Roger Duke
2 hours ago2 min read
Roger Duke
1 day ago2 min read
Roger Duke
2 days ago2 min read
February 13 - God Only Justifies Sinners
Roger Duke
“[For all] . . . are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”
Romans 3: 23-24
This entry is taken from Daily Readings - John Bunyan a 366 day devotional edited by (and posted with permission from) Roger D. Duke, Scholar-in-Residence at Stage & Story, and published by Christian Heritage Press.
Each month focuses on a different book or writing by Bunyan. For February: My Confession of Faith (or A Confession of My Faith and a Reason of My Practice, or, With Who, and Who Not, I can Hold Church-fellowship, or the Communion of Saints)
I believe also, That the power of imputing righteousness resideth only in God by Christ:
Sin being the transgression of the law.
The soul that hath sinned being his creature, and the righteousness also his, and his only. “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Rom 4: 6-8). Hence therefore it is said again, that men “shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness” (Psalm 145: 7). “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So, then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy” (Romans 9: 15 & 16).
I believe the offer of this righteousness, as tendered in the gospel, is to be received by faith; we still in the very act of receiving it, judging ourselves sinners in ourselves. “Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ” (Romans 7: 24 7 25). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16: 31). The gospel is preached in all nations for the obedience of faith. “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, [a sacrifice to appease the displeasure of God] through faith in his blood. To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God.”
John Bunyan was a preacher, theologian and author, whose best-known work, The Pilgrim's Progress, has challenged and influenced readers for almost 350 years.
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