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ctcrnal life, yes- but he also said
something more: " 1 am come," he
said, "that they might have life,
and that they might have it more
abundanti y."
God help us to comprehend. Not
merely continuous existence-but
the full, bappy, interesting, abun–
dant life! Yes- and that for all
eternity!
Just stop and think a moment.
For God to impart mere never-end–
ing existence, which we should live
in ever-increasing emptiness, bore–
dom, misery and suffering-why,
that would be the most cruel pun–
ishment. God is lave. He wants you
to learn the way to enjoy Jife–
forever.
Why God Hides Himself
Your transgression of God's way of
life has not only brought unhappi–
ness and suffering to you-it has
cut you off from all contact with
your Maker. You are a mere mor–
tal. The penalty hanging over you
is death- and the most certain
thing in life is that all shall die.
You have no power to impart to
yourself eternal life. And your sins
have caused you to be cut off from
God the Father, the giver of eter–
na! life.
But God so loved th is world, that
he gave his only begotten Son, that
if you believe on him, you shall
not, after all, perish, but bave the
gift of everlasting life! Tbat can
only come through Christ.
But bow? Jes us Ch ri st was
changed from the divine Word of
God to mortal human flesh- for
the purpose of death. He, only, of
all humans, lived without sin. He
said , " I have kept my Father's
commandments." When he shed
his precious blood- when he gave
his life-he was not paying the
penalty of
HJS
sins, for he never
s inned. He was paying
YOUR
penalty for you- in your stead–
the penalty you incurred by disobe–
dience.
So now if and when you really
repent of your transgressions, and
when you believe, not only in
Christ, but also his gospel, your
penalty stands paid in full- you
are reconciled to God- you have
access to God the Father! You are
now justífied. Your guilt is wiped
clean-up to
THAT
moment. You
6
are under g race-that is, unde–
served pardon for past transgres–
sions.
But that grace gives you no Ji–
cense to continue in sin! As the
apos tle Paul wrote: "What shall we
say then? Shall we continue in sin
[transgressing God's law], that
grace may abound ? God forbid"
(Rom. 6:1-2,
Authorized Version).
Justification refers only to a guilty
past.
But now where do you stand?
Are you now automatically already
saved? You most certainly are not.
Be not deceived. The death of
Christ does not impart eterna) life.
You are not finally saved by the
death of Christ, you are merely
justi fi ed- your past guilt re–
moved-reconciled to God. You
are merely prepared so that you
can be saved. You now have access
to God from whom eterna! life
comes.
What the Death of Christ Means
The blood of Christ does not fi–
nally save you, and had Christ re–
mained dead, you would have no
salvation- never could you have
eterna! life!
Here's the glorious truth! Here's
the point
1
want you to grasp: You
are finally saved- you receive eter–
na! life- by the resurrection of
Christ- from the living Cbrist, not
a dead Savior.
It's in your Bible. Turn to it–
see it witb your own eyes. Turn to
Romans 5:8-10: "God commendeth
bis lave toward us, in that, while
we were yet sinners, Cbrist died
for us. Much more then, being now
justifíed by his blood, we sball be
saved from wrath tbrougb bim. For
if, wben we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by tbe death of
his Son, much more, being recon–
ciled , we shall be saved by bis life"!
Tbere it is. Do you see? Do you
comprebend? We are forgiven, jus–
tified of past guilt, reconciled to
the Fatber , by t he deatb of
Christ-but we shall be saved, not
by his death, but by his life! Yes,
by his resurrection.
In I Corinthians 5:7-8 tbe apos–
tle Paul laid down the command–
ment for the Church: " ... Christ
our passover is sacrifíced for us:
therefore Jet us keep the feas
t. ..."
The original true Churcb that Je-
sus built kept thc Passover, and thc
Feast of Unlcavened Bread- not
Easter. The Passover was the
memorial of the death of Christ,
observed on its anniversary- pic–
turing our justification from past
sins-our being reconciled to God.
Therefore, as Paul said, Jet us
put sin out of our lives- for that's
what the Festival of Unleavened
Bread was given by God to picture
to bis Church.
Also, this fest ival of God pic–
tured the risen, resurrected Christ.
And so, as Christ died for us, and
rose again, the people of God are
instructed (Rom. 6:11 ), " Likewise
reckon ye also yourselves to be
dead indeed unto sin, but alive
unto God through J esus Christ our
Lord"-yes, through Christ's life.
Saved by His Resurrection
Christ's resurrection makes possi–
ble our resurrection to immortal
life in the very divine family of
God. J esus is on ly the firstborn of
many brethren. Your gift of eter–
na! life results not from the death
of Christ- but from bis resurrec–
tion!
Suppose Jesus Cbrist had re–
mained dead in his tomb. Do you
suppose that, in tbat case, your
faith in his blood- bis death–
could have saved you?
If
you do,
you'd be trusting in a false hope.
It's time we realize the truth.
Notice again- read this in your
Bible,
1
Corinthians 15:14, 17- 18:
" If Christ be not risen, then is our
preaching vain.... if Christ be not
raised, your faith is vain.... Then
tbey also which are fallen asleep
[tbat is, dead] in Christ are per–
isbed"-unless Christ rose from
the dead.
Do you grasp the wonderful
truth? Christ is not a dead Savior.
He rose from the dead-he is our
living Savior. But he was dead. He
rose from death- not from life. It
was the ever-l iving Father who
raised him- who imparted eterna!
life to him. J esus Christ became
mortal man for the very purpose of
death - to pay the penalty–
death-for you and for me. He was
mortal. He died. You are mortal.
You sball die. And there is no im–
mortal life- and no possibility of
it-in mortal man.
(Continued on page 25)
The
PLAIN TRUTH