SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/26/2018
9:03 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “Jesus: The Justifier of Sinners”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
13:38-41
Message of the
verses: “38 "Therefore let it
be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed
to you, 39 and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from
which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. 40 "Therefore take heed, so that the thing
spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: 41 ’BEHOLD, YOU SCOFFERS, AND
MARVEL, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH
YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.’"”
One of the things that you can say about the Jewish
people is that they know about sin. They
are not like people today who think that there is no God they will have to
answer to, which is why Satan influenced some to come up with the theory of evolution. The problem with the Jewish people that Paul
was preaching to is that they did not know what to do about their sins. When Jesus came to earth and began His
ministry one of the opponents that He came up against were the “religious” Jews
who thought that they could do good deeds in order to be right with God. In this portion of the sermon that Paul is
preaching to the Jews He is telling them “that through Him forgiveness of sins
is proclaimed to you.” I can remember
talking to a friend of mine who worked with and for me for many years about the
gospel. He told me that no matter what
that he was not going to change his religion.
All I can say is that a few years ago that he passed away, both he and
his brother and to my knowledge he did not change his religion, and this brings
fear to my heart that the place he entered into was not heaven.
Job asked some compelling questions “9:2 "In truth I know that this is so; But how can a man be in the
right before God?” “24:4 “How
then can a man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?” The truth is that if a person asks these kind
of questions is that they are close to understand that the only way a person
can be right with God is through accepting what Christ has done for them on the
cross when He died to pay for their sins.
John MacArthur writes “To those laboring in vain to earn their
salvation through the law Paul dramatically proclaimed the most glorious,
liberating truth imaginable: ‘through’
Jesus ‘forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you and through Him everyone who
believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through
the Law of Moses.’ The atoning death of
Jesus the Messiah fully satisfied the demands of God’s law (Gal. 3:13) ‘Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-for it is
written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE.’ Making ‘forgiveness of
sins’ available to ‘everyone who believes’ in Him. That forgiveness is ‘from all sins’ (Col.
2:13-14). ‘13 When you were dead in your
transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together
with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt
consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it
out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.’
How astonishing that the very sin of murdering the Messiah provided the
sacrifice for all sin and the path to glory through the complete forgiveness of
the sins of all who repent and believe.”
It would be good for us to remember that Paul was an
ex-Pharisee who thought for much of his life that a person could become right
with the Lord by keeping the Law of Moses.
Paul, after his conversion knew that keeping the Law, which is something
no one can do other than Jesus, could not save anyone. He wrote the following to the Romans “For we
maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law (Rom.
3:28).” The forgiveness offered in
Christ will free sinners “from” that which they “could not be freed through the
Law of Moses:” Paul affirms this truth which is found in Romans 3:20-22:
“20 because by the works of
the Law no flesh will be
justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. 21
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being
witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through
faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction.”
At the end of Paul’s sermon he gives a warning to those
who would rejects the truth of the gospel which is what he is presenting to his
audience. “"Therefore take heed, so
that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you.” What was he talking about here? He is talking about judgment to those who
would not believe in what their Messiah had done for them. “Behold you scoffers and marvel, and perish;
for I am accomplishing a work in your days, a work which you will never
believe, though someone should describe it to you (Hab. 1:5).” This is the verse that Paul quotes to them as
a warning to them if they would not believe or will they be like my friend who
said under no circumstances would he change his “religion.”
John Macarthur ends this chapter in his commentary by
writing “The sober words of the writer of Hebrews stand for all time as a
warning to those who reject the gospel:
“1 For this reason we must
pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away
from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every
transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if
we neglect so great a salvation? (Heb. 2:1-3a).”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I am thankful that I can give out the full
gospel message in this SD, praying that those who read it and are not believers
can understand the truth of the gospel and do what is needed to be done.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Trust that the Spirit of God will use
the truth of the gospel which is clearly seen in this SD to bring many souls to
the Savior.
Answer to yesterday’s
question: “Cain” (Genesis 4:11-12).
Today’s Bible
question: “Which book tells of Paul’s
conversion?”
Answer in our next SD.
2/26/2018 9:52 AM
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