(Article for publication week of 2-11- AD 2016)
"Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (Isaiah 55:1).
"Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (Isaiah 55:1).
The Old Testament gospel herald proclaims that
salvation is free. We see from the text that the Old Testament saints had the
gospel of free grace just as we do, although it is clearer now that Christ has
come and now that the New Testament has been written. Free Salvation was
proclaimed to God's elect among the Jews under the Old testament just as it is
to us today.
We observed in
the two previous articles that salvation is free first, because it is such a
valuable gift that none of us could ever pay the price, and secondly, because
we are all bankrupt, ten thousand talents in debt and not a farthing to pay,
What a glorious gospel we have to preach! Salvation is of infinite value, and
none of us have a penny to pay, so God freely gives it "without money, and
without price."
But we proceed
this week to show, thirdly,that salvation is free to sinners because the Lord
Jesus Christ has paid the price in full. I direct your attention to Acts 20:28
where we read that God hath purchased the Church with His blood. Redemption is
spoken of here in terms of the marketplace. Certain Fullerites and Arminians
have scornfully referred to this as a "commercial" view of the
atonement, but that is the language of Acts 20:28. Go read it yourself. (You
preachers pay special attention to your duty as given there.) The death of
Christ paid for all the sins of all His elect forever. There was a debt that we
owed to God because of our sins. You will remember that the Model Prayer speaks
of sin in terms of indebtedness (see again Matthew 6:12 then compare Luke
7:42). When we had nothing to pay, Christ came and poured out His blood as the
price of our redemption. We have been
redeemed, not with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:18-19).
Now, I say unto
you that God the Father was satisfied with the price that His Son paid for our
redemption. Yea, not I, but the Holy Writ says it. Let us read in Isaiah 53:11,
"He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied."
God the Father is satisfied because His Son finished the work of redemption
that was appointed to Him from all eternity (see John 17:4). All of our efforts
and works and attempts at righteous living are nothing but filthy rags before
our Holy God. Isaiah 64:6 says all our righteousnesses are but "filthy
rags." What do you think the president of Trustmark or Peoples Bank would
say if you went and tried to pay off your mortgage with a big pile of dirty
rags? Why, he would either laugh you out of the bank, or else call the folks
over at Whitfield (that is where the State insane asylum is for all my out of
state readers). Why do you think God is any more impressed with your so-called
righteousness?
Well, poor awakened sinner, the good news is that you
don't have to pay anything for salvation because the Eternal Son of God acting,
as our Substitute and Surety assumed all our obligations and has paid the price
in full. Yes that old hymn is gospel truth--"Jesus paid it all, all to Him
I owe." Poor sinner, there is nothing for you to do to help pay for your
sin debt because Christ has paid it all. I pray the Holy Spirit will help you
to believe that and you may rejoice in a finished salvation. Christ has paid
the price of priceless salvation, so it is "without money and without
price" to all who repent of their sins and come to Him by faith.
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