Month: May 2018

Paul’s Gospel

On By Charles MillerIn W.R. NewellLeave a comment

By William R. Newell

THERE are two great revelators, or unfolders of Divine Truth in the Bible — Moses in the Old Testament and Paul in the New.

Someone may say, “Is not Christ the Great Teacher?” In a sense this is true; but in a real sense Christ is the Person taught about, rather than teaching in the Gospels. The Law and the Prophets pointed forward to Christ; the Epistles point back to Him; and the Book of Revelation points to His Second Coming, and those things connected with it. The Four Gospels tell the story how He was revealed to men and rejected by them. Christ, Himself, therefore is the theme of the Bible. Moses in the Law reveals God’s holiness, and thus by means of the Law reveals human sin and the utter hopelessness and helplessness of man. Paul in his great Epistles reveals Christ as our Righteousness, Sanctification, Redemption, and All-in-All.

The twelve Apostles (Matthias by Divine appointment taking the place of Judas) were to be the “witnesses” (Acts 1:22) of Christ’s resurrection — that is, of the fact of it. They were not to unfold fully the doctrine of it as Paul was. The twelve were with Jesus personally and knew Him as a man, and when He died they saw it. When He was buried, they knew it personally as eye-witnesses. And when He was raised, they found it out experimentally, visiting His actual tomb and seeing that it was empty. They were also to see and handle the physical, risen body of our Lord. And it was with them that our Lord abode on earth forty days after His resurrection, “shewing Himself alive [physically, in a body] by many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3).

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Propitiation — What the Cross Means to God

On By Charles MillerIn Romans StudyLeave a comment

Romans 3:25 – 26 — “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

There is much that the Scripture shows of what the cross of Christ means to the sinner.  The verse prior to these that are under consideration speaks of justification freely given by grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  But toward God, Christ is the propitiation:

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How Should a Man be Just with God?

On By Charles MillerIn Gospel, Romans Study, SalvationLeave a comment

Romans 3:21 – 26 — “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

A man with a record of his life that he was perfect and upright, that he feared God, and eschewed evil, had to ask the question, “How should a man be just with God?” (Job 9:2)

The precious words that the Apostle Paul said leading up to these life giving words were words of indictment against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of man.  All are guilty.  All are concluded under sin.  There is none righteous, no, not one. Continue reading “How Should a Man be Just with God?” →

The Mercy Seat

On By Charles MillerIn Gospel, Romans, SalvationLeave a comment

Ark of the Covenant

Exodus 25:17–22 — “And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.  And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.  And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end:  even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.  And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.  And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”

Exodus 30:6 — “And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.“

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Shut Up, You’re Guilty

On By Charles MillerIn Romans Study2 Comments

Romans 3:19 – 20 — “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Leading into this pivotal paragraph in the Apostle’s declaration of the gospel of Christ, we learn the truth about what the law really is.  Looking at verse 19, we see to whom the law is speaking:  it is speaking to them that are under it.  Who is under it then?

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