26
"In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace;
wherein He hath abounded toward us" (Eph. 1:7,8).
"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Eph. 2:13).
"Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
sweet-smelling savour" (Eph. 5:2).
"Having made peace through the blood of His cross ... You, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy
and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight" (Col. 1:20-22).
These passages cover a tremendous ground. Redemption is declared to be by blood, and essential to forgiveness.
Peace and access is by the cross, and the presentation of the believer "holy and unblameable" is so wonderful as to
surpass all understanding. Who with these testimonies before them would not study the whole of the Old Testament
and New Testament Scriptures in order to gather all that has been revealed concerning this fundamental of our faith?
(3) SALVATION BY GRACE.- Do we insist that, however much we may progress in the knowledge of the Word,
there should be a clear testimony maintained concerning the way of salvation? Then no passage of Scripture
presents the terms of salvation so clearly and in so small a compass as does Ephesians 2:8-10 :
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any
man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:8-10).
Here we have not only the emphasis placed upon grace without works, but the balance is preserved by the
closing statement that salvation, though not arising out of works, is nevertheless unto good works, a characteristic of
the epistle to the Ephesians which balances doctrine with practice throughout its six chapters.
(4) JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.- What an important epistle is that to the Romans. Every believer who has any
knowledge of truth realizes the fundamental nature of its testimony to righteousness. How many of us could write a
synopsis of its teaching with such certainty and such brevity as does the apostle in one verse of the epistle to the
Philippians? :
"And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Phil. 3:9).
Here are five separate items, which practically cover the teaching of Romans on the subject of justification:
(i)
IT IS "IN HIM" for as Romans 8:1 says: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are IN
Christ Jesus", and Romans 8 is in direct contrast with Romans 5, where condemnation is found in Adam.
(ii) IT IS NOT OF THE LAW (see Rom. 3:20,21,28; 8:3; 10:4).
(iii) IT IS THROUGH THE FAITH of CHRIST. "Which is by faith OF Jesus Christ" (Rom. 3:22).
(iv) IT IS A RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD (see Rom. 1:16,17; 3:21,26).
(v)
IT IS BY FAITH. "We conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" (Rom. 3:28).
He who believes Philippians 3:9 will rejoice in the fuller exposition of the epistle to the Romans.
(5) THE DEITY OF CHRIST.- The person of the ascended Christ is the glory of the prison ministry of Paul. How
can anyone who believes Philippians or Colossians ever again tolerate the language of those who so often speak of
the Lord as "The carpenter"s Son", or "The man of Galilee"? They will even refrain from using the holy name
"Jesus", for they are taught in these epistles to own Him as "Lord". He is set forth as "The Form of God, Who