Forgiven for Jesus’s Sake

For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (Psalm 25:11)

In knowing what is right, God does not consult any authority higher than himself. His own worth is the ultimate value in the universe. Therefore, for God to do what is right means acting in a way that accords with this ultimate value.

The righteousness of God is the infinite zeal and joy and pleasure that he has in what is supremely valuable, namely, his own perfection and worth. And if he were ever to act contrary to this eternal passion for his own perfections, he would be unrighteous — he would be an idolater.

How shall such a righteous God ever set his affection on sinners like us who have scorned his perfections? But the wonder of the gospel is that in his divine righteousness lies also the very foundation of our salvation.

The infinite regard that the Father has for the Son makes it possible for me, a wicked sinner, to be loved and accepted in the Son, because in his death he vindicated the worth and glory of his Father.

Because of Christ, we can pray with new understanding the prayer of the psalmist, “For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great” (Psalm 25:11). The new understanding is that, because of Christ, instead of only praying, “For your name’s sake, pardon my guilt,” we now pray, “For Jesus’s name’s sake, O God, pardon my guilt.”

First John 2:12 says, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake,” referring to Jesus. Jesus has now atoned for sin and vindicated the Father’s honor so that our “sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”

God is righteous. He does not sweep sin under the rug. If a sinner goes free, someone dies to vindicate the infinite worth of God’s glory that the sinner defamed. That is what Christ did. Therefore, “For your name’s sake, O Lord” and “For Jesus’s name’s sake” are the same. And that is why we pray with confidence for forgiveness.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Job 36:21

    [21] Take care; do not turn to iniquity,

        for this you have chosen rather than affliction.

John 9:31

[31] We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.

James 4:3

[3] You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Isaiah 59:2

    [2] but your iniquities have made a separation

        between you and your God,

    and your sins have hidden his face from you

        so that he does not hear.

Predestined to Be Like Jesus

PRAY OVER THIS

“…having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will…”

(Ephesians 1:5)

 

PONDER THIS

This verse says that we’re chosen before the world and then predestined to be like the Lord Jesus. Predestination is not saying from eternity that this man will go to Heaven and this other man goes to Hell; predestination says that those who trust the Lord Jesus are going to be like the Lord Jesus. Predestination teaches me on the authority of the Word of God that because He chose me and because I have trusted Him, it is settled forever that I'm going to be like the Lord Jesus Christ and that settles the question of my security. If I am predestined for adoption into the family of God, what can stop it? What can stand in the way? Nothing. I am predestined; I have been chosen to be like the Lord Jesus. God’s plans for me will never be thwarted, no matter the schemes of the devil.

Does it bring you comfort to know God has purposed for all who trust in Him to be made like Jesus?

In what ways has God already made you more like Jesus?

PRACTICE THIS

Write out three to five ways you know you need to grow to be more like Jesus. Take these to God, asking Him to make you like His Son in these specific ways.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Jesus Will Trample All Our Enemies

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:24)

How far does the reign of Christ extend?

The next verse, 1 Corinthians 15:25 says, “He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” The word all tells us the extent.

So does the word every in verse 24: “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.”

There is no disease, no addiction, no demon, no bad habit, no fault, no vice, no weakness, no temper, no moodiness, no pride, no self-pity, no strife, no jealousy, no perversion, no greed, no laziness that Christ will not overcome as the enemy of his honor.

And the encouragement in that promise is that when you set yourself to do battle with the enemies of your faith and your holiness, you will not fight alone.

Jesus Christ is now, in this age, putting all his enemies under his feet. Every rule and every authority and every power will be conquered.

So, remember that the extent of Christ’s reign reaches to the smallest and biggest enemy of his glory in your life, and in this universe. It will be defeated.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Daniel 7:14

    [14] And to him was given dominion

        and glory and a kingdom,

    that all peoples, nations, and languages

        should serve him;

    his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

        which shall not pass away,

    and his kingdom one

        that shall not be destroyed.

Daniel 7:27

    [27] And the kingdom and the dominion

        and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven

        shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High;

    his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom,

        and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’

Ephesians 1:21

[21] far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Colossians 2:8-10

[8] See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. [9] For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, [10] and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Let God Argue with the Devil

PRAY OVER THIS

“For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.”

1 John 5:7

 

PONDER THIS

A little boy was in a revival meeting. The pastor preached from John 5:24, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” The little boy listened, believed, and was saved. But you know, the devil always counter attacks, doesn’t he?

On the way home, the little fellow said the devil began to whisper to him, saying, “You’re not saved. You don’t feel just right. You don’t deserve it. You’re not good enough.” And all the way home, the devil was condemning that little boy. When he got home, the boy sat on the couch, trying to get it all sorted out. By then, it seemed to the boy like Satan was under the couch. He said, “I took the Bible and stuck it under the couch, and I said ‘Devil, read it for yourself.’” When the devil gets on your trail, don’t argue with him. He’s not worth it. Point him to the Word; let him argue with God Himself.

What are the common ways the devil seeks to make you question your standing with Jesus?

How can we know the difference between Satan’s condemnation and the Holy Spirit’s conviction?

PRACTICE THIS

Name the ways Satan commonly accuses you. Next to these, jot down a Scripture that answers these accusations.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Shadows and Streams

May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke! I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. (Psalm 104:31–34)

God rejoices in the works of creation because they point us beyond themselves to God himself.

God means for us to be stunned and awed by his work of creation. But not for its own sake. He means for us to look at his creation and say: If the mere work of his fingers (just his fingers! Psalm 8:3) is so full of wisdom and power and grandeur and majesty and beauty, what must this God be like in himself!

These are but the backside of his glory, as it were, darkly seen through a glass. What will it be to see the glory of the Creator himself! Not just his works! A billion galaxies will not satisfy the human soul. God and God alone is the soul’s end.

Jonathan Edwards expressed it like this:

The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. . . . [These] are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the ocean.

This is why Psalm 104 comes to a close in verses 31–34 with a focus on God himself. “I will sing praise to my God while I have being. . . . For I rejoice in the Lord.” In the end it will not be the seas or the mountains or the canyons or the water spiders or the clouds or the great galaxies that fill our hearts to breaking with wonder and fill our mouths with eternal praise. It will be God himself.

John Piper