The Deity of Christ

Christian orthodoxy states that Christ is the Redeemer of men. So do many unorthodox groups who call themselves Christians, such as Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses. Yet many erroneously claim that He is not God incarnate. The Muslims state he is simply a prophet, like Mohammad. The Mormons believe he is the created brother of Lucifer. The Jehovah Witnesses believe he is the created archangel Michael. Muslims don't call themselves Christians, so I am not going to deal with them here specifically. And while Mormons and JW's claim to be Christians, we will see that they cannot make that claim since they don't know who the real Christ is.

Both the Mormons and the JW's claim that Christ is the redeemer of mankind, although their works also add to the equation. But can a creature redeem humanity? Is it possible for a created being to perfectly adhere to the moral law of God? Was Christ a mere man? Was he an angel? Without addressing the error of works salvation in this post, (which may be done in a future post since all religions apart from biblical Christianity believe this in one form or another), I would like to address the aspects of the nature of Jesus Christ and present some clear bible passages which affirm the deity of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,and they shall call his name Immanuel"(which means, God with us).

Matthew not only points to the fulfilled prophecy spoken of in Isaiah 7:14, but he also makes a vividly explicit statement to the meaning of this birth. The one who is conceived is "God with us".

John 1:1-5; 14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
...
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Here, John also makes an explicit claim to the deity of Christ. Not only does he state it clearly in verse 1 by stating "the Word was God", but he also attributes this abstract concept of the term "word" to a person. This "word" became flesh and tabernacled among us, according to verse 14. That person is Christ, the focus of John's gospel.

The reason John uses the phrase "and tabernacled (or dwelt) among us" is because that is how the Jews related to God. God dwelt among His people in the old testament. He would dwell among His people in the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35) and lead them by resting upon the tabernacle. The people would have seen the direct correlation being made by using that wording. Not only did this Word who is God become flesh, but He also dwelt among the people.

John also puts to rest the idea that the Son of God was a created being when he states in verse 3 that "all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made." That statement is pretty clear in affirming that NOTHING has been made apart from the Son. According to Mormons and JW's, the Son was a created being, but how can this be so? He cannot have created himself! That verse would have to read "except for him, not anything was made that was made."

If he was a created being, then he had to have played a role in his own creation, since nothing was made without him. This simply cannot be so.

Colossians 1:¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Again, verse 16 explicitly states that all things were created through him and for him. It does not say nearly all things, or all things besides himself. It shows that everything in heaven (that would include angels), and everything on earth was created through him. How? He is the Word of God. God spoke. Christ is the expression of the Father. This is a complex mystery of the relationship within the Godhead that I confess I do not fully comprehend. But I do see clearly that all created things were created through him and for him.

"But look, verse 15 says that he is 'firstborn' of all creation! See? He is created. It says it right there!" That is the canned answer to all who use this verse to attack the deity of Christ, but this doesn't take into account the cultural aspect of the term 'firstborn'. What did that mean to Paul? What did it mean to the Colossians to whom he was writing? We must take all of Scripture into account, so if one part says nothing was made without him, then this verse can't mean that something was made without him (namely himself). It means quite simply that Christ is the preeminent one. When the Jews would speak of being the firstborn, that term didn't mean merely that the child was the oldest in the family. When spoken of the male, it meant that he is the heir of the family possessions. They are entitled to all their father owns when he either dies, or gives it freely (as seen in the parable of the prodigal son).

Furthermore, we see in Psalm 89 the following:

Psalm 89:2-28
²⁶He shall cry to me, 'You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation.'
²⁷And I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
²⁸My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
and my covenant will stand firm for him.

David, speaking of Christ in a prophetic sense, states that the Father will make (establish, appoint) the Son the firstborn, and then in classic hebrew style, interprets himself in the next verse via parallelism by saying that firstborn means to be "highest of the kings of the earth." He will be established in his rightful place in inheriting all the Father owns. So using the proper technique of letting Scripture interpret Scripture, it can be plainly stated that when the term "firstborn" is used in Colossians 1:15, it is NOT speaking of his "spiritual birth" or any other such means of creation. It is speaking plainly about his position of authority OVER creation.

Now for the passage that prompted this blog entry.

Psalm 49:7-9
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.

These verses display the problem with simply acknowledging the humanity of Christ without taking into account his other nature, namely his deity. The psalm writer shows by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit his understanding of the price of sin. He acknowledges not only the heavy price for it, but the inability for a mere man to pay it. An infinitely holy God is infinitely offended by sin, therefore the finite man must pay an infinite price which he is unable to do for himself, let alone any others. If this is so (and it cannot be denied for any who believe Scripture is the inspired word of God), then if Jesus Christ were merely a mortal man, he would be unqualified to atone for the sins of anyone, let alone the myriad of people mentioned to be atoned by his blood in Scripture (Heb 9:14; 1Pet 1:2, 19; Rev 1:5). There has to be more to this Jesus than mortality and manhood.

So would being an angel make his atonement able to cover the sins of a multitude? Let us examine this point.

First of all, the word angel is the hebrew word mal'ak and the greek word aggelos. Both words simply mean "messenger". So the word angel is simply one who brings a message from someone. In the case of the Scriptures, that someone is God. Now Christ was much more than a mere messenger.

• He was heralded in as the Redeemer and the Lamb of God by John the Baptist (John 1:29)
  
• He was called the King of the Jews (Matt 2:2, 27:11)
  
• He was known as the Messiah, which means 'Anointed One'. (John 1:41; 4:25)
  
• He was the Son of God (Matt 8:29; 14:33)
  
• He was the Son of Man (Jesus used this title for himself countless times)
  
• He was the Son of David (Matt 9:27; 15:22)

Each one of these titles signifies a distinct purpose of Jesus. I will leave it up to the reader to look into each of these titles, since that is not the purpose of this article.

Was Christ nothing but an angel? Let us look at the letter to the Hebrews. In fact, the first two chapters deal specifically with this topic and I encourage you to read them right now. I shall take a few verses and expound on them here.

Heb 1:3-5
³ He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

⁵ For to which of the angels did God ever say,

"You are my Son,
today I have begotten you"?

Or again,

"I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son"?

Why does the writer state that he "became" more superior to angels? Was he simply an exalted angel? No. He was made lower than the angels first (Heb 2:7). And after his work was accomplished, he was raised up to the right hand of God, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Heb 1:6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,

"Let all God’s angels worship him."

The angels are not worshiped in Scripture (Rev 19:10; 22:9). The only one worthy of worship is God Almighty. You might say "what about the angel of the LORD in the old testament?" But what or who is angel of the LORD? It was a theophany. A manifestation of the presence of God. The angel of the LORD is referred to AS God in Genesis 16:7-13, Genesis 22:11-17, Exodus 3:2-4, Judges 2:1-3, Judges 13:18-22, Psalms 34:7 and Zechariah 12:8. So this title "angel of the LORD" is not speaking merely of a created angel, but is more specifically speaking of a manifestation of God Himself.

So we have dealt with some of the explicit claims of his deity and some of the most common objections to it. Much more could be said, but this is, after all, a blog post and not a book!

I would gladly address any specific objections or points in the comments.

May God be glorified in this post. Amen

AN ADDRESS TO THE YOUNG READERS OF THIS CATECHISM

Taken from:
An Essay Towards an Easy, Plain, Practical, and Extensive Explication
of the Assembly's Shorter Catechism

By John Brown

My dear young Ones, for whom my heart's desire and prayer to God is, that ye may be saved; Let me beseech you, while you read this, and especially while you read your Bible, or hear the precious truths contained in it preached to you, to 'hearken and hear for the time, for the eternity to come.' Now, now, in the most proper season of it, 'get wisdom as the principal thing;' and 'with all your getting, get understanding' of the important, the infinitely important, concerns of your salvation.

What! 'know ye not your own selves?'—For the Lord's sake, seriously think what souls ye have; immortal souls;—souls, one of which is inconceivably more worth than ten thousand worlds;—souls which are capable of enjoying an infinite God as their everlasting ALL IN ALL ;—souls which shall, which must, ere long, enter into an eternal state of inconceivable misery or happiness.—Alas! my young Friends, must souls formed by God himself—souls endowed with an understanding and will—souls formed to live for ever—souls formed for the everlasting and immediate service and enjoyment of God ; must souls which, by the mercy of God have been solemnly devoted to him in baptismal and other covenant engagements—souls, upon which parents, masters, and ministers, have bestowed so many prayers, instructions, and exhortations—souls, upon which God himself hath bestowed such instruction, warning, terrible alarms, and engaging allurements, and such striving of his Spirit,—be lost, for ever lost,—for ever damned, by you who possess them, in order to obtain some trifling, some carnal, some filthy, some pernicious gratification, that perhaps a beast would contemn?

O think, as before God, what state you are in, while ye remain careless and unconverted.—Being 'without Christ,' and 'strangers to the covenant of promise,' ye are altogether 'guilty before God, alienated from the life of God,' and enemies to him; cursed and condemned by God, because ye have not believed in his only begotten Son,—having no holiness 'no hope,' and 'without God, in the world.'—Being 'children of the devil,' your heart is 'filled with all unrighteousness, pride, debate, deceit, malignity,' hatred of God—is full of all ignorance, unbelief, 'subtlety and mischief.' It is 'deceitful, above all things, and desperately wicked.' Its 'carnal mind is enmity against God,' and 'is not subject to his law, neither indeed can be.' It is infected with every defiling, every ruinous, every damning plague; replenished with every sinful lust, in the reigning power of it, and inhabited by legions of devils, ready to tempt you to every thing wicked.—Out of it, as permitted by God, have, in all the past hours of your life, 'proceeded evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, idolatries, blasphemies.' Ye have lived 'after the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, who worketh in' you as 'children of disobedience.' Ye have hitherto been foolish and disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures; living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another;’—speaking and doing 'evil things as ye could.'— And, ah! what innumerable, what dreadful curses of Almighty God are inseparably annexed to all your sinful dispositions, thoughts, words, and actions! Alas! how those render all things, Christ and his Gospel not excepted, the 'savour of death unto death' unto you!—Dreadful thought! Eternal destruction is ready at your side. ‘God is angry with you every day;' his 'wrath abideth' on you; his 'sword is drawn’ and his 'bow bent,' and his 'arrows set’ to destroy you.—A sound of your approaching damnation roars aloud, had you ears to hear it, in every threatening of his word. Even while you hear this sentence, hell stands open to receive you, and devils stand ready to drag you into everlasting fire. Why then are you not afraid to think another careless thought? Why not afraid to shut your eyes, even in necessary sleep, lest you should open them in hell?

My dear children, O think, with grief, with shame, with trembling, think, with perseverance and deep concern, think how criminal and heinous before the Lord, are the sins of your youth, which ye look upon as mere trifles, as mere gaiety and sport. They are the accursed product of your inward, your original, and increased ignorance, pride, deceit, folly, filthiness, and enmity against God.—They are a most treacherous rebellion against his law, which is 'holy, just, and good.'—They are committed against his authority over you, and against all his warnings, counsels, promises, threatenings, mercies, and judgments.—They are ungratefully committed against all his peculiar favours in preserving and providing for you, while you could not help yourselves.—They are committed against all his peculiar calls, invitations, promises, and encouragements, to young ones.—They are a most base prostitution of the excellent talents, amiableness, and vigour, with which he hath endowed you in your youth.—They are a most perverse abuse of that peculiarly precious season of life, in which you ought to prepare for future usefulness and happiness.—They mightily increase and strengthen the original habits of corruption in you, and form in you many base acquired habits of vanity and lust.—They fearfully pervert the use of your tender affections, in opposition to God and his ways. —They are committed upon small and trifling temptations.—They strongly entice others around you to sin, or harden them in it.—They fling reproach upon God, your Maker, Preserver, and Saviour, as if he, his promises, laws, mercies, and judgments, were unworthy of your early regard, and did encourage you in sin.—They defame your parents, masters, and ministers, as if they had agreed to train you up for the devil.—They draw down reproach on yourselves, which ye must bear, either in deep convictions, or in everlasting punishment.—They deprive you of the most pleasant and profitable fellowship with God.—They forfeit for you the precious promises of long life and prosperity.—They expose you to fearful judgments in this life, and to the 'damnation of hell' in the next.—Are these light matters? will you reckon them such in the agonies of death, at the tribunal of Christ, or amidst the flames of hell?

Alas! why do ye, by your unconcern, your folly, your wickedness, take such pains, such early pains, to fit yourselves to be fuel for that 'everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels!' If God grant you repentance, how it will sting you to recollect what earnest offers, what eminent opportunities of receiving his grace, ye have contemned, neglected and abused; what infinite kindness, condescension, and love, ye have trampled under your feet; what fellowship with Christ, and his Father, and blessed Spirit, ye have despised and refused; what ravishing views of his glory, and of all the perfections of God in him, as manifested, and to be for ever manifested in your eternal salvation; what delightful tasting of his goodness, and what enriching reception of his fulness, you have rejected, for the sake of the meanest or the filthiest pleasure or profit on earth, which will entail grief and shame on you while you live, and draw multitudes, all around you, to hell before and after your death! If, provoked with your perseverance in folly and guilt, God give you up to your own heart's lusts, alas! how your wickedness will rob him and his Christ of his property in our land and nation, and consign yourselves, your companions, and posterity, nay, even the church and nation, the whole management of which will quickly be in the hands of the rising generation,—for who knows how long,—into the power of the devil, and the hand of an angry God!

My dear young ones, 'know ye the God of your fathers,'—the God who preserved, who guided, who blessed, who saved many of your fathers,—the God to whom your fathers dedicated you, and whom they have recommended to you,—the God who, in your fathers, took you into covenant with himself,—the God, 'whom to know is life eternal, and this life is in his Son.'—We tell you, our posterity, that ' this God is our God for ever,' and he 'will be our guide even unto death.'—We never found him a barren wilderness, nor a land of drought.—We have found infinitely more satisfaction in this God, as our God, given by himself to us, in his word, than could balance all the pleasures, all the wealth, all the honour of ten thousand worlds.—These words, THY GOD, and MY GOD, have been 'found' by us, and we have ' eaten them,' and they have been to us the 'joy and rejoicing of our heart.' There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who pardoneth iniquity, transgression, and sin, and who 'delighteth in mercy.' O how our hearts are ravished, when we think how 'this God,' this ' fountain of living' waters, 'shall be our eternal ALL IN ALL, the strength of our heart and portion for ever. If even on this sinful, this wretched earth, wisdom's ways be such ways of pleasantness, what must it be for ever to enter to the joy of our Lord ! 'We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. O 'come, taste and see that our God is good,' and that they who trust in him are blessed. O 'consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.' Come, behold our Surety, our Saviour, our Husband, whom our soul loveth, our King, 'meet and lowly,' bringing salvation. Behold our God-man, 'white and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand; fair, yea pleasant, most sweet,' and 'altogether lovely.' This is our Beloved, our Friend, our Mediator, our God, O ye 'sons and daughters of Jerusalem.'—Looking off all the vanities of creation, consider him in his unparalleled person, the only begotten Son of God in our nature; in his saving offices, his endearing relations, his incomparable excellences, services, sufferings, and glories; his unbounded fulness of grace and truth, and every good thing proper to be bestowed on us in time and eternity, and then tell us what ye think of our Christ.

Alas ! my dear boys and girls, Do you believe that there is a God, who made you, who gave you a law for your heart and life, and who will quickly call you to an account of every thought, word, and deed,—and never think of, never tremble at the view of your appearance before his tribunal, or of your lying for ever under his infinite wrath? Have ye not seen, tasted, and felt, 'that God is good?' Have ye not heard, have ye not known, what he hath done for the eternal salvation of sinful men? and will ye render him contempt and hatred for all his bounty and love ?—Have you a natural principle of regard to your own preservation and welfare,—and yet will ye counteract it, by a malicious and obstinate refusal of our infinitely lovely Lord Jesus, and all his everlasting righteousness, mercy and grace ? —Hath God implanted in your breast a tender compassion towards the very beasts that perish,—and yet will ye be so inhumanly cruel as to break the hearts of your godly parents, masters, ministers, or neighbours, — and, if possible, break the heart of our infinitely gracious Redeemer, and his Father and blessed Spirit, by your crucifying him afresh, trampling his covenant and blood under your feet, and murdering your own soul ?—Alas! will you employ your vigorous minds in thinking on, and learning every thing but Jesus Christ, and what relates to him ?—Will you readily believe every thing; but the excellent, the gracious words of a 'God who cannot lie,'—his 'faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation,' that 'Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners,' even 'the chief,'—'his record,' that in his Son, there is eternal life prepared for, and given to you?—Will you earnestly desire every thing but Jesus, the 'pearl of great price,' the 'unspeakable gift,' of God, and his great and everlasting salvation?—Will you comply with every thing but the offers of the glorious Gospel, and covenant of grace, 'well ordered in all things and sure?'—Will you thankfully receive every thing but God himself,—but the true bread of life, which the Lord your God giveth you from heaven ?—Why fond of every form of comeliness, but that of gracious conformity to God ?—Why fond of every pleasure, every joy, but that rejoicing in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, which is 'joy unspeakable and full of glory?

Suffer me to expostulate a little with you on God's behalf,—and on your own soul's behalf. Why, in your peculiar day of grace, do you indulge such ignorance of Jehovah and his law,—of Jesus and his salvation,—and of their necessity and usefulness for you?—Why indulge such contempt and unbelief of the gospel of the grace of God?—-Why encourage and promote such filthiness, and desperate hardness of heart?—Why cherish such superlative attachment to 'loss and dung,' —-to the perishing pleasures and profits of sin and sense?—Why cultivate such malice and enmity against Jesus Christ, and his Father, and blessed Spirit, as to 'make light of,' and 'neglect' his infinitely precious, necessary, and 'great salvation.'—Oh ! that you but felt 'the word of God quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of your soul and spirit,' joints and marrow, as 'a discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart!'—Oh I that ye but knew the infinite sinfulness which is in, and on you, and the infinite and everlasting misery which awaits you!—Oh! that you would believe God's peremptory and infallible declarations of the absolute necessity of his supernatural change of your state and nature, that, 'Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven:—Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God:—Except a man be born of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God:—If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature: all old things are passed away, and all things are become new.—In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth any thing, but a new creature.' Without holiness, 'no man shall see the Lord.'—We must be 'begotten again' by God, 'to lively hope, by the resurrection of Christ from the dead;—born again of incorruptible seed, by the word of God.'—And putting off the 'old man,' with his deceitful lusts, and putting on the 'new man,' which, after God, is created in 'knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness,' ye must as 'new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:'—For, 'if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.'—O that ye knew in this your days of youth, while your faculties are fresh and vigorous,—while your affections are tender and lively,—while your lusts are less powerful, your hearts less hardened, and your worldly cares less embarrassing, that fellowship with the Father, in his redeeming love, which ye so unthinkingly neglect;—with the Son in his blood and grace, which ye so wickedly despise; and with the Holy Ghost, in his influences, which ye so madly resist !—O that ye but knew the 'riches of the glory of the gospel, which is Christ in you the hope of glory!'—that ye but apprehended, with all saints, 'what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height,' and knew the power and the 'love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.' O think I with astonishment think, what kind of preparations God hath made for your everlasting salvation ;—how he 'so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life!—how he set him 'up from everlasting,' as our Surety, who engaged his heart to approach to the Lord, and delight to do his will in ransoming and saving us,— how, in his incarnation, he brought him into this world 'in the likeness of sinful flesh,' the 'man' his 'fellow,'—and our 'near kinsman and brother, born for adversity!'—how he 'made him under the law,' and exacted from him all the infinite debt of obedience and suffering due from us!—'that he might redeem us that were under the law!'—how 'he made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we, 'who knew nothing but sin,' might be made the righteousness of God in him!'—how he made him 'a curse for us,' that we men, we Gentiles, might be 'blessed in him with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places!'—how he put him to grief—to death —for us, that we might live through him, in the joy of the Lord!—how he 'delivered' him 'for our offences,' and 'raised' him 'again for our justification;'—'Gave him glory' for himself and unbounded fulness of gifts,' for men, yea, for the rebellious, that our faith and hope might be in God!'—and how he hath made, and in his gospel, and its influence, maketh him to us, 'wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption!'—And, O think with application think—with what infinite candour, and compassionate earnestness, Jehovah, Son, and Holy Ghost, by all his words, declarations, invitations, commands, promises, and threatenings;—by all his works, as therewith connected ;—by all his mercies and judgments;—by all his ordinances and ministers ;—by all your needs in time and eternity;—by all your desires—and by all your vows and engagements ;—calls, beseecheth, intreats, obtests, and expostulates with you, to receive himself, and all his full and everlasting salvation, offered to you in the gospel, 'freely, without money and without price!'

Alas! my dear young men and women, why are you so prone to hunt after, listen to, and comply with every temptation of Satan, your destroyer;—every enticement of your vain companions :—every suggestion of your foolish and wicked heart,—to your temporal and eternal ruin :—and yet so deaf, so averse to, and obstinate against the most earnest entreaties of the great God, your Saviour?—Do they love you more; or have they, or will they, or can they do more, for your everlasting welfare, than he?—Why, by your ready compliance with every thing ruinous—and by your obstinate resistance of all attempts to promote your true holiness and happiness,—do you labour to pull down everlasting destruction upon your own heads?—Why thus labour to extract your most dreadful ruin from all the perfections of a gracious God;—from all the persons of the Godhead;—from all his purposes, covenants, words, and works;—and from all persons, and their actions, with whom you are connected, or do converse?

Nay, my beloved children, whom I wish for my 'joy and crown in the day of the Lord.'—When so much of the best of your time is already spent in vanity and wrath;—when death, judgment, and eternity hasten to meet you;—when your judgment now of a long time 'lingereth not,' your ' damnation slumbereth not;'— why should you delay your deepest concern, about your eternal salvation, one moment more?—Why defer coming to an infinitely gracious Redeemer,—to the 'Lord God merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving iniquity transgression, and sin?'—Why delay, when called 'from darkness' to God's 'marvellous light;' called to receive 'redemption through Jesus' blood;—to receive out of his fulness and grace for grace- called to the fellowship of God's Son;'—called to be 'heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ?'—Why lose another year, another month, another hour, another moment, without the enjoyment, the infinitely sweet enjoyment, of God in Christ, at your Father, Husband, Friend, and Portion? Why hide yourselves 'among the stuff' of vain or earthly cares, when a 'kingdom which cannot be moved,' is offered unto you?—Why, to render your eternal damnation more certain, and more dreadful, every moment, and your way of escape more difficult,— should you remain among devils, and carnal companions, and filthy lusts, when Jesus is lifting up his voice and crying, ' Whosoever will let him come unto me.— Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.—Arise my love, my polluted one, and come away. Come with me from Lebanon, with me from Lebanon.—Come ye to the waters; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price. Incline your ear, and come unto me ; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.' Eat ye 'that which is good,' and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 'Behold I stand at the door' of thine heart, 'and knock: Open to me, my sister, my love, my' defiled; 'for my head is filled with the dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.' When you hasten from storms, from trouble, from outward danger, why not make haste to Jesus, the refuge, the hope, set before you ?—When he saith, 'To-day if ye will hear my voice,' harden not 'your hearts; now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation;' why should you say, To-morrow? When he waits to be gracious, and exalteth himself to ' shew mercy,'—why tire out his patience till he 'shut up all his tender mercies in his wrath?' Is 'it a small thing for you to weary men,'—weary parents, and ministers? 'But will ye weary my God also?'

Lord Jesus, make haste to convince, to convert, to save, the rising generation in Britain. They perish—they perish! O Redeemer, make no tarrying. Now be an accepted time; now be a day of salvation. Save now, O Lord, we beseech thee; tend now prosperity.

Entire book here --> http://is.gd/1v3Ub

What is TULIP? The who, why and how of salvation.