“Your own wickedness will correct you, and your apostasies will reprove you; know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God, and the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the LORD God of hosts. Jeremiah 2:19
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7–8.
Bible Readings:
1. The righteous severity of God: Genesis 3:9–19.
2. Why would I pardon you? Jeremiah 5.
3. The wrath of God: Romans 1:18–22.
We are more inclined to accept the Scripture passages we find agreeable, about pardon and love, than those that judge and condemn us. The characteristic of faith, though, is to accept and believe all the words of God. Do you accept and believe, as God says, that He can curse the sinner, hold him guilty, have no more pity on the one He rejects, because he is under no obligation to pardon, and justly bring our crimes on our heads?
15. But is God not also very merciful?
Yes! God is very merciful, and this is the first word of our faith. But he is also just. It is because his justice requires it that sin (which is committed against his sovereign majesty) must be punished in body and soul to the highest degree, which is to say, by a most severe punishment.
The Name LORD: And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands; who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.’ Exodus 34:5–7
The boastful shall not stand before thine eyes; thou dost hate all who do iniquity. Thou dost destroy those who speak falsehood; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit. But as for me, by thy lovingkindness I will enter thy house, at Thy holy temple I will bow in reverence for thee. Psalm 5:5–7.
. . . what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 2 Corinthians 6:14–15
The soul who sins will die. Ezekiel 18:4
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Romans 1:18
Bible Readings:
1. Jesus condemns sinners: John 3:17–21, 36; 5:29–30; 8:21–26; 12:47–48.
2. How will I be righteous before God? Job 9:1–20.
3. God calls me in righteousness: Job 14, 17:13–16.
Because of our sin, we are therefore condemned to death. We can no longer hope for acquittal. The sentence is pronounced by our Judge, and it appears to be without appeal! (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:14).
1. In the original, Dr. Marcel’s sentence reads, “God does not hold the guilt of Adam and Eve’s sin against us, sins we did not commit, but the guilt of sins and faults which abound in us, and for which we are . . .” A L’ Ecole de Dieu, page 33.
Part Two: Man’s Salvation and Faith in God
Lesson 3
The Necessity and the Existence of a Savior
SUMMARY: God reveals himself to me as the One who searches for me and wants to deliver me from my sin and all its consequences. Only Jesus Christ, who is true man and perfectly righteous and who is also true God, can discharge my debt, bear my punishment, shatter the chains of my sin, and give me a new righteousness and life.
God is not only my Master and my Lord, He is also—through Jesus Christ—my Father and my Savior, in whom I can place my whole trust.
It is the testimony of his Word revealed in the Holy Scriptures to which I must remain unflinchingly attached. The Scriptures unlock the door to his heavenly Kingdom.
Bible readings for the week: Monday, Question 16: 1, 2, 3. Tuesday, Question 16: 4, 5. Wednesday, Question 23: 1, 2. Thursday, Question 23: 3, 4. Friday, Question 23: 5, 6. Saturday, Question 24: 1, 2.
16. But does God want to leave us in this state of being lost?
Certainly not! God shows me now that He is the Savior to whom I belong in taking great pity on me in his Son. He reveals Himself to me as the One who searches for me.
God searches for me and calls me with all his heart. The pleasure of God is that I live and that I be saved.
I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, “Here am I, here am I,” to a nation which did not call on My name. Isaiah 65:1
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10
Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I come in to him, and dine will with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20
Bible Readings:
1. The lost sheep: Luke 15:3–7.
2. The lost coin: Luke 15:8–10.
3. The Lord invites me to his feast: Luke 14:15–23.
4. Return! I will heal your sins!: Jeremiah 3:12–14; 4:1–10.
5. I will take care of My sheep: Ezekiel 34:11–16, 22–26, 30–31.
17. But, since we have merited punishment, how can we avoid it and be received again into favor?
God will have his justice satisfied. Therefore we must make a complete satisfaction either by ourselves or by another.
18. Can we make this satisfaction by ourselves?
Certainly not! On the contrary, by our evil deeds we increase our debt each day.
How can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to dispute with Him, he could not answer Him once in a thousand times. Job 9:2–3
19. Can there be found anywhere, one who is a mere creature, and is able to pay for us?
None. God will not punish any other creature for the sin for which man is liable. Further, no mere creature can either sustain the weight of the eternal wrath of God against sin, nor deliver others from it.
If Thou, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? Psalm 130:3; cf. Hebrews 2:14–18
No man can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him—for the redemption of his soul is costly, and he should cease trying forever. Psalm 49:7–8
Ask yourself this question, “Why will God not punish another creature for the sins I am liable for to Him? Why is no creature able to present itself before God to repay my sins?”
20. What kind of a mediator and liberator then must we seek for?
Someone who is true man and perfectly righteous, but who is also stronger than all creatures: one who is at the same time true God.
Lay down, now, a pledge for me with Thyself; who is there that would be my guarantor? Job 17:3
For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:21
21. Why must this “someone” be true