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February 24, 2013

 

Just as our God gave the law of the kinsman redeemer in Israel before anyone needed it, our great God found a way to redeem his lost ones by Christ our Kinsman Redeemer long before we fell in our father Adam.

 

Daily Readings for the Week of February 24-March 3, 2013

Sunday                Deuteronomy 2-4                Thursday       Deuteronomy 15-18

            Monday                      Deuteronomy 5-7                Friday             Deuteronomy 19-21

            Tuesday                    Deuteronomy 8-11            Saturday                    Deuteronomy 22-24

            Wednesday  Deuteronomy 12-14            Sunday                      Deuteronomy 25-27

 

·      I am preaching today for Fairmont Grace Church in Sylacauga, AL, where Bro. Larry Criss is pastor. You are privileged to have Bros. Ron Wood and Frank Hall preaching the gospel to you in my absence.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Mark Warta-28th   Amy Coleman-3rd

CHURCH CLEANING IN MARCH: Debbie and Jenny Bartley

NURSERY DUTY THIS WEEK

Today: Alexis Mason (AM) Celeste Peterson (PM)        Tuesday: Ruth Wall

 

Christ is My Righteousness — Don Fortner

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

 

1.    Poor souls condemned by Sinai’s law,

And sunk in deep distress,

To Calv’ry look, and comfort draw

From Christ our Righteousness.

 

2.    This is the name by which He’s known,

The name His saints confess:

O sinner, look to Him alone,

The Lord our Righteousness!” —

 

3.    And find a pardon justly sealed,

A spotless wedding dress,

For grace and glory are revealed

In Christ our Righteousness.

 

4.    By faith in Him I make this claim, —

Christ is my Righteousness!

Redeemed, I triumph in His name, —

The Lord our Righteousness!

 

I Take Offence!

I take offence at the suggestion commonly made by religious legalists that the gospel of God’s free grace in Christ, salvation by grace alone, without works, leads to licentiousness. Such an accusation greatly impugns the Person and work of God the Holy Spirit, our Teacher and Guide. Can the Holy Ghost lead a believer into licentiousness? Such an accusation greatly impugns our dear Savior, as Jude puts it, “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ!

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“Christ is the end of the law.”

Romans 10:4

 

Is Christ really the end of the law? Surely God the Holy Spirit does not intend for us to read that statement literally. Surely, he intends for it to be read with some qualification. Surely, we must have some clarification. Otherwise, God’s people will be given a license to sin. Those who reason thus, reason as blaspheming fools! God said exactly what he means for us to understand. — “Christ is the end of the law!

 

“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.”

 

Sinners cannot obtain righteousness of any kind, of any merit before God by the works of the law (Galatians 2:21). God requires perfect righteousness (Matthew 5:20; Hebrews 12:14). We have no righteousness of our own, and we have no ability to produce righteousness (Isaiah 64:6). Christ has established righteousness for his people that meets the law’s demands (Philippians 3:8-10). His name is “The Lord Our Righteousness!The righteousness of the law is found only in Christ.

 

“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.”

 

The one issue of vital importance is just this: -- “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” If you believe, Christ is the end of the law to you. If you do not believe, you are yet under the curse of God’s holy law. If you would be saved, you must submit to the righteousness of God. You must trust Christ alone for righteousness. Your sin cannot be put away except by his blood atonement. You cannot be made holy before God except by Christ. If you refuse to submit to the righteousness of God in Christ, you must forever perish under the infinite curse of God’s holy law.

 

Let us never attempt to serve God by a legal principle (Colossians 2:16-23). We must never allow anyone to bring us back into bondage, no not for a moment (Galatians 5:1-4). We must never trust our own righteousness (Galatians 5:2). Self-righteousness sticks to human flesh like leaches. Shake it off. Flee from it. Cling to Christ alone for all your hope before God. He is “The Lord our Righteousness.”

 

A Question

 

I am often asked, “Are Christians free from the moral law as a rule of conduct?” — To that question, as well as all other questions about doctrine, I say, let the Word of God itself give us the answer. Read the Book of God and you will see the answer (Jeremiah 31:31-33; Romans 6:14-15; 7:1-4, 6-7; 8:1-4; 10:4; Galatians 3:10, 19; 4:4-5; 5:1-5; 1 Timothy 1:8-9; Hebrews 10:1-9). Christ abrogated the law by fulfilling it (Matthew 5:17-18). That means we are “dead to the law by the body of Christ.” If Christ fulfilled the law for us, if he abrogated the law, if we are dead to the law, all of which are clearly stated in Holy Scripture, it must be concluded that we are “free from the law,” as the Scriptures also clearly declare us to be.

 

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Which Version?

 

Religious liberals, in their attempts to nullify the Word of God, have always preferred a “modern version” of the Bible. That is to say, they have always wanted a Bible that reads the way they want it to read. But, in recent years it has become very common for people in conservative congregations to lay aside their old, King James translation, because someone has told them that it is out of date. How often have you heard, “No one talks in that language today. It is archaic and difficult for the average person to understand.”

            So, many have purchased a modern translation. In fact, most who have done so, have purchased many modern translations, trying to find one that is easy to read and understand, moving from the RSV, to the NASV, to the NIV. Some have even chosen to use one of the many paraphrases available. Then, at last, the New King James Version arrived. I have personally seen all the versions just mentioned carried by different people in a single worship service. Those of us who choose to continue using the Authorized Version, the King James, are oddities today. In fact, you might be hard pressed to even find a copy in your local religious bookstore.

            Please do not misunderstand the purpose of this article. I do not suggest that our friends are doing something evil by using modern translations of Holy Scripture. I have many dear and highly esteemed friends and fellow pastors who choose to do so. And I do not mean to suggest that the original King James translators were inspired.

 

Needless

However, I do fear that the rush for something new, particularly when it comes to the translation of Holy Scripture, is a very dangerous thing; and I am fully convinced that it is a needless thing. I contend that more modern translations are needless for two reasons.

1.    There have been no improvements. Without question, there are a few phrases, here and there, that have been slightly improved by modern translations. However, as a whole, none are improvements, or even as accurate as your old King James Bible.

2.    And, thus far, I have not found anyone who finds any modern translation of the Bible easier to read or understand than the King James. Many have been led to expect that would be the case. But I do not know of any who have found that it was so.

 

Dangerous

However, my determination to stick with the King James is not simply a matter of preference. I see some very great dangers and nothing beneficial in the flood of Bible translations in modern times.

            Who are the translators? I do not question the learning and scholasticism of the men chosen to do the work. But do they believe God? Are they men who believe the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ? Sadly, those chosen to do the work are chosen from various denominations to make sure the work is acceptable. I do not suggest that modern translators are unbelievers, that they do not know the gospel of Christ; but I do know that men in such a position, if they are not born again and taught of God, could and would corrupt the Scriptures. Those who are dead in trespasses and in sins cannot be trusted to translate the Book of God. They are not capable of understanding that which is inspired of God.

            Once a second translation is accepted (let alone a half dozen), the question must be asked (and often is) — “Which is the Word of God?” What confusion this has caused! The multitude of translations has, almost by necessity, caused the average person to look to “trained” religious leaders to decide for them what is and what is not the Word of God, thinking of themselves as ignorant “laymen” and treating preachers and Bible teachers as priests!

 

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The Grace Bulletin

 

February 24, 2013

 

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 in Danville

 

Channel 6 — Sunday Morning 7:45 A.M.

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

Channel 6 — Friday Evening 7:00 P.M.

 

Television Broadcasts in Harrodsburg

Channel 6 — Sunday Afternoon 3:00 P.M.

Channel 6 — Friday Evening 6:00 P.M.

 

Web Pages

http://www.DonFortner.com

http://www.FreegraceRadio.com

http://www.Grace-eBooks.com

 

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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