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Redemption and Forgiveness, April 11
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
Ephesians 1:7
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The grace of Christ is freely to justify the sinner without merit or
claim on his part. Justification is a full, complete pardon of sin. The
moment a sinner accepts Christ by faith, that moment he is pardoned.
The righteousness of Christ is imputed to him, and he is no more to
doubt God’s forgiving grace.
There is nothing in faith that makes it our saviour. Faith cannot
remove our guilt. Christ is the power of God unto salvation to all them
that believe. The justification comes through the merits of Jesus Christ.
He has paid the price for the sinner’s redemption. Yet it is only through
faith in His blood that Jesus can justify the believer.
The sinner cannot depend upon his own good works as a means of
justification. He must come to the point where he will renounce all
his sin, and embrace one degree of light after another as it shines upon
his pathway. He simply grasps by faith the free and ample provision
made in the blood of Christ. He believes the promises of God, which
through Christ are made unto him sanctification and righteousness and
redemption. And if he follows Jesus, he will walk humbly in the light,
rejoicing in the light and diffusing that light to others.
Let the repenting sinner fix his eyes upon “the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world.” ... When we see Jesus, a Man of
Sorrows and acquainted with grief, working to save the lost, slighted,
scorned, derided, driven from city to city till His mission was accom-
plished; when we behold Him in Gethsemane, sweating great drops of
blood, and on the cross dying in agony—when we see this, self will
no longer clamor to be recognized. Looking unto Jesus, we shall be
ashamed of our coldness, our lethargy, our self-seeking. We shall be
willing to be anything or nothing, so that we may do heart service for
the Master. We shall rejoice to bear the cross after Jesus, to endure trial,
shame, or persecution for His dear sake.
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