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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Entering the New Jerusalem, #2
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. (Ezekiel 18:20)
God has said, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." The Divine law is immutable. It never shall change. It is as true today as when first spoken.
When a person transgresses, and then repents, God is ready to forgive him or her. But the Divine justice must be satisfied in some manner. God's Nature and justice is such that the scales of righteousness must be in perfect balance.
The agony of God in seeing His Son in the power of filthy spirits, the agony of Christ in receiving the burden of the sins of the world, can never be understood by us. But the sacrifice of the Lamb of God was of sufficient weight to restore the balance of the scales of righteousness.
Christ's death satisfied God's justice concerning our sins and also the sins of the whole world (I John 2:2).
Because we are sinners, and because the blood of Jesus is the only means of satisfying God's justice concerning our sins and lawlessness, we must come to God in faith, receiving the forgiveness of our sins.
No individual ever at any time will be able to enter through the gates of the city in his own righteousness. The angel of the Lord must see the sprinkling of Jesus' blood on the person seeking admittance or the gate will be closed to him. There is no exception to this.
The first basis for authority to eat of the Tree of Life (Christ), for the right to enter through the gates into the new Jerusalem, into Heaven, is faith in the blood of the Lord Jesus as the atonement for our sin and lawlessness.
The second basis for the right to eat of the Tree of Life is the cleansing of our personality by the washing of the Word of God.
There were numerous commandments given under the old covenant and God expected them to be kept. There are numerous commandments that have been given under the new covenant and God expects them to be kept.
A profound, very destructive error has entered Christian thinking. It is that the blood alone is sufficient to provide authority to eat of the Tree of Life and to enter through the gates into the city.
Christians have expanded justification until it has removed the need for sanctification. No greater theological error can be made. Justification has its unique place in redemption. Sanctification has its unique place in redemption. Justification must never encroach on the role of sanctification.
Glorification has its unique role in the plan of redemption. None of these three is sufficient without the remaining two. We are in dire need of a reformation of Christian thinking.
The written Word of God is a set of judgments. These judgments enable us to discern between good and evil. Every time we are convicted by the written Word we are to come to God, confess our sin, resolve never again to practice the sin, and then pray earnestly for the strength to set aside that unlawful behavior.
To be continued.