Pauls Epistle to Colossians (7)

First Baptist Church Leominster

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We obviously have more notes here than we have time, but nothing unusual about that on the first Sunday of the month.

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I could have trimmed it, I suppose, but I'm also mindful of the fact that these notes get sent out to quite a few people.

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I think around 130 now we send them out each week outside of our church, and I would venture to say maybe 30 of them are pastors or so in India and in Africa, all over Africa, by the way.

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And I receive kind notes from them expressing appreciation quite regularly for these notes, and some of them in South Africa and I think

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Uganda, if I'm not mistaken, have asked permission to translate them into their own, you know, language and distribute them.

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So these things get around, it's amazing. And so I'm always feeling like I've got something, you know,

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I've got to have for them as well. And so even if we don't have time to to fully go through everything, you have them before you, you have them to access on your own, and we'll cover the main point, the main message of the text.

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Now here we are, of course, in Colossians 1, and we want to address the paragraph verses 21 through 23.

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And we have described or defined this subject to be the need for perseverance.

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Last Lord's Day we concluded the paragraph of Colossians 1, 15 through 20, in which the person and work of the

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Lord Jesus Christ was set forth in wondrous glory. There we considered nine traits of our

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Lord Jesus that was set before us, the last of these in verse 20, in which we read that Jesus Christ is declared to be the reconciler of the fallen creation.

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He's reconciling all things to the Father. We understand that as the

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Lord Jesus is bringing back all of creation and all of humanity back into a willing submission to His Father.

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And even those that are not converted on the Day of Judgment will bow the knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus is

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Lord to the glory of the Father. They too will willingly submit to God.

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And so this is what Jesus Christ is doing in history. This is the mission which the

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Father sent Him to save His people, but to reconcile all things, whether on heaven, or on earth, or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross, verse 20.

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Now we arrive at Colossians 1, 21 through 23 in which we have one sentence, and this is both in the

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Greek text one sentence, but it's also one sentence at least in the

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ASV, I it's one sentence. And so we read, "...and

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you," Paul again is writing to Christians, "...and you who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds,

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He is now reconciled in His body, His body of flesh, by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him."

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And then in verse 23 we have a qualifier, "...if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which

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I, Paul, became a minister." Now let's stand back from this paragraph and attempt to understand how it fits the greater context and purpose that the

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Apostle Paul was writing to this church, in these verses the

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Apostle says before these Christians in the Church of Colossae, their great guilt really in their ingratitude toward God.

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If they allow themselves to be drawn off the centrality and sufficiency of Jesus Christ unto other things, and that's exactly what was happening to Aaron teachers, false doctrine, they were being drawn off Christ and they should be ashamed of themselves.

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Paul had stated that he always thanked God for the spiritual life of these Christians, which was expressed in the paragraph of verses 3 through 8.

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He was thankful that God had given them new life in Christ, that God had delivered them through the gospel that had been proclaimed to them by Epaphras, whom

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Paul describes as a fellow minister. But then

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Paul expressed in the next paragraph, which is contained in verses 9 through 20, that he had been continually praying for their spiritual growth since he heard of their conversion.

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Of course that illustrates for us we ought to be praying for our spiritual growth, it ought to be a regular subject of our prayers, praying that we would grow in our faith and knowledge of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Paul desired they would be filled with the knowledge of God's will so that they would be able to walk in a manner worthy of their calling, living so as to be fully pleasing to the

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Lord. And they would be able to do this by bearing fruit in every good work, and by increasing in the knowledge of God.

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This is how they would bring glory to God. You bring glory to God by learning more of Him and about Him, as well as bearing fruit toward His name in every aspect of life.

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This knowledge was chiefly centered on knowing God through Jesus Christ, whom he then set forth in these beautifully worded verses that we just completed studying, verses 15 through 20.

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Again those nine traits of the Lord Jesus. Paul then declared in the paragraph we just read, verses 21 through 23, that God the

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Father had been working in them and on their behalf through Jesus Christ, reconciling them to Himself, all to the end that they would one day be able to stand before Him in glory.

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That He will be able to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him one day.

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That's what God is doing in your life if you're a Christian. Interestingly the

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Apostle Paul added this one qualifier to this goal. It was contingent on these

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Christians continuing in the faith, stable, steadfast, not shifting from, not form, from the gospel which they had heard and embraced.

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Another way in which we can consider this larger passage may be seen in this outline. Paul's prayerful activity for the saints, verses 9 through 14.

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Secondly, God the Son's preeminent position before the saints, verses 15 through 18.

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And then thirdly, God the Father's redemptive activity through His Son on behalf of the saints.

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But now let's give focus to these verses before us, Colossians 1, 21 through 23, in which we read that God is accomplishing,

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God the Father is accomplishing His plan and purpose that He has for His people. Through Jesus Christ, God the

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Father has reconciled them to Himself. Through Jesus Christ, the Father is causing them to become a holy people before Him.

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Through Jesus Christ, the Father is preparing them so they'll be able to be presented before Him holy, blameless, and above reproach.

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Let's work through these assertions. These are important matters, they have implications.

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First in verse 21 we read of their former condition, and you who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds.

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Before we became Christians, we were alienated from God. Everybody outside of Jesus Christ is alienated from God.

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The verb form that Paul used served to show that this characterized us before God reconciled us unto

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Himself. This was a deeply, there was a deep entrenched alienation on our part toward God and Him toward us.

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The form of the participle had been alienated, as one has said, expresses more forcibly the settledness of our alienation.

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We were committed to being alienated from God. It was a part of our very nature, sinful nature.

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We were committed to our estrangement from God. It was our desire to be so. The Bible describes people outside of Jesus Christ as God -haters, and people react to that.

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Oh, we don't hate God, we love God. No. People, when they are brought into a realization of the true

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God, would crucify Him if given half a chance. They did it once, and they would do it again.

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There's an alienation from the true God, and so we're all by nature idolaters. We reshape

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God so that He's not offensive to us, so that we might like Him and feel close to Him.

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We react to and reject the God, the true God, who reveals Himself to us in Scripture.

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And notice our alienation and hostility were in our minds. We're alienated and hostile toward God in our minds.

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This is how we thought. This is how we assessed ourselves, God, His world, and our place in it. We were estranged from God, not seeing our connection or dependence upon Him for our existence and fulfillment in life.

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Totally severed from Him. And so we were alienated from God, and God was alienated from us.

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His wrath was upon us. Even when we called out to the Lord in our trouble because we were under His wrath, our prayers oftentimes went unanswered.

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Thankfully, God has obligated Himself to answer the prayers of His people. Now, God's a merciful

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God, and God is free to answer the prayer of a non -Christian, but He's not under obligation to do so.

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He has obligated Himself to answer your prayer as a Christian. Thank the

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Lord for that. But often when we were not

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Christian, our prayers went unanswered. We were like those in Micah's day, of whom it was said, then they will cry to the

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Lord, but He will not hear them. He will even hide His face from them at that time, because they have been evil in their deeds.

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And Paul said, before we were converted, that's how we were. But thankfully, again, this describes our former condition in verse 21, not our present condition in Christ.

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Our former condition, before we became the people of God through faith in Christ, we were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.

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As Matthew Henry, the Puritan commentator, wrote, He is the mediator of reconciliation, who procures peace as well as pardon for sinners, who brings them into a state of friendship and favor at present, and will bring all holy creatures, angels as well as men, into one glorious and blessed society at last, things in earth or things in heaven.

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And so, Ephesians 1 .10, He will gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth.

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The word that is the Greek word is anakephalaiosathai.

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That's a long word, a compound Greek word. Right in the middle, you have kephalai.

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That's the Greek word for head. And so, God is bringing all things under one head.

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The Gentiles who were alienated and enemies in their mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled.

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Here, see what was their condition by nature, and in their Gentile state estranged from God, and at enmity with God, and yet this enmity is slain.

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And notwithstanding this distance, we are now reconciled. Christ has laid the foundation for our reconciliation, for He's paid the price of it, has purchased the proffer and promise of it, proclaims it as a prophet, applies it as a king, and observed the greatest enemies to God, who have stood at the greatest distance and bidden

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Him defiance, may be reconciled if it by not their own fault.

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In other words, if they do it in ignorance. You cannot earn mercy, of course.

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Mercy, by definition, is God giving us what we don't deserve. But you can't forfeit mercy.

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You can't merit mercy, earn mercy, demand mercy, but you can't forfeit it through knowingly fighting against God and His Word.

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And that's what Henry is mentioning there, or saying. So, that was our former condition, you who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.

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In fact, everything that we did before becoming a Christian, in the sight of God, was evil. We didn't do the things we did because we loved

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God. We didn't do them because God had commanded us to do them. We did them because we wanted to do them. And so, even the best things that we did were evil as far as God was concerned.

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Proverbs says that even the plowing of the wicked man, a farmer out there plowing the field, is sin, because he's not doing it to honor

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God. He's not doing it because God, you know he can please God, or honor God through that.

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Evil deeds, this is what characterized us as far as God was concerned. But now, their present condition, verse 22, thankfully,

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He's now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death. These ones that were formerly alienated, formerly hostile in mind, now

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He is reconciled in His body of flesh by His death. It was God who took the initiative to reconcile

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His people unto Himself. God had performed the work necessary for reconciliation between these two disparate and irreconcilable parties,

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God and sinners. And so, God has reconciled sinners through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

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As F. F. Bruce wrote, but now the great change has been effected. Those who were once far away from God have been brought close to Him.

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Those who used to be at war with Him are now at peace with Him. For Christ has reconciled us to God in the body of His flesh through His death.

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The historic act accomplished on our behalf once for all by the death of Christ is brought into close relation with what takes place in our own experience when we enter into peace with God.

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And then I like this last statement that F. F. Bruce gave, when the work done for us is made effective in us when we came to Christ.

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Respecting the matter of God reconciling sinners to Himself, Arthur Pink, he wrote an entire book on reconciliation that I dug out last night and realized just how superficial and shallow we're treating this today when

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I was looking at Pink's work. And I wanted to include this quote. We saw that the author of reconciliation is

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God, and more particularly God the Father, in the development of which we pointed out that the recovery of His fallen elect proceeds from the good pleasure of His will or the eternal purpose for which

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He purposed in Himself. That gracious design was suggested by none other, and no external motive influenced

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Him. No necessity was upon Him to form such a resolution. It was simply

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His own sovereign design, I will show mercy. Yet it was

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His own nature which prompted His decision. It originated in the everlasting love which

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God bore to His elect, a love so great that even their awful sins could not quench nor produce any change in it.

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Nevertheless, since the divine holiness was infinitely antagonized by sin, divine justice required that full satisfaction should be made for the dishonor it had wrought.

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Not but divine wisdom could find a way in which love and law were perfectly harmonized and solve the problem of how mercy and justice might alike maintain its ground without the slightest compromise, yea, issue from the conflict honorable and glorious.

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Boy, that's a truism isn't it? Who could ever devise such a thing? God alone.

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God brought reconciliation between Him and us through the body of Christ's flesh, that is through His death.

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It was God reconciling sinners to Himself. God has become reconciled to us.

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We often think that we're reconciled to God, and that's a truism, but God was reconciled to us as well through the death of us.

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Alienated from God to effect His own reconciliation with God. This is something that had to come from God.

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This is a longer quote, but it's a good one. They usually are coming from His pen. The wrong done by sin unto

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God was so incalculably enormous, and His hatred of the same is so great that only a perfect and infinitely meritorious satisfaction could appease

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Him. And obviously such a satisfaction could be rendered by none but a person of infinite dignity and worth.

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Our sins are committed against the infinite majesty of heaven, and therefore are they infinitely culpable.

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And unless an atonement of infinite value is made for us, our sins must entail infinite suffering.

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Therefore the punishment of the wicked is necessarily eternal. Sin, so far as it could do so, struck at the very throne of God.

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It was an act of high treason, a disowning of His authority, an attempt on the part of the creature to overthrow the divine government.

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Sin has made such a breach in the order of things appointed by God that no mere creature could possibly repair it, least of all man, for he is the culprit, guilty, and defiled.

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If then the breach is to be healed, God must lay help upon one that is mighty.

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Psalm 89, 19, writing on the heinousness of human guilt,

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James Hervey said, 10 ,000 volumes written on purpose to display the aggravations of my various acts of disobedience could not so effectually convince me of their inconceivable enormity as a consideration of that all -glorious person who, to make an atonement for them, spilt the last drop of his blood.

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I have sinned. May every child of Adam say, and what shall I do unto you,

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O you observer of men? In other words, what shall I do to you, O God? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

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Vain commutation, and such as would be rejected by the blessed God with the utmost abhorrence.

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Will all the potentates that sway the scepter in a thousand kingdoms devote their royal and honored lives to rescue an obnoxious creature from the stroke of vengeance?

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Alas, it must cost more, incomparably more, to expiate the malignity of sin and save a guilty rat from hell.

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Will all the principalities of heaven be content to assume my nature and resign themselves to death for my pardon?

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Even this would be too mean a satisfaction for inexorable justice to scanty a reparation of God's injured honor.

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So flagrant is human guilt that nothing but a victim of infinite dignity could constitute an adequate propitiation.

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He who said, Let there be light, and there was light. Let there be a firmament, and immediately the blue curtains floated to the sky.

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He must take flesh. He must feel the fierce torments of crucifixion and pour out his soul in agonies, if ever such transgressors are pardoned.

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And then pink resumes. There could be no satisfaction for the sinner without atonement.

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For God has declared, He will by no means clear the guilty. Equally evident is it that no atonement can be made by the violator of God's law.

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For he can neither provide reparation for past offenses, being a moral bankrupt, devoid of any merit, nor render perfect obedience in the present, being a depraved creature.

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God's law requires righteousness of character before it will receive righteousness of conduct, and therefore a fallen creature is utterly disqualified to render acceptable obedience.

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The law will not compound with our sinfulness by modifying its holy requirements.

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Pay that which you owe is an unchanging demand. And yet Paul emphasized that this act of reconciliation has taken place.

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We're no longer alienated, but we've been reconciled. And we've been reconciled to the body of Jesus Christ when he died.

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And that's what is meant by the body of his flesh through his death. Perhaps Paul was refuting the teaching that was already circulating in the region that Jesus Christ was not a true man, but only appeared to be like a man, for God cannot become flesh or human.

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Paul was asserting that God was reconciling sinners to the death of the physical body of Jesus Christ, and that's important.

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But even if Paul himself was not doing so, the Holy Spirit was superintending

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Paul's writing. He had set it forth in this way that would later serve to repudiate full -orb

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Gnosticism in the second century, the Gnostic error respecting the person of Christ.

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So William Hendrickson rightly said. It should be added, however, that the Holy Spirit who inspired

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Colossians, as well as the rest of Scripture, foresaw the time when the Dosetics, that was one form of Gnosticism, would be teaching that Jesus Christ appeared to men in a spiritual body, and since he had no physical body, only seemed to suffer and die on the cross.

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Colossians 1 .22 gives the lie to that theory. And he's absolutely right.

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The statement of verse 22 of Colossians 1 completely repudiates that Gnostic heresy regarding the person of Christ.

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It was through the human body of Jesus dying that brought reconciliation to sinners.

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Well the Apostle after referencing their former condition, verse 21, then their present condition, verse 22a, he then sets forth

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God's ultimate purpose in His work of reconciliation, verse 22b. And so here we read of their future condition.

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And you who are once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He is now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death.

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And here it is, it's a purpose clause, in order that describes the purpose for which

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God was doing these things. In order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.

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So here we read of God's purpose of reconciling His people unto Himself through the death of Jesus. It was in order that He will be able to present you, if you're a

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Christian, He did this in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.

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And God will be successful in accomplishing this purpose for every one of His people, reconciled to Himself through the death of Jesus.

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This was the end to which reconciliation was directed through the death of Jesus Christ, the reconciliation that was secured between our

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God and us. God has secured for our future entrance into a state of glorification.

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It wasn't just so you would no longer feel guilty about your sins. He has a larger picture in mind.

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He has a holy God. And through Christ He's made a way that you're going to be holy when you stand before Him.

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That's the only way you can stand before Him and not be utterly rejected and damned at the prospect.

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This is an amazing thing. He has secured our future entrance into our state of glorification.

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Again, this is not just for some Christians, the devoted and dedicated, the so -called sold -out

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Christians. God will see to it that every Christian will be presented before Him as one who is holy, blameless, and above reproach.

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Think about that. Now this presentation by God of us in His presence in this manner will take place when we're summoned before the

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Lord Jesus Christ in judgment, on the Day of Judgment. God has appointed a day on which

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He will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He has ordained, even Jesus Christ. One event, one general resurrection, one general judgment, a separation of all humanity into Christian and non -Christian.

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Eternal life, eternal hell will be the outcome of this judgment. And we speak of this matter of a general judgment frequently, and the reason we do so is because most evangelicals are not taught this because of their views of end times and eschatology.

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For the last 150 years or so, the idea of a general judgment of all humanity on a great

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Day of Judgment has not been taught to evangelicals, to Protestants, Bible believers.

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Prior to 150 years ago, it was the common understanding. And you look at all the old confessions of faith and they foretold a single

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Day of Judgment in which the righteous and unrighteous are separated, they all being judged by Christ, Jesus Christ, according to their works.

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The Baptist Confession of 1689 declares, God has appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the

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Father, in which day not only the apostate angel shall be judged, but likewise all persons that have lived upon the earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.

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Most evangelicals are taught that they'll not have any part in that kind of judgment, in which

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Jesus Christ will consign people to hell. They're told their judgment for rewards will be a thousand and seven years before the judgment of the damned.

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But this is not what the scriptures teach. There will be a general judgment of all mankind. On that day our works will either damn us or our works will exonerate us.

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Our works will not be meritorious, of course, they cannot be, but they are evidentiary.

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In other words, our works are evidence that we're believers. They provide confirming evidence before all that we are true believers in Jesus Christ, that we're not heretics, we're not hypocrites, and we're not apostates, but rather true believers.

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And a judgment of works will bear that out on that great day. Paul was writing to hypocrites in Romans 2, and we read of this general judgment of mankind, in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds.

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And then he breaks it down. Eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality.

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See, eternal life is given, it's a gift, it's free. And this describes Christians. But to those who are self -seeking and who do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, what do they receive?

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Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, of the

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Jew first and also the Greek. But again he goes back to the other side, but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the

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Jew first and also to the Greek, for there's no partiality with God. You and I are not going to be judged according to a different standard.

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We're going to be judged according to God's law on that day. Our Lord said the same thing in more simple terms, in a condensed way.

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John 5, Do not marvel at this, the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth.

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Sounds like a general resurrection, doesn't it? All who are in the graves. Not believers coming out of the grave and then a thousand and seven years later the unbelievers coming out of the grave for the

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Great White Throne Judgment. But all who are in the graves will come forth. Those that have done good onto the resurrection of life, those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

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Good as the Bible defines it, of course. And true

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Christians, this describes true Christians, how they live. Now we again emphasize this doctrine because it's not taught commonly or widely.

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It should cause us to be watchful for ourselves. It should move us to be responsive to the Lord according to his word, seeking to be, purposing to be, found in him when he comes.

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As Peter exhorted his Christian readers, therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation for the second coming of Christ.

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As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance, but as he who has called you as holy, you also be holy in all your conduct because it's written, be holy for I am holy.

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And if you call on the Father who without, here it is, I put it in bold italic, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear.

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We got a judgment that we've got to face one day and no one of us is going to escape it. It's a serious matter.

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However, please understand what we're saying here and what we're not saying. When it says that we're to live in fear,

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God did not intend for us to live in terror of that day, but rather in reverential fear.

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And there's a big difference. For if a true Christian is fearful of that day of judgment that's coming upon the world, he or she is not thinking rightly.

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For God has purposed in Jesus Christ through his death, as we go back to Colossians 1, 21, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

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This is his work. It's not your or mine, my work, thankfully.

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When our works are examined and it's demonstrated that God had wrought a work of saving grace in our lives and seen in our words, attitudes, and actions, we will stand fully, completely, holy, blameless, above reproach before him.

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You will stand as a Christian, having the righteousness of Christ credited to you in your judgment, so that even your weak, flawed, imperfect works will be shown to have been wrought by God.

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And God will see to it that the believer's deeds may manifest that they are wrought in God.

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Jesus spoke in Matthew 25 that some are going to be surprised that day, when did we see you naked that we clothed you, in prison that we visited you?

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There are going to be some perhaps that are surprised. But in reality this is what characterized their life, inasmuch as you've done it to the least of these my brethren, in other words they loved

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Christians, you've done it unto me, enter into the joy of thy Lord. The fact is, because of our standing in Jesus Christ through faith alone, not only may we not be in terror respecting our judgment, but we may actually be bold in Christ to stand before him in judgment.

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We can anticipate it as a glorious day that we will enjoy, if we're thinking rightly.

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1 John 4, 17 reads, Love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is so we are in the world.

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That's an amazing statement, isn't it? How can you and I be bold in the day of judgment? How can we stand before him and not be terrorized?

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It's because we will know that God has purposed in Christ and secured for us through Jesus Christ that we will indeed be presented holy and blameless and without reproach upon in his presence on that day.

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The grandfather of Jonathan Edwards out here in Northampton pastored the

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Congregational Church, not for 60 years, but 55 years. Jonathan Edwards became the pastor after his grandfather.

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Well, Stoddard wrote a wonderful book with a wonderful title that every true Christian should take to heart,

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Safety of Appearing on the Day of Judgment and the Righteousness of Christ. Great title.

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And I pulled it out and looked at the table of contents, and I listed the table of contents from this book.

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Chapter 1, the introduction showing the difficulty of believing this truth. Is there truly safety in appearing on the day of judgment and the righteousness of Christ?

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And then he addresses two things premised by this. Chapter 3, the proposition, it is a safe thing to appear in the righteousness of Christ.

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And so the first argument is because Christ's righteousness is the righteousness of the law. We're going to be judged by God's law.

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And the righteousness that will stand in is Christ's righteousness, which is a righteousness in perfect accordance to the law.

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The second argument, Chapter 4, from the prophecies and types of the Old Testament. The third argument from God's love and giving his son to die for us.

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The fourth argument from the exaltation of Christ. The fifth argument, Chapter 5, from the promise of salvation to all those that believe in the righteousness of Christ.

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The sixth argument from the command to believe Christ's righteousness. The seventh argument, Chapter 6, from the

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Spirit's assuring men of the truth of the gospel. The eighth argument from God bestowing the beginnings of salvation believers here in this world.

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The ninth argument from the sacraments of the New Testament. And now

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I added the tenth argument, the conversion of sinners by the gospel and evidence of the truth of this doctrine.

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Eleventh argument, the pouring out of the Spirit in the time of the primitive church. And then he addresses two objections against this doctrine answered.

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And then the typical Puritan way, he gives a very direct application. Use one, reproof to those who seek salvation by their own righteousness.

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Use two, examination whether men believe in the righteousness of Christ. Use three, exhortation to awaken sinners to believe on the righteousness of Christ.

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And Chapter 11, use four, exhortation to saints to live by faith upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ for your acceptance.

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So we need not be fearful, and you should not be fearful of the day of judgment if you're in Christ, because God has purposed to present you holy without blame before Him on that day.

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And so if we're thinking rightly and walking rightly in fellowship with our Savior and His people, we should have a deep settled peace and even anticipation of that day.

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Because on that day our profession of faith will be vindicated, our detractors will be corrected, and we will be owned by our

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Lord as His brethren of whom He is not ashamed. That's a wonderful thing, is it not?

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But then we read this condition in verse 23. The future blessing of salvation was contingent upon their faithfulness to Jesus Christ.

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And you who are once alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, He's now reconciled in His body and flesh by His death in order to present you holy and blameless above reproach before Him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.

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There's the condition. Obviously, He's not saying that you're saved by your own work, your own effort.

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But saving faith is a continuing faith, isn't it? Saving faith is persevering faith. And so it's true that you must continue in the faith.

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God's power will see to it that you do. We're kept by God's power through faith unto the salvation that will be revealed on the last day.

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And the fact is, and again we have to close, unfortunately, but there are many places throughout the scriptures in which the

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Lord promises that He will keep His own. In fact, one of the evidences of being a

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Christian is that you continue in the faith. One of the evidences that you were never a Christian is you're only in the faith for a while and then you walk away, rejecting

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Christ fully and finally. And I've got several confessions of faith that describe this matter of the perseverance of the saints and how

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God will keep His own. There are many verses, and I cited them for several pages.

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There are verses in scripture that speak of God's ability to keep His own. And then, thankfully, there are verses that speak of God's, of the certainty of God's keeping

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His own. He's able and He will. Numerous passages that speak about this.

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And so, it is God who keeps His people secure so they will persevere. And yet there are verses like this, verse 23, that speak of the

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Christian's responsibility to continue in the faith and is not inconsistent or in contradiction to those other passages.

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God will cause His people to persevere, but you have a responsibility to preserve your soul as God enables you, through Christ, through the

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Holy Spirit, to continue in the faith, steadfast. There's no salvation promised to a temporary believer, but rather salvation is promised to the one who believes, not who did once believe, but who believes unto the saving of the soul.

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Saving faith is ongoing faith because saving faith is faith born of God and sustained by the power of God and therefore cannot be extinguished in a true

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Christian. And there are numerous verses that speak so.

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We are not those who fall back or draw back into perdition, but rather we are those who believe unto the saving of the soul is what the writer of the

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Hebrews wrote in Hebrews chapter 10. And so, we have confidence, or we should have confidence, not terror regarding that future judgment.

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God is doing a work of sanctification in your life if you're a Christian. He's preparing you. And on that day,

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Jesus Christ is the judge, but He's also the advocate. He's the defender of His people.

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And we've got the court stacked in our favor, isn't it? No condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.

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But again, we have a responsibility to continue in the faith, not to be careless.

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We don't want to be hypocrites who claim we believe, but whose life says something else. That'll be a terrible ruin and awakening on the day of judgment when the

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Lord has already said, there'll be many on that day who will say unto me, Lord, Lord, you know, why aren't

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I saved? Didn't I believe? Didn't I preach? Didn't I do many things?

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Depart from me, you wicked one, I never knew you. You who live or have committed lawlessness.

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But that's not true for the Christian. He has purposed every true Christian here, you're going to be holy because you're going to stand in Christ without blame.

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Think about that. Fully accepted and owned by Christ.

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And those outside of Christ, how ashamed they will be. How envious can you imagine they will be when they see people, sinners, freely brought into eternal life, totally and wholly by grace and God's mercy, and they themselves cast out.

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What a horror that must be or will be in eternity, a sense of regret, you know, a torment of conscience.

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Why didn't I hear that preacher more carefully? Why didn't I turn to Christ?

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Why didn't I believe? Why did I let my life be governed by my lusts? And here

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I am in a Christless eternity is opening before me. What a sense of regret and remorse that will be.

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And I hope and I pray that will not be the case for any one of us. But each of us will stand in that glorious on that glorious day and that wonderful position in Christ, holy, without blame, without reproach, even at the very bar of God, as we're being judged by God's holy law.

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Thank God for Jesus Christ, our Passover, who sacrificed for us.

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Amen. Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for this word and the comfort that it brings to us.

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We know our God, that there was a situation there in the first century at Colossae that that moved

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Paul to write this epistle in this way. And yet we thank we're thankful for the abiding truths that the

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Holy Spirit has given us in this word. Help us, our Lord, to understand these things, believe these things, take them to heart and help us, our

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Lord, to anticipate the coming of the Lord Jesus. Maranatha, may he come for we pray in Jesus name.