July 10, 2005

 

 

Judicial and moral cleansing was what man needed. We have both the imputed and imparted righteousness; the former the root or foundation of the latter. Not the one without the other; both together, inseparable; but each in its own order.                                                         Horatius Bonar

 

 

Daily Readings for the Week of July 10-17

Sunday            Ecclesiastes 1-4                                       Thursday                Isaiah 2-5

        Monday          Ecclesiastes 5-9                                       Friday             Isaiah 6-9

        Tuesday          Eccles. 10-Song of Solomon 4         Saturday          Isaiah 10-13

        Wednesday     Song of Solomon 5-Isaiah 1                    Sunday            Isaiah 14-18

 

 

NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK

Today: ShanteBirchum (AM) Diane Campbell (PM)          Tuesday: Jenny Bartley

 

O Trembling Saints, Cast Off Your Fears — Don Fortner

(Tune: #497— When I Can Read My Title Clear — CM)

 

  1. O trembling saints, cast off your fears, your Father’s mercy sing!

His goodness, like a river flows, a never failing stream!

 

  1. Fear not your foes in earth or hell, He all their pow’r restrains;

His arm shall Satan’s darts repel and make their efforts vain.

 

  1. Fear not your need of daily good, your Father cares for you!

He gives his child sufficient food, with grace and glory, too!

 

  1. Fear not! He never will forsake His loved and chosen one.

The soul for whom He undertakes He will bring safely home.

 

  1. Fear not the dark and gloomy grave. Fear not death’s awful sting.

Eternal life in Christ we have — With Him in heav’n we’ll reign!

 

If It Were Possible

Henry Mahan

 

Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God” (Rom. 15:7). — When I have forgiven and forgotten every offense or wrong that I have experienced or imagined — When I have borne every hard word, act or thought — When I have overlooked, excused, and disregarded every weakness and fall or infirmity I see in others — When I have tried to understand and sympathize with those who are weak — IF IT WERE possible, I would still not have borne, endured, nor forgiven one fraction of what the Redeemer has borne, endured, and forgiven IN ME!

 

Missionary Offering Next Week

 

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Imputed Righteousness and Imparted Righteousness

 

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19).

 

Imputed righteousness is an act of God's grace in redemption. Because the Lord Jesus Christ lived in righteousness upon this earth as our Representative and died under the penalty of God's law as our Substitute, the law and justice of God declare that we are righteous. The very righteousness of Christ, his perfect obedience to God as a man, has been imputed to us. That is to say, righteousness has been laid to our account.

 

In exactly the same manner as our sins were imputed to Christ, his righteousness has been imputed to us. When the holy Lord God made his darling Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, sin for us, he charged him with our sin. The Son of God became responsible to the law of God for the sins of his elect. And the penalty of sin was exacted from him. He died under the wrath of God. Even so, God having imputed the righteousness of Christ to us who believe, we have become responsible for righteousness in the sight of God's law. And we shall receive the just reward of the law for righteousness, eternal life, and everlasting glory.

 

As our works of sin were made to be our Redeemer’s, so his works of righteousness have been made ours. As he received the reward of our sin, we must receive the reward of his righteousness. That is substitution. Our righteousness before God is perfect, unalterable righteousness. It is the righteousness of Christ, our Substitute. Child of God, can you realize this? Your standing, your acceptance with God never varies. God is always well pleased with you in his Son!

 

Imparted righteousness is an act of God's grace in regeneration. In the new birth God gives his people a new heart, a new will, a new nature created in righteousness and true holiness. Your standing before God is not improved at all by imparted righteousness in the new birth. Imparted righteousness is God giving you a heart, nature, and will of righteousness so that you now love the things you once hated and hate the things you once loved. By this act of divine grace in regeneration the righteous nature of Christ is imparted to God's elect.

 

We rejoice in the righteousness of Christ imputed in justification and in the righteousness of Christ imparted in regeneration. Both are precious boons of God’s free grace in salvation; and both are necessary. They should be maintained and fully preached side by side. The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed. The righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven.

 

5

"Imparted Righteousness"

 

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Pet. 1:3-4)

 

Just as the fallen, unrighteous nature of Adam was imparted to all men by natural birth, the holy, righteous nature of Christ is imparted to all God's elect in the new birth. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us for justification. And the righteousness of Christ is imparted to us in regeneration, by the irresistible power and effectual grace of God the Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 3:10-12; 1 John 3:7-9).

 

I Am Not Saying

 

I am not saying that the believer is without sin! He is not. Sin is what we are by nature. Sin is mixed with all we do. Sin mars our best thoughts, blackens our best deeds, corrupts our best words, and defiles our noblest aspirations.

 

I am not saying that the old nature is changed in regeneration; it is not. Flesh is always flesh. It never improves. It never becomes spirit. It only corrupts, rots and, thank God, in time dies.

 

I am not saying that the believer's works can ever be accepted before God upon their own merit! They are not. We offer up our prayers and sacrifices to God, which are accepted by him, only upon the merits of Christ's righteousness and blood atonement (1 Pet. 2:5).

 

I Am Saying

 

But I am saying that the person who is born of God is a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). He has a new nature, which is Christ in him the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). All who are born of God walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-23). We love the law and truth of God. We love holiness. But, oh, the evil of our hearts!

 

There is a constant warfare within! (See Rom. 7:14-25). All who are born of God mind the things of God (Rom. 8:5). This is imparted righteousness. Believers love Christ and one another. They identify themselves with Christ, his gospel, and his church. Believers are men and women of honesty and integrity. They live honestly, pay their bills, and speak the truth. Believers hate their sin and long to be free of it. They are generous, kind, and merciful. In a word, all who are born of God are committed to Christ, sold out to him. And they will continue in the faith, clinging to Christ alone unto the end.

 

Those who do not have this imparted righteousness are no more born of God than those who do not have Christ's imputed righteousness are justified before God.

 

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Grace Bulletin

 

July 10, 2005

 

GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE

2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438

Telephone (859) 236-8235 - E-Mail don@donfortner.com

 

Donald S. Fortner, Pastor

 

SCHEDULE OF REGULAR SERVICES

 

Sunday

10:00 A.M. Bible Classes

10:30 A.M. Morning Worship Service

6:30 P.M. Evening Worship Service

Tuesday

7:30 P.M. Mid-Week Worship Service

 

 

Television Broadcasts

 

Danville

Channel 6 - Sunday Morning 8:00 A.M.

Channel 6 - Wednesday Evening 6:00 P.M.

Channel 6 - Friday Evening 7:00 P.M.

 

Web Pages

http://www.donfortner.com

http://www.sovereign-grace/gracechurch.htm

http://www.freegrace.net/danville/default.asp