Calvary Baptist Church

Calvary Baptist Church, Grenada, MS

Holding to the truths embraced by Baptist for centuries.

Sometimes, when the above verse is given as it is. some one will say, "Why don't you read the rest of it?" This is all of it. When anyone makes an honest and truth-seeking study of the text from which our Bible was translated, he will discover that we do not have the original manuscript of our New Testament. Our so-called "Authorized", or "King James" version of the Bible (the version that most of us have in our homes) was translated by a group of scholars from the Church of England in 1611 A. D., as authorized by King James I of England. The manuscript they used was one dating around two hundred years this side of the days of our Lord on earth. This manuscript had the passage in Romans 8:1 as it is in the '' Authorized Version.'' But, since that time (1611 A. D.) other manuscripts of the New Testament have been discovered, which are known to be much older and much nearer the original than the one then used. In all of these older manuscripts Romans 8:1 reads, '' There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus", and ends there-

There has never been a moment, midnight, dawn, mid-day or evening, since Jesus Christ arose from the tomb that any believer in Him might not say, "There is therefore NOW no condemnation to me."

That "NOW" is a constant term and will extend as long as there is any "now". This assurance gives peace to all who believe it.

7. The believer in Jesus Christ will never come into condemnation. This we know, as we do all the other certain facts of this question, by what the Lord says.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).

All who really hear what God says and give Him credit for telling the truth know that Jesus is their Saviour, and therefore have everlasting life. Of these the Lord Jesus says, "They shall not come into condemnation (judgment)."

The plain and simple reasons why God's child is not in danger of judgment for sin, now or ever, are:

"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ" (Romans 7:4).

7:6), which alone can bring judgment. Judgment is executed in the courtroom, not in the home. God's child is not in court, but in the family of God. God is his Father and fathers do not drag their children into court and condemnation.

b. No sin is charged to the account of the believer. "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute (charge) sin" (Romans 4:7,8).

This is one of the characteristics of "the only true God" Whom to know is life eternal (John 17:3), that He does not charge sin to His children. So many professing "Christians" do not seem to know anything about "the only true God". Another characteristic of His is that He "imputeth (credits) righteousness without works" (Romans 4:6), and yet so many think that if they have righteousness before God it must come because of their works.

c. The believer in Jesus Christ has forgiveness (payment) for his sins. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1:7). See also Col. 1:14.

ness (remission, payment) for his sins (all of them, past, present and future) when he believes in Him (Acts 26:18). He has all the forgiveness that the Christ of God is worth. If that isn't enough to pay his sin debt for all eternity, then to get any more forgiveness someone else better and greater than Jesus will have to come to the world, live under the law, die on a cross, be buried, rise again and ascend to God the Father. To say that a child of God has to "get forgiveness" in the sense of escaping judgment for sin is to infer that what Jesus Christ is and did is not sufficient. It is an awful indictment of God's Anointed One!

Long before we have gone this far in the consideration of the multitudinous evidence concerning the absolute and unconditional safety for all eternity of all who believe in Jesus Christ, all who are willing to take God's "Word for it, instead of following that which seems right (Prov. 14:12) to the human mind, have been made to rejoice in the peace and assurance that a knowledge of such truth gives. But, we will notice a few further facts connected with this question.

A child may dishonor the father's name. He may break his heart and bring disgrace to the family. But, wherever he goes and whatever he does, he is still a son. But, someone may say, "But, he can be disinherited." That is true among men, but not so with God. He has guaranteed that He would not do so. "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). To all who believe Jesus, that settles it.

9. The believer in Jesus Christ is complete in Him. "And ye are complete in him" (Col. 2:10).

When anything is complete nothing more can be added. This is in keeping with what Solomon declared in Ecclesiastes 3:14, "I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever; nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it." God's salvation is complete and those saved by the Lord are complete. Man's puny works are not needed in this business of saving and keeping lost sinners.

10. The believer in Jesus Christ is kept by the power of God. All the atomic power in the universe

stems from Jesus Christ, the Creator- This mighty power is able to save and it is able to keep. In speaking of the inheritance of God's elect (those who are in Christ Jesus) the Lord says through Peter,

"An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeih not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last day" (I Peter 1:4, 5).

The saint's inheritance is reserved for him and he is kept for it. Since God does both the reserving and the keeping there is no possiblity of any saint missing out on his inheritance in Christ. This is another guarantee of security. It is also well to notice that we are kept "through faith", and not through works. So many people think that their safety depends on their works after they are saved. No. God's children are "kept by the power of God through faith".

Some may be troubled about "losing faith" in the Lord, but that is a groundless fear, unless it should come to pass that Jesus gives them reason to lose faith in Him.

Let's suppose that A has come to have implicit faith in B. He believes in him for what he has found

him to be, a man of honesty, truthfulness and integrity. But, alas. A falls into temptation and commits an awful sin. He goes from bad to worse in his personal conduct. Will he lose his confidence, or faith, in B ? Of course not. But, suppose B falls into sin and continues in it. Then, and then only, would we expect A to lose confidence in him-

If and when anyone believes in Jesus as the Christ of God and eternal Saviour from sin, he does so because of his acceptance of what God says about Jesus in His Word. He can never lose confidence, or faith, in Jesus until He does something to break that confidence. To suggest that one might lose faith in Jesus is to suggest that Jesus may become a sinner.

No, believers in Jesus Christ are "kept by the power of God through faith" and their faith is kept by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself!

Happy are they who believe this truth and rest upon it! Great is their peace and assurance in the Lord.

"In whom (Christ) also after that (when) ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise" (Eph. 1:13).

We have already learned that the believer is "hid with Christ in God". The sealing, or securing agent, is the Holy Spirit. And His seal is His "promise". Those who hear His promise and believe it recognize this seal, and have no fear of its power to keep.

We have already noticed that David understood how that God's saints are preserved forever. In Jude 1 we learn that Jesus Christ is the preserving element, "Preserved in Jesus Christ". Any housewife knows that whether or not her "preserves" keeps depends on two things: (a) The preserving element, the syrup; and (b) the completeness of sealing.

Since the believer in Jesus Christ is "preserved in Jesus Christ", and "sealed with the Holy Spirit", to question his safety is to question the power, soundness and truthfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Those who believe the Lord do neither.

12. Those who believe in Jesus Christ have "an advocate with the Father" when they sin.

"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (I John 2:1).

The Greek word translated "advocate" in this passage has as one of its meanings the idea of "counsel for the defense". In other words, Jesus Christ, the righteous, is the lawyer who pleads the ease of the sinning child of God. It is in this ministry of intercession for those who believe in Him that we hear the Holy Spirit say in Hebrews 9:24, '' Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us."

Jesus Christ is the Judge before Whom all must stand (John 5:22). He is the Advocate, or defense lawyer, for every child of God who sins. In addition to this He has already gone into the halls of eternal justice and has fully, yea, more than enough, paid the eternal hell penalty for all who believe in Him.

How in the world can any case lie lost when the Judge is the client's Lawyer, has already paid the condemned man's penalty in full, and has posted far more security for future sins than he can ever need? Those who know this glorious truth can rejoice in their complete security in Jesus Christ.

13. The believer in Jesus Christ is much more sure of being finally saved than he is of being saved •when he first believes.

"Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Romans 5:9, 10).

In this passage the Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, is emphasizing the truth that the believer in Jesus Christ is MUCH MORE sure of being saved from any future danger than he was of being saved in the first place.

The plain declaration is that these believers under consideration are "now justified by his blood". All who believe in Jesus Christ are "justified by faith" (Romans 5:1), and have peace with God in "Who Jesus is and what He has done. And their future safety is much more sure than their present standing of justification. How wonderful is the peace and joy that comes from God's assuring Word!

14. Nothing can separate the believer in Jesus Christ from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

The great 8th chapter of Romans opens with "No condemnation" and ends with "No separation". In between there are given a number of glorious