Just One Drop Of

JUST ONE DROP OF

"Just one drop of Jesus' has enough power to cleanse all of man's sins for ever" misses the point of justification by . This concept sees cleansing by the of Christ as re­quiring some kind of contact with a y fluid that coursed through the veins of Jesus.

In order to understand cleansing by the of Christ, one must grasp the sig­nificance of four different expressions ­"justified by " (Rom. 5:9); “recon­ciled by his ” (Rom. ); "laid down his life" (John , 15; 1 John ); and "... the church of God which he purchased with his own ..." (Acts ).

First, historical accounts give insight to  understanding what God means by "shedding ." God said to Noah that whoever sheds man's by man shall his be shed (Gen. 9:6). To take life means the same as shedding but men may shed without actu­ally causing the body to bleed. For instance stoning might cause some bleeding but would not come as a result of loss of (Lev. 20:2, 9, 14). al could occur when one man struck another (Num. 35:11; Deut. 19:4-ff). Men are just as , if no wound is caused and no flows from the body to the out­side - their has been shed. God clearly affirms justification by the of Jesus ( Rom. 5:1-11). However, if we had been at the foot of the cross and one drop of Jesus' blood had fallen on our body, it would not have cleansed our sin. Some have concluded that Jesus gave His life on the cross when the sol­dier pierced His side and and water came forth (John -37) but that conclusion presents an incongruity, for Jesus was already when the soldier pierced His side. The piercing was the fulfillment of prophecy (Zech. ) and, practically, was designed to be precautionary, lest by some chance He had not been . But Jesus had shed His before the soldier caused some bleeding by the spear, because Jesus had already died - He had already given His life. To say that Jesus shed His as atonement for sins is equivalent to saying "He gave his life" or "He died."

Men come into contact with the of Jesus and are cleansed, not by applying some y fluid to their bodies, nor by drinking a physical substance but by re­ceiving the benefits of His that was offered as an atonement for sins. Cleansing takes place in the mind of God, when men meet God's conditions for grace and are forgiven or their sins. And that requires that we address the fi­nal expression - how was the church pur­chased by the of Christ (Acts )? It was not purchased separate from people being saved by His . Similarly, Paul speaks of the love that moved Christ to die for the church ­"even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it; that he might sanc­tify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not hav­ing spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:25-27). Paul is not speaking of some future cleansing of the church but the purifying of each individ­ual who comes to Christ for forgiveness. Specifically, to learn how His pur­chased the church we must learn how the of Christ cleanses people. Peter speaks of being redeemed by the of Christ and explains the process in this fashion - "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth... being born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, by the word of God which li­veth and abideth forever" (1 Pet. -23). The of Christ purchased the church when his saved men (Acts -47). - Jim R. Everett
 
 
 
2,000 USELESS YEARS

"Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good; do not all go to one place" (Eccl. 6:6)? In verse three the writer talks about a man living "many years... and his soul be not filled with good" that he is worth nothing. This ought to prompt us to think!

What good am I to society? Am I doing what I can to make it better? What good am I to the church? Some have had their name on a "church roll" for years and have done little to further the cause of Christ. What good am I to my family? Do I contribute significantly to its proper function, or am I the center of family problems that arise?

We are all here but for a short time ­certainly not for "a thousand years twice told"! When our time is up, we all "go to the same place;" i.e. the tomb, and there no good can be done. Realizing the brevity of our lives, why not make sure they are "filled with good?" Peter said Jesus "went about doing good" (Acts ). We can do the same thing - if we will. Doing nothing is no better than doing wrong. Look around and see '-' what good needs to be done. All of us can find plenty to do that is good if we will but look for it. - Bill Moseley
 
 
 
MEET FOR THE MASTER'S USE

In Second Timothy 2:21 Paul said that the man who purged himself shall be "... meet (fit) for the master's use." What does it mean to be "meet?" The NKJV says "prepared." The word is euthetos, and means "well placed" (Vine). The idea is that one who is "meet for the master's use" is one who is in a position to be used by the Mas­ter. He is in the right place to do the work God wants him to do.

In order to be useful for Jesus, the text points out that a man ought to be a vessel of honor. He should be "sancti­fied," the verse says. To be "sancti­fied" means to be "set apart;" i.e. for a holy purpose. One who has not been "sanctified" is not meet, or well ­placed for spiritual service. He is in the wrong place!

Consider this from the viewpoint of you and your employer. Your job is to sell products for him. But - you spend four hours a day on the golf course, two hours a day in the coffee shop, another two hours tending to your own business. You spend yet another eight hours sleeping, four hours with your family, and the other four you just plain "goof off." Some of these hours are spent legitimately, but what about those that are not? Are you meet for your employer's use? NO - because you are not well-placed," or you are in the wrong places to properly serve him.

Now apply this to spiritual matters. The man who is in the world, or the Christian who has drifted back into the world is not meet for the master's use. They are in the wrong place, or are not "well placed." Saints in wrong places are a bigger detriment to the cause of Christ than anyone else. When we ought to be attending the worship services and are not, we are in the wrong place, and as such are not useful to God.

When we have the opportunity to do good for others, and fail to go where the need is, we are in the wrong place for the work to get done. When a Christian finds himself in a place of questionable reputation, whatever it may be, he is not meet for the Master's use, for he is misplaced. He is like a Jonah running to Tarshish instead of going to Nineveh ! He is like Peter at the fire of the enemy instead of being at the side of Jesus!

Wherever God calls the Christian to go, that is where he ought to be. It is not ours to question why; to do even that demonstrates a weak faith at best. How we need men like Isaiah who gladly said, "here am I Lord, send me" (6:8). Once that decision is reached, one is "meet for the master's use." - Bill Moseley
In Second Timothy 2:21 Paul said that the man who purged himself shall be "... meet (fit) for the master's use." What does it mean to be "meet?" The NKJV says "prepared." The word is euthetos, and means "well placed" (Vine). The idea is that one who is "meet for the master's use" is one who is in a position to be used by the Mas­ter. He is in the right place to do the work God wants him to do.

In order to be useful for Jesus, the text points out that a man ought to be a vessel of honor. He should be "sancti­fied," the verse says. To be "sancti­fied" means to be "set apart;" i.e. for a holy purpose. One who has not been "sanctified" is not meet, or well ­placed for spiritual service. He is in the wrong place!

Consider this from the viewpoint of you and your employer. Your job is to sell products for him. But - you spend four hours a day on the golf course, two hours a day in the coffee shop, another two hours tending to your own business. You spend yet another eight hours sleeping, four hours with your family, and the other four you just plain "goof off." Some of these hours are spent legitimately, but what about those that are not? Are you meet for your employer's use? NO - because you are not well-placed," or you are in the wrong places to properly serve him.

Now apply this to spiritual matters. The man who is in the world, or the Christian who has drifted back into the world is not meet for the master's use. They are in the wrong place, or are not "well placed." Saints in wrong places are a bigger detriment to the cause of Christ than anyone else. When we ought to be attending the worship services and are not, we are in the wrong place, and as such are not useful to God.

When we have the opportunity to do good for others, and fail to go where the need is, we are in the wrong place for the work to get done. When a Christian finds himself in a place of questionable reputation, whatever it may be, he is not meet for the Master's use, for he is misplaced. He is like a Jonah running to Tarshish instead of going to Nineveh ! He is like Peter at the fire of the enemy instead of being at the side of Jesus!

Wherever God calls the Christian to go, that is where he ought to be. It is not ours to question why; to do even that demonstrates a weak faith at best. How we need men like Isaiah who gladly said, "here am I Lord, send me" (6:8). Once that decision is reached, one is "meet for the master's use." - Bill Moseley
 
 
 
AND ANOTHER THING ...
(Remember What?)

The stories of "absent minded profes­sors" are legion - and that also applies to husbands, especially me. But I have about decided we can remember just about what we want to remember. At times we are like the guy who went to his pharmacist, and said "give me some prepared tablets of acetylsalicylic acid." The pharmacist looked at him and said, "oh, you want some aspirin." "Yeah," said the guy, "that's it ... I never can re­member that word."

Are we in the category of Christians who can name every TV star in the world and at the same time can't remember the names the apostles if we had to (unless we sing them)? Are we a part of that group which, if we happen to talk to someone about obeying the gospel, have to call someone and ask, "where is that verse about 'repenting and being bap­tized"'? Then there are the sports "nuts" who know every player in Major League Baseball, what his batting average is, what his RBI total is, and every team he ever played for, and can't name the books of the Bible. Are we in that group?

Yes, we can remember about what we want to. We would all be a lot better off to spend time in remembering things that . will make us spiritually better instead of all the things of this world that may be well and good in and of themselves, but really won't matter a whit in eternity. How is your "recollector" working? - Bill Moseley