The "godly-line" - it's not what you have imagined

#It_is_not_what_you_have_imagined!

There is little godliness in the so-called godly line.

Adam was created on day 6 of year 1.

Noah was born in the year 1056.; he lived for 950 years and died in the year 2006.

The flood came when Noah was 600 years old, in the year 1656 since the creation week.

See the link here for the figures: http://www.letgodbetrue.com/reference/biblechronology.pdf

There were ten generations from Adam to Noah, the first ten links of the genealogical line that led to Jesus, the Son of God

Adam was the son of God as were the angels; they came directly from the creative activities of the eternal God.

Luke 3

36 Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,

37 Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,

38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Little godliness is spoken of the first 10 links that formed the first portion of the so-called godly line. Only two of them are said to have walked with God.

Genesis 5:22

And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

Genesis 6:9

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Read some comments about the popular notion of the godly line and ungodly line here:

https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/08/godly-and-ungodly-lines-in-gen-6.html

John the Baptist - a man sent by God

John the Baptist - a man sent from God

John 1:6-7

¶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

Introducton

- A long silence came to an end... darkness and gloom is over.

- God speaks again... great excitement, and expectation!

- A witness was sent... his birth... Lk 1:5-25, 57-80

- A unique place in the redemptive purpose of God.

1. His Mission - he 'came for a witness'

a. A witness: what is? John 10:41 'all things that John spake of this man were true.'

b. A witness with steadfast conviction

c. A witness with clear self-identity

d. A witness with distinct life-style... mt 11:7ff

e. A witness with great boldness... mt 3:1-10, lk 3:19

2. His Message - 'behold, the lamb of God'

a. Not himself: Jn 1:20, 3:28, 10:41

b. Pointing to Christ in all his activities: disputation, warnings, etc.

c. Ever crying, 'Behold... behold the Lamb of God.' Jn 1:29,34,36.

d. The Light... Jn 1:8-9. God's people in darkness... Lk 1:77-79

3. His motive: 'that all men through him might believe'

a. 'for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways...'

b. To give knowledge of salvation unto his people...

c. To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death

d. To guide our feet into the way of peace.

We need men with the spirit of John the Baptist to minister in this perilous and perverse generation.

The righteousness of God by the obedience of Christ

#Righteousness_of_God

#By_the_Perfect_Obedience_of_Christ

Faith in Christ and the Righteousness of God

The righteousness of God is the righteousness provided by God.

The righteousness of God is the righteousness provided by God through His Son Jesus Christ.

Sin is transgression of the law of God.

And sins bring condemnation and death.

Righteousness is obedience to the law of God.

And righteousness secures justification and life.

I consider these as basic and elementary.

The righteousness of God is provided through Christ's life of perfect and sinless obedience to the whole law of God, thus meeting all the righteous demands of the thrice-holy God.

A man's faith in Christ plays NO PART in God's provision of righteousness for him, a condemned dead sinner. If anything at all, faith in Jesus Christ is a fruit and effect of God's free and sovereign act of applying that righteousness of His own provision in Jesus Christ to a UN-justified, condemned, spiritually dead man.

The Context of Justification by faith alone

#The_Context_of_Justification_by_faith_alone

The CONTEXT of "justification by faith alone" is how a man, ALREADY freely justified by the grace of God, experiences the blessedness of his justified state; is it by faith in Christ alone, or by keeping the ceremonial laws, or both?

That's the question; it WASN'T how a condemned is justified by God, the righteous Judge. There is ONLY ONE SOLITARY answer to this question - Romans 3:24 KJV — "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

God is the JUSTIFIER of the condemned; freely by grace is the METHOD of justifying the condemned; through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus is the ALONE BASIS of justifying the condemned.

STOP barking up the wrong trees, doggies!

Have you understood? In hermeneutics, the first three principal rules are:

1. Context

2. Context

3. Context.

Ignoring these rules, the popular justification by faith alone had been turned into a pernicious heresy.

2Peter 2:

1¶But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

The Four Alones of Justification

#The_FOUR_Alones_of_Justification

Romans 3:24 KJV — "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

The ALONE JUSTIFIER

God the Judge is the ALONE JUSTIFIER of the condemned; only the condemned - and all in Adam are in their native state of condemnation, being conceived in sin, and born in sin - are in the need of God's free and gracious act of justifying them, i.e. of declaring them not guilty but righteous by forgiving them all their sins and accounting to them the righteousness of Christ.

The ALONE METHOD 

"Freely by his grace" is the ALONE METHOD of God the Judge justifying the condemned. Any other methods WON'T work; justification by faith WON'T work, the condemned are INCAPABLE of faith. It is as basic as that; so many are either misguided and deceived.

The ALONE BASIS

"Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" is the ALONE BASIS of God justifying the condemned. There is no other basis; the justification of the condemned requires righteousness, even the perfect righteousness secured by the sinless and perfect obedience of Christ to all the laws of God, i.e. the righteousness of God's own provision.

The ALONE MEANS

Believing in Jesus Christ - whose righteousness is the sole basis of one's justification - and NOT the observation of ceremonial laws, is the ALONE MEANS for the freely justified by God's grace to EXPERIENCE the blessedness of their justified state. ONLY those whom God has ALREADY FREELY JUSTIFIED by His grace are capable of believing. 

Why are these basic elementary biblical truths so very difficult for so many theologians to understand? Why all the obfuscation by the sola fidei that the justification of a condemned man before God is by his faith alone?

Who has bewitched them?

The faith of God... the faith of Christ... your faith in Them

The faith of God... the faith of Christ... your faith in them.

Rom 3:3

For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?

Rom 3:22

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

God has faith in Jesus, His only begotten Son. "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased... be hearing him."

For thousands of years, God had freely justified multitudes of His elect, and gave them eternal life based on what the promised seed of the woman would accomplish when the eternal Word was made flesh in time and begotten the Son of God.

How could God justly forgive the sins of His people prior to Christ making the actual payment for them on the cross?

Ro 3:24-25

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God..."

In the above text...

- Through whose faith in Christ blood?

- What do 'sins that are past' refer to? Whose sins? 'Past' with reference to what?

- Is 'his righteousness' referring to God's attribute of righteousness, or to God's provision of righteousness?

- To what is the forbearance of God related? What would have happened if there was no such divine forbearance?

Joe

I'll give you my view of the passage.

I believe Paul is referring to all the sins of God's elect that were committed prior to Calvary. God didn't save His people in the Old Testament era one way and now in the New Testament era another way. He saves all of His chosen ones alike.

If this be the case, God relied on the finished work of Christ for the salvation of His Old Testament people just as He does for us. From a human, temporal perspective, Paul could describe this work as the Father's faith in His Son's blood long before the Son came and shed His blood.

"Faith" in this sense certainly does not carry the notion of hope, or of trusting what we do not know. It rather carries the idea of perfect reliance. The Father applied the finished work of Christ to His elect in regeneration, fully relying on the work, although it was yet future. Hope this helps.

Dav

Q. Through whose faith in Christ blood?

A. God the Father’s – Knowing that the Son would be faithful to die for the sins of many.

Q. What do 'sins that are past' refer to? 'Past' with reference to what?

A. Sins of God’s children prior to the coming of Christ.

Q. Is 'his righteousness' God's attribute of righteousness, or God's provision of righteousness?

A. Christ’s righteousness as the only acceptable sacrifice.

Q. To what is the forbearance of God related?

A. God tolerated the sins of His people and considered them as already forgiven, even though the actual act of redemption had not been accomplished.

Bernie

Br. Joe, you have exactly expressed my understanding of Paul's language in these precise verses (Rom. 3:24-25).

People err when they attempt to define the Father's faith in His Son by applying Paul's faith definition that is labelled in Hebrews 11:1. This particular verse (11:1) describes the faith of the regenerated elect, not the faith God had in His Son. God's faith is that confidence and reliance had in His Son by reason of God's perfect, absolute knowledge.

Man's faith is variable (neither consistent nor absolute); whereas, God's faith is constant and is with the absolute perfection of certainty. Brother Joe's post is with such clarity of truth. Many thanks for it.

I appreciate this needed discussion

Wells

Thanks for your post, Bro. Sing. Just today I saw someone post this verse and then go on to say that "past sins" refers only to the sins of believers prior to regeneration. I appreciate your explanation.

========

This illustration will help...

When I was growing up in a little village, my late father had to go away for works, often for weeks on ends. He would make the arrangement with the local grocery store, to ensure that the shop should supply whatever his household would need in his absence. Dad would leave the family with a notebook; we would bring along that notebook to the shop to get whatever supplies the household required, and the shopkeeper who had faith in my father would gladly supply us everything we had need of in the Dad's absence, recording every item in the notebook.

When Dad returned, we would bring the notebook along and settled all the debts incurred. The grocer man had faith in Dad and supplied us the groceries on credit.

God had faith in the Word, the second person of the Godhead, absolutely confident that the eternal Word would be made flesh and be begotten the Son of God in order to execute the work of redemption for all those given to Him in the eternal covenant of redemption.