our prayers of repentance.  He is plenteous in loving-kindnesses and tender mercies.  He never gives up on us and He never leaves us.  There is nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of our Triune Lord.  He has us in His Triune grip.  We cannot even dare to escape of His hands: He is faithful and true and will finish His work that He started in us.  We are secure and always in His protected hand of mercy, grace and love.  He lived a perfect life for us.  We are to believe that Christ died and rose for us.  We are accepted by Jesus Christ because of God’s unfailing love.  We are indeed written in His unchanging book of life.  That is, our names are written in heaven.  The intention of the Cross was to save His people to the uttermost from every tribe, tongue, nation and people.  The Cross is applied to our account by the Spirit of God and the Word of God in regeneration; that is, God the Holy Spirit gives us the unified righteousness of Christ alone in His life and death alone by faith alone. Faith is a gift of God and not of ourselves in anyway, but by His sovereign grace alone.  When we stand before the great Judge of all heaven and earth, we plead our trust in His unified grace-willed righteousness imputed to us by faith alone from grace alone based on Scripture alone.  We are not into the plus religion by adding the Virgin Mary to Jesus for merit, but the unified merit of Christ alone is enough for sinners to enter heaven.  Christ is our all in all and no one can take us away from Him.  I want so badly to stand before the King and Judge of all the earth in robes of His white righteousness that He taught me about through my bitter experience of torment and torture by the hands of the enemies of the Cross, and see the smiling faces of great mentors of old!  He showed me that His unified merit is alone enough to stand before Him.  We do not need to add to His merit.  It is complete.  It is enough.  We ought to rejoice with unspeakable clarity of His awesome love for us!  There is one thing the world cannot take away is our first trust in Christ and His unified meritorious work.  All hell may break loose and all friendship die but one foundation is secure: Jesus’ blood and righteousness!  That is, He paid full satisfaction for our sins by taking upon Himself our sin to bring justice to it in Himself.  What an amazing thought!  May glory, honor, praise, thanksgiving and adoration be to Him who lives forever and ever.  Amen.

Love Your Enemies

We are called as Christians to love our enemies.  Sometimes they may provoke us to wrath but we are to love them.  This commandments causes enemies to abuse us.  I remember when I was in a Muslim chat room and they never stopped beating the Christian over his head, because they view what Christ said below as taking advantage of us.  Remember when Jesus was on the Cross, He forgave His enemies who spitefully abused Him.  In my life, I have enemies that spitefully abuse me.  Nonetheless I pray for them that God would be merciful to them by giving them a born again experience with the Spirit of God and the Word of God.  I do not believe that loving one’s enemies means an exception of self-defense.  However, we are unconditionally called to love our worst enemies.  It was said of old that we should hate our enemies but Jesus uses the terminology of “but I say unto you.”  He is God Incarnate and able to tell us what He understands as the righteous will and law of God.  No one is beyond love.  Loving should not be an excuse to destroy someone.  We are called to take care of our bodies and souls through godliness.  Let us pray for the wicked,

Matthew 5:41-46:

⁴¹And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. ⁴²Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. ⁴³Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. ⁴⁴But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; ⁴⁵That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?  (KJV).

Luke 6:27-35

²⁷But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, ²⁸Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. ²⁹And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. ³⁰Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. ³¹And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. ³²For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. ³³And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. ³⁴And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. ³⁵But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.  (KJV).

Dear Blessed Heavenly Father, we approach the throne of grace through Thine own crucified Son by the power of the Spirit of God, and in accordance of Romans 5 we have access through our Lord Jesus Christ to Thee:  help us to love our enemies and be good to them as they seek to destroy us.  Please bless them with eternal life and the fearing of Thy blessed commandments so that they may walk in the fear of God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Redeemer.  We ask that Thou wouldst soften their hearts and give them a repenting spirit.  Please deliver us from our enemies through the Captain of the Lord of Hosts.  If necessary, strike them down to make them see the errors of their ways.  We ask that Thou wouldst give them eternal life and save them from the wrath to come by granting them repentance and faith.  We ask these things in the name of our precious Lord Jesus.  Amen.

The Faithfulness of Jesus Christ

Children of God... will you not bear witness, that, through all your trials and troubles, the faithfulness of your Savior's love has been the “very joy of your hearts?” You have had many crosses and losses – has He ever deserted you? You have been in severe afflictions, and have seen the flowers of many a “sweet hope” wither and decay – did your Friend desert you then? Others may have proved faithless – all other help may have failed you – friendship’s help, promised help, expected help – all, all may have been but as the foam upon the billow, as the footsteps in the sand – but, has Christ ever failed you? Could you, in the darkest and the saddest hour of your grief, say to Him? “Lord, You have promised what You did not perform.” Will you not bear witness concerning the past? – “Not one good thing has failed, of all that the Lord has promised – all has come to pass.”

 John MacDuff

 The Throne of Grace, Alexander Strahan Publishers, 1865.

Faith and Repentance

We ought to repent of our sins.  It good that we repent of known sins particularly and generally.  I have repented of all known sins in my life.  It is the repentance of grace and peace.  We should rest our hopes on Christ alone.  It is through Him alone we should pray through.  Here are a few quotes on repentance: 

Repentance is as much a mark of a Christian, as faith is. A very little sin, as the world calls it, is a very great sin to a true Christian.

C.H. Spurgeon

Repentance is the inseparable companion of faith. All the while that we walk by faith and not by sight, the fear of repentance glitters in the eye of faith. That is not true repentance which does not come of faith in Jesus; and that is not true faith in Jesus which is not tinctured with repentance. Faith and repentance, like the Siamese twins, are vitally joined together. Faith and repentance are but two spokes in the same wheel, two handles of the same plow. Repentance has been well described as a heart broken for sin and from sin, and it may equally well be spoken of as turning and returning. It is a change of mind of the most thorough and radical sort, and it is attended with sorrow for the past and a resolve of amendment in the future. Repentance of sin and faith in divine pardon are the ways and woof of the fabric of real conversion.

C.H. Spurgeon

When the hand of faith opens to lay hold of Christ, it drops the sin it had grasped before.  You must part with your sin – or Christ.

J. A. James

The Christian Professor.

Repentance is the hand releasing those filthy objects it had previously clung to so tenaciously.  Faith is extending an empty hand to God to receive His gift of grace.  Repentance is a godly sorrow for sin.  Faith is receiving a sinner's Saviour.  Repentance is revulsion of the filth and pollution of sin.  Faith is a seeking of cleansing therefrom.  Repentance is the sinner covering his mouth and crying, “Unclean, unclean!”  Faith is the leper coming to Christ and saying, “Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.”

A.W. Pink

Salvation From the Penalty of Sin.