Today brings us part 3 of a series on sola gratia, taken from a sermon delivered in Nigeria earlier this month in which the truth of God's saving grace was proclaimed. Part 1 of this series pointed out the universal condemnation of all men. Yesterday in part 2 it was demonstrated that Jesus served as our substitute and served as the propitiation for our sins. 

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We return once more to the courtroom where the adversary of men’s souls has leveled a renewed charge. The accused stands. The Holy and Just Judge asks, "How plead ye? Guilty or not guilty?" This time the entry is made, "Not guilty!" How can that be? The answer is this. The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses those who have cast themselves upon Him from all sin (1 John 1:7). "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom 8:1). The cross is the means by which we are reconciled to God. The cross is God’s beacon of grace calling people home.

There is a famous book written by a well known author, Charles Dickens (1812-187). In David Copperfield, Ham and Mrs. Gummidge put a lighted candle every night in the little window of the boat turned house. Emily has run away, and Mr. Peggotty is going out through the entire world to seek her. But he says, "Every night as regular as the night comes, the candle must be stood in its old pane of glass, that if ever she should see it, it may seem to say, ‘Come back, my child, come back.'"

God calls the wayward and the lost not by a candle but by a cross. God calls across the centuries to individuals who have turned to their own devises and He says, "Come back, my child, come back. Don’t walk on in wasted years. Wasted years, wasted years, oh how foolish. As you walk on in darkness and fear. Turn around, turn around. God is calling. He’s calling you from a life of wasted years."

It is at Calvary that our burdens are lifted and our sins are forgiven. "The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor 1:18 RSV). Who are those being saved? The answer is you and me if we embrace Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. Who are those being saved? The most helpless and the most vile of society.

Perhaps someone says, "But you do not know what I have done." That is true. But I know what God has said He will do. And I know the Bible says, "Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:" (Isa 59:1). William Cowper celebrated this saving truth when he wrote:

"There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains."

The guilty stains are lost because, "It is finished," that is to say the great work of redemption has been accomplished and can now be applied to all those who cast themselves upon Jesus Christ and say,

"Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me Saviour, or I die."

Now listen carefully. There are only two kinds of religion in the world. You can list every "ism," every cult, every religion under one category. They all say, "Do, do, do." Only Christianity says, "Done." Christ has done it all (Dr. J. Vernon McGee). "It is finished!"

"In the heat of the early morning,
On a hill they call the Skull;
The roaring of the angry mob had settled to a lull.

All eyes were cast upon the Man whose hands and feet were bound,
They saw Him cry in anguish when they heard the hammer pound.

They watched the bloody woven thorns with which His head was crowned,
They watched the bloody cross of wood be dropped into the ground.

The soldiers gambled for His clothes, they watched them win and lose,
They saw the sign above His head that said ‘King of the Jews’.
It is finished!

And the sky grew black as the night.
It is finished!

And the people scattered in fright.
The work had been done, redemption had been won.

The war was over without a fight
It is finished!

They searched His face for anger, for vengeance in His stare,
Instead of eyes that burned with hate a look of love was there.

He prayed for their forgiveness and bowed His battered head,
And no-one knew the meaning of the final words He said.

The provision has been made,
The foundation has been laid.

He paid the ransom due and tore the temple veil in two
And opened up the way for me and you.
It is finished!"

(Bob Hartman)

to be continued...