All Glory to God

Repentance can be desired, but its applicable, practical ability must be “given” from God! When Scripture says “Repent,” it designs the intention that those who truly desire to repent are being “drawn” by God (Jhn 6:44), as repentance via faith are the initial godly attributes applied towards union and growth in Christ’s “image,” i.e. “walk” (Eph 4:15; 1Jo 2:6). All godliness originates from God and is “given” to believers to continually walk in as He ever “conforms” us in our lifestyle. At rebirth we are simultaneously given everything that has to do with godliness (2Pe 1:3). The only issue now becomes learning to grow and walk in these gifts and blessings, as we will use the remnant of our time learning to mature in them:

Act 5:31
Act 11:18
Rom 2:4
2Ti 2:25

Repentance (no longer desiring the sin nature - Ro 8:9, only possible during regeneration or rebirth) “is a grant from God; it is not in the power of man's free will, who though he may have time and means, yet if he has not grace given him to repent, he never will; his heart is hard and obdurate, and no means will do without an almighty power; not the most severe judgments, nor the greatest mercies, nor the most powerful ministry; it is a pure gift of God's free grace, and a blessing of the covenant of grace.” –Gill
Acts 11 Bible Commentary - John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
NC

All Glory to God​

Argument could not arise against the truth that the finished work of Christ is altogether and only a work of God for man to which man could make no contribution whatever. Men, indeed, had their part in the crucifixion of the Savior (Acts 4:27, 28), but only as the perpetrators of the greatest crime in the universe.

These effective factors in Christ’s death for the unsaved (reconciliation, propitiation and redemption) are not even remotely within the range of human cooperation (self-producing—NC). In relation to this threefold work of Christ, man can sustain no part in it other than to believe that it avails for him. To those who believe, the whole value of Christ’s “finished” work on the Cross (Jhn 19:30) is reckoned and, because of that reckoning, they stand at once redeemed from condemnation because of sin, reconciled with respect to their own relation to the Father, and sheltered perfectly under that satisfaction which Christ offered to outraged holiness. By so much, the one who believes is forever upon a peace footing with God (Ro 5:1).

These immeasurable benefits to fallen man are incomprehensible; but though the sum total of all the divine blessings which are gained through the death of the Savior be added into one vast whole, that mighty sum is small indeed as compared with the values to the Father Himself of that which the Son wrought by His death upon the Cross of Calvary.

As a designed purpose, the salvation of men had its origin in God and accomplishes an objective which answers the divine intent with that infinity of perfection which characterizes every work of God. As for relative importance, the realization of His aim is not only the major goal in view, but it is the whole of that aim. That men are rescued from eternal misery is but an integral aspect of the entire objective; for it will not be overlooked that neither the creation of the universe, including all moral beings, nor the fall of man, was imposed upon God as a necessity (He created everything “according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” - Eph 3:11—NC).

It is not difficult to deduce from that supreme pronouncement—Colossians 1:15-19: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the Body, the Church: Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell”—that creation, including angels and men is wrought by the Second Person, the Savior of the world, and for Him, and that every adhesion by which the universe holds together and every progression in the march of time is due to His immediate presence, support and power. Supreme above all is His headship in relation to the Church (Eph 5:23), and by the Church all fullness of satisfaction is secured to God; for there is that in the Church which corresponds to “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph 1:18 – “the saints themselves are the Lord's portion, and the lot of His inheritance, in whom He is, and will be abundantly glorified—J Gill).

Upon the divine side, the salvation of men is not merely a rescuer’s expedition or heroism. It is of surpassing import to fallen men that they may be saved; but back of this is a divine project the realization of which is in itself important enough to justify the creation of a universe (with no other beings anywhere else—NC), the incarnation of the Second Person, and His sacrificial death. It follows that the “bringing of many men into glory” (Heb 2:10) achieves more for the One by whom it is designed and wrought than for the sons who are glorified. Every step the Father is taking in this stupendous achievement makes its permanent contribution to that which will glorify Him henceforth and forever.


—L S Chafer






MJS devotional excerpts for Sept. 22:

"There is a sense in which God’s true servant is always a defeated man. The one who drives on with a sense of his own importance, who is unwilling to appreciate the worthlessness of his own best efforts and is always seeking to justify himself—that one will not be meek, and so will lack the essential enablement by which God’s work must be accomplished. Our brokenness must not be feigned; we must not be content with the mere language and appearance of humility. We, too, must be as conscious of Divine mercy in our being recovered for God’s service as we are of the original mercy which drew us from the dark waters of death." -H.F.

"Humility is quietness of heart. It is to have no trouble (Jn 14:1, 27). It is never to be fretted or irritated or disappointed. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have my blessed home in the Lord Jesus, where I can go in and shut the door and be with my Father in secret, and be at peace when all outside is trouble." -A.M.
None But The Hungry Heart