Other Sheep I Have

 

Other Sheep I Have

John 10:16

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

            Here our Lord declares: (1.) He has other sheep, (2.) The other sheep are not of the Jewish fold, (3.) He must bring His other sheep, (4.) His other sheep shall hear His voice (5.) There shall be but one fold, (6.) There shall be but one Shepherd.

(1.)  “And other sheep I have” Our Lord Jesus declares that He has other sheep. In scripture, things that have been kept secret in God are called mysteries, and this is one of those mysteries, “that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:” (Ephesians 3:6) Mysteries must be revealed by God, and God reveals them to whom He will; “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” (Matthew 13:11, see Matthew 13:10-17). Here our Lord stated a fact, that is, that He had at that time other sheep. We learn that the Gentiles are the other sheep, (Ephesians 3:6) and many other scriptures reveal that truth. The Gentiles had at that time not yet been grafted in to the common wealth of Israel, but were still considered aliens, foreigners, strangers, having no hope, and with out God in the world (Ephesians 2: 11, 12). But in the secret counsel of God, and “according to His eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:” (Ephesians 3:11), Christ Jesus had a people from among the Gentiles that were truly His, (because they had been chosen in Christ and given Him of His Father before the foundation of the world, (Ephesians 1:4, 5; John 17:2; II Tim. 1:9; Acts 13:48; John 6:37, 39). The sheep were Christ’s, He said I have other sheep, He came to this world to redeem His own sheep, both Jew and Gentile according to the will of the Father “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). The italicized for all here, is added by the translators, and has the force of once only, and never to be repeated.      

(2.)  The other sheep are not of the Jewish fold, they are Christ’s by the gift of His Father from among the Gentiles. These with those of the Jewish fold were lost in the fall of Adam, their common natural ancestor, who was the representative and federal head of the race of natural men. As Adam is the head and representative of the natural race of men so Christ is the Head and representative of the spiritual race of men. Christ Jesus is the Surety and Mediator for that group of persons who were given Him of the Father from everlasting to whom spiritual life will be given according to the will of the Father. These other sheep were lost in the fall, but they were Christ’s sheep though lost sheep. They were Christ’s sheep because they were given to Christ of the Father from everlasting and, they were set apart (sanctified) in Christ when elected in Christ because the Father had loved them Jeremiah 31:3). In the fifteenth chapter of Luke our Lord sets forth His concern in lost things, lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son, in each case the owner never gave up ownership, but reclaimed that which was His own. So it is with the lost sheep of Christ, for He said, “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (John 6:39).

(3.)  Them also must I bring; Christ’s other sheep, though lost sheep must be found and brought to a state of glory. The Apostle Paul writes “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (II Thessalonians 2:13, 14). The Apostle Peter writes “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through, the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who hath called us to glory and virtue:” (II Peter 1:2, 3). The price of our redemption, justification, sanctification, and knowledge of God is the most high. We having fallen in Adam, are guilty of offending our God. Adam’s sin is imputed to all his children, for all his posterity was in him when he sinned against God. Though we did not personally eat of the forbidden fruit, yet being in Adam when he did eat, his sin is imputed to all his children. So that according to Divine Justice we are all guilty before God. And not only that but we are made partakers of Adam’s fallen nature, and therefore are sinners by birth, habit, and nature. In order to bring His lost sheep to final glory our Lord Jesus had to make reparation to the honor of the August Majesty of God, He had to satisfy Devine justice by offering Himself in the room and stead of His own sheep. Christ Jesus had to endure the curse of the law of God on behalf of His sheep and in their stead, to propitiate God, to reconcile God, to may peace for His sheep, and to bring them to God. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4) The sheep of Christ had sinned and therefore must die, but before the world was formed Christ Jesus had agreed to be surety for all those the Father had given Him, therefore to pay the infinite debt of His sheep Christ must stand in their place before God as the guilty one, though He had no transgression of His own, yet by imputation the sin of all His sheep were laid on Him, (Isaiah 53:6) and He must pay. And He must pay personally, by bloody sweat, tears, terrors of God and His law, the billows of God’s wrath sweeping over Him, by enduring our penalty of hell, (Psalm 18:45, 5) in His own person. Thus did Christ Jesus pay the debt of His sheep, by the death of the cross, the most horrible death, and thus did Christ appease God for transgression of His lost sheep. Christ Jesus “made peace through the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:20) for His own sheep.

(4.)  And they shall hear my voice, Christ’s lost sheep shall hear His voice. With spiritual life comes the hearing ear, otherwise the natural ear is dead to the things of the Spirit of God (Ephesians 2:1; I Corinthians 2:14). “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God” (John 8:47) “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:26-28). He that hears God’s words is one that is given life in Christ through grace, by grace he is enabled to hear and believe the words of God, and is made willing in the day of God’s power toward him, and therefore is willing to seek the Lord because of life that is given him. Men seek the Lord because God has saved them, men believe God because God has saved them, every spiritual act requires spiritual life as its prerequisite. Persons who are given life through grace are made able and willing to repent of their sins and former religious idolatry, and they are made able to believe the gospel, otherwise the dead can do nothing. As our Lord said “for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

(5.)  And there shall be one fold, The Lord Jesus has but one church, one spouse, and one body, all of these are names given to the elect company of saints. Christ’s church is called by many names, the Apostle Paul writes “But ye are come to the mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:22-24). “There is one body, (the church of God) and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). And this is because “by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (I Corinthians 12:13). Christ Jesus has broken down the middle wall of partition (the Law of Moses) between the Jew and the Gentiles; observe the words of the Apostle Paul: “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the common wealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body on the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which were far off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Ephesians 2: 12-18). 

(6.)  There shall be but one shepherd, That is the Lord Jesus Christ, “I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:” (Psalm 89:20) King David was the Old Testament type of God’s King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus is the antitypical King David, and it is He whom God has made both Lord and Christ, (Acts 2: 36) it is written of our Lord Jesus Christ “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion” (Psalm 2:6). This God did at the ascension and cession of Jesus Christ at the right hand of God, where all power and right to rule is put in His hand by God, and where He sits in perfect ease as the anointed Prophet, Priest, and King, reigning over all persons, places, and things. It is Jesus Christ who as God the creator has the right to rule, and it is Jesus Christ who as God-Man Mediator having finished the work that the Father gave Him to do has earned the right to rule, it is Jesus Christ that is seated at the right hand of power in the heavens who is directing all things to their appointed end. God in His essential essence; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost has put all power in the hand of His King Jesus Christ, who at this hour, by His providential administration, directs the events of this universe, to bring to pass the purpose of God which was pitched upon by infinite wisdom in eternity past. It is Jesus Christ who must reign until He has destroyed all the enemies of God and His people, the last enemy to be destroyed is death, (I Corinthians 15:26). In this age of grace, which proceeds the kingdom of glory for the people of God. Jesus Christ has destroyed the works of the devil, (I John 3:8) and in His kingdom has abolished death, (II Timothy 1:10). For through His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has broken the power of death and the grave, (I Corinthians 15: 54-56; Hosea 13:14) and of Satan who is said to have the power of death, (Hebrews 2:14) which He exercised when he deceived the woman and brought mankind under death through sin in the fall of Adam, who was the legal, federal, covenant, and natural head of the race of natural men. The sin of Adam brought his seed into sin, the curse, and death. The perfect obedience of Jesus Christ to the law of God, on the behalf of His people; and His perfect obedience to the will of His Father in His sufferings, blood shedding and death, in the room and stead of His people, have brought all His people into perfect righteousness, (Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16) absolute non-imputation of sin, (II Corinthians 5: 19; Romans 4:8) perfect holiness in Jesus Christ, (I Corinthians 1:30) and unquestionable acceptance in Christ (Ephesians 1:6) “For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14). Therefore let the children of God rest, in the finished work of the Jesus Christ, and wait the for certain return of the King of Glory.

       A.J.Ison

The Election Hath Obtained It

The Election Hath Obtained It

Romans 11:7

“What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded”

                       

            “What then ?” Here begins the exposition of the answer which the Apostle Paul had given to the question; “Hath God cast away his people?” (Romans 11:1) In verse one the question had been anticipated and in verse two the Apostle had given the answer “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew” though God had determined to cast away the nation (Matthew 22:7) yet not His people which He foreknew. God had determined to give up the nation to their evil ways and this determination was brought to fruition in A.D. 70 by the Roman armies in the destruction of Jerusalem. Still God had not cast away his people which he foreknew, for His people “whom he did foreknow” (Romans 8:29) are His “remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5). These individual persons, for such they are, are “the children of the prophets, and of the covenant” (Acts 3:25), they are children of the prophets, for the prophets spoke of them in the Old Testament, they prophesied of them before they were called into being, and they are the “children of the covenant” for God knew them in the covenant of grace from everlasting, which covenant is in Christ Jesus (Isaiah 42:6; 49:8) in whom they were chosen “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4;) and “from the beginning” (II Thessalonians 2:13). The remnant according to the election of grace is that body of particular individual persons, whether Jews or Gentiles, which God has known in Christ from everlasting, whom God loved in Christ as He loved Christ, (John 17:23). The remnant according to the election of grace is the church of God, “which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:23). For it is written “Not as though the word of God had taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, (natural seed or national Israel) are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed” (Romans 9:6-8).

            “Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for;”  “But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness” (Romans 9:31). Israel sought acceptance by God through a justifying righteousness. But Israel obtained not that which he sought. Israel did not find a righteous standing in the sight of God because they did not seek it through faith in Jesus Christ. “Wherefore?  Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at the stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling stone and a rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 9:32, 33). Those who are “Israel after the flesh” (I Corinthians 10:18) sought a righteous standing by the works of the law, that is, “Israel after the flesh” sought to justify themselves in the sight of God by their own personal works of righteousness. They were of the same mind as those of old who said to Moses “Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it. And the Lord heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. O that there was such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it may be well with them, and with their children forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:27-29).

Men by the light of nature aided by the light of reason know nothing of “the righteousness of God” (Romans 1:17) “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:3, 4). Isaiah the Prophet gives us a very clear picture of our own righteousness “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6). The righteousness of God is in Christ Jesus, He is “THE LORD OUR RIGTHEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:6) and this perfect righteousness is upon everyone that believes on Him as such “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:” (Romans 3:22). Those that go about to establish their own righteousness by their own personal works are an affront to God and His law; to God, because they do not seek Him in the way He has appointed, and to His law, because they being sinners by nature, habit, and choice, believe they are able to fulfill the law of God. Those who go about to establish their own righteousness, do by implication declare that they have no need of Christ the Mediator, Christ the Great High Priest, Christ the Propitiation, Christ the Advocate, nor Christ the Surety, not to mention Christ the Prophet, Priest and King of His people; to all of which offices God in great mercy has appointed Jesus Christ for men.   

            “but the election hath obtained it” The election hath, in all ages, obtained the righteousness which is of God through faith in Jesus Christ. It is written of Noah “And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1). It was not that God saw Noah as righteous in and of himself, it was that God had given Noah faith in the promised Seed of woman (Genesis 3:15) and accounted the righteousness, of that Righteous One in whom Noah trusted, to Noah. And therefore God saw Noah clothed in that righteousness which in time Jesus Christ would establish. And again, our Lord Jesus said to the Jews “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56). Abraham also looked forward to the promised Seed of woman, and by faith saw, that God appointed representative of the people of God, and trusted his soul to the keeping of that one whom God in due time would send. For it is said of Abraham “And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Abraham “believed in the Lord” by which is meant Abraham believed God, Abraham believed God’s promise or God’s word. Abraham “against hope believed in hope, (there was, according to nature, no possibility that Abraham would be the natural father of children by Sarah, but that was the promise of God) that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, (the promise of God) So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able to perform. And therefore it was imputed (or accounted, reckoned) to him for righteousness (Romans 4: 19-22). So it has been in all the following generations to the present time, God’s elect out of every generation has been blessed to believe the word of God.

What then is the blessedness involved in believing God’s word?  What hath the election obtained? The Apostle Paul answers “to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Romans 4:5-8). And this is the case of all who actually believe the good news of the accomplishments of the Christ of God, for “their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their off spring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:9, 10). The “remnant according to the election grace” (Romans 11:5) were espoused to Christ before the world was made, they have had an interest in all that Christ did from everlasting, for Christ spoke for them as advocate in eternity before time, and all that Christ did in time He did in union with His people. Therefore the people of God are clothed in the perfect righteousness that was established by Jesus Christ, and it is by God given faith that they are made aware of that blessedness in which they stand before God. In Jesus Christ they are absolutely perfect in righteousness and holiness, for Christ is that to them. For “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (I Corinthians 1:30, 31).

            “and the rest were blinded” These that are styled “the rest” are blinded by that, that is within themselves. For by one sin, committed by one human nature or one man, all who were in him as branches in the family tree, are fallen into sin and ruin. As members of the natural race of men we all inherit a nature that is evil, the bond slave of sin, for even the thought of sin is sin, and the desire to commit a sin is the sin committed in the heart (Matthew 5:28). Our Lord Jesus said “Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” (John 8:34) The Apostle Paul declares that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and that “the scriptures have concluded all under sin,” (Galatians 3:22). Therefore all unregenerate persons are the bond slaves of sin, or are the servants of sin, and therefore will perish in sin unless they are delivered from the condemning power of sin.

With the regenerate it is not so, for though they are sinners in themselves, yet sin can never be imputed to them, for their sins have already been laid on Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, that is, the sins of all the elect have been imputed to the head of the election grace, Jesus Christ (Isaiah 42:1; 53:6). Therefore they speak foolishly who affirm that Christ Jesus died for all men without exception, for if that were the case, then all men without exception would absolutely be saved, which according to the word of God is not to be. The corrupted nature of all natural men has blinded their eyes, and stopped their ears, and hardened their heart, so that they cannot see the Kingdom of God, hear it’s truth, nor understand the things of the gospel, for our Lord Jesus said “Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God,” (John 3:3). All who are born in the natural race of men are born blind to the things of God, and will perish in that blindness, unless God in sovereign mercy rescues them from their own evil nature and ways. “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins” (Proverbs 5:22). “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquities, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it: but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment” (Isaiah 1:4-6). This is the case of all natural men and in this condition must they perish, unless the Sovereign Mercy of God Intervene. Let not the free-will-works religionist think he stands in better stead before God, for he has declared his decision is that thing that has brought salvation, his own will, void of the sovereign grace of God, is the root cause of his turning from death to life; Oh! But he does not know that he is now even more tightly held in the clutches of Satan, for he is deceived by Satan through another gospel, (Galatians 1:6) which concerns another Jesus (II Corinthians 11:4).

            Second: Sinners are the lawful captives of Satan. “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive be delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children” (Isaiah 49:24, 25). Notice, Dear Reader, it is the children that are to be delivered, not one who makes a decision, but one who is a child of the everlasting covenant of grace (Acts 3:25), one of the Lord’s little ones. For the children are such by the stipulations of the covenant, by eternal election of grace. The children can never contend with Satan in their own strength, but the Lord Jesus must contend with this devil, and this He has done on Golgotha, when He wrenched the keys of death from Satan’s hand, to open the prison house of Satan and set the captives free (Isaiah 61:1; 42:7). But natural men are taken captive of the devil at his will, for “the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (II Timothy 2:24-26).

You may ask, how is a lost sinner to know whether he has interest in the blood of the everlasting covenant? How can one know if his name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? How can a person know whether he or she is a child of God? Answer; The Lord has instituted ordinary means of grace, that is, God has established the way in which He will call out His children; and it is the same today as it was in the days of the Apostles. Today His ordinary means of grace is by the preaching of the gospel. The Lord Jesus sends a preacher to a community, or a person, with the word of the gospel in his mouth, and He causes His preacher to cross the path of His chosen one. Most usually the Lord will send a preacher to a local assembly of His people where He has raised up a church. For, the Lord still works through His Church, there is no place in the universe where the gospel of Jesus Christ is that the Lord of glory has not put it there. And by His providence God causes His elect to pass under the sound of the gospel, to whom the Lord will, at the appointed time, give eternal life by the preached word. Spiritually quickened (made alive) the elect sinner will have hearing ears, seeing eyes, and a heart to understand, the sinner will be enabled to close with the gospel, he will hear it, understand it, and believe it. At that point the child of God may know his election of grace, that he is one of the Lord’s own for the promises are to believers. This is God’s ordained means of communicating eternal life to His elect. “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:11-15).

Does it make a great deal of difference where one would go to hear the gospel preached? Answer; It makes all the difference, for there are many who preach, and for various reasons, You Must Hear The Truth. You Must Hear the True Gospel Message, for there is life in no other. Should I just stay at home and wait for the Lord to send His message? The command of the Lord is; “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). Wherever you should decide to go, make sure Christ is the center of the message, if the message is about the things you must do to be saved, it is the wrong message, the true message is all about Jesus Christ and all that He has accomplished in the behalf of His chosen people. Do not listen to men tell you what you must do, but listen for what Christ has already finished, the message is not you must do to live, but the message is; Christ has finished all that must be done, and is Himself the life of His people (Colossians 3:4). It is true, you must be born again, but that is the work of God the Holy Ghost in you, not you in yourself. Did you give birth to yourself naturally, no! Nor can you give yourself birth spiritually. Yes, you must repent; but that too is the work of God, for God must give you repentance, that is, God must work repentance in you (II Timothy 2:25; Acts 5:31). And finally you must believe on Jesus Christ as the believers all, in salvation, and men are only enabled to believe by God given faith, for Christ is all the believer’s Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption, and Christ Jesus is to the Church; Prophet, Priest, and King, “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9). Faith or believing the truth of the gospel is the gift of God. “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching (that is, what men of the world call foolishness) to save them that believe” (I Corinthians 1:21).

A.J.Ison