I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
To frustrate the grace of God is to set it aside, for righteousness does not come by keeping the law, and if it did then Christ died needlessly and in vain. No human good deeds, even a lifetime of repentance, can earn God's favor or pay for sin, for His death was the only sacrifice that could save the fallen race and open eternal life through faith with His righteousness credited to believers. His death proves the law could not be changed to fit fallen humanity but stands vindicated and established, so grace does not make the law void but calls for obedience joined to a living faith that works. His death is not wasted for those who prize the infinite cost by turning from self and pride, dying to the law as a way of justification to live unto God with Christ formed within by daily feeding on His word, and showing it in obedience to the commandments, self-denial, and a life hid with Him. It becomes of no effect for the one who lives for self and refuses to labor for others, so gratitude requires using strength, means, and influence to bring souls to Him and to train children to know and obey Him, lest He be found to have died for them in vain.
Righteousness Not by Law
Not to frustrate the grace of God is not to set it aside, for righteousness does not come by keeping the law, and if it did Christ died needlessly and in vain. No human righteous acts, even a long life of repentance, can earn God's favor or redeem sinners, and if they could there would have been no need for Him to endure humiliation and death. His death was the only sacrifice God could accept to save the fallen race. His life and death make righteousness and eternal life possible through faith in Him. God gave Jesus to take away sins and to impute His righteousness to believers, which is what righteousness by law cannot accomplish, so testimonies that praise this gift acknowledge that He did not die in vain.
His death proves that God's law could not be changed to fit fallen humanity, for if the law could have been altered He would not have needed to die. That death vindicates God's justice and establishes the law, while His intercession makes eternal life available, so obedience to the law is called for but does not replace His saving work. Without Him the penalty of the broken law would fall on sinners without any reduction in its severity. Combining deity and humanity as both God and man, He stood in the gap, bore the full unabated penalty, and gave humanity another trial. His grace does not make God's law void, so to claim acceptance through Him while opposing the law is to misunderstand grace and faith. Faith is joined to truth and is supported by good works, and a claimed faith that refuses obedience is dead and not saving faith, for grace and law are not enemies.
Seeking justification by Christ means being dead to the law to live unto God, crucified with Christ yet living because Christ lives within, living in the flesh by faith in the Son of God who loved and gave Himself. As blood is formed in the body by food eaten, Christ is formed within by eating the Word of God, which is His flesh and blood. The written Word brings the searcher to Him, and through obedience he becomes a partaker of the divine nature, with Christ formed within the hope of glory. As the body cannot live by eating once but must eat daily, God's Word must be eaten daily as meat and drink to be feasted upon. Its entrance gives light and understanding to the simple, renews the spirit of the mind, and causes growth up into Christ the living Head.
Death Not in Vain
Christ has not died needlessly for those who value God's great gift to the world and use heaven's provision made at infinite cost to draw souls to obedience to God's law. Their course of life bears witness by conforming to obedience to the commandments, by unity in the faith of the Scriptures and being bound together as one in Christ with lives hidden with Christ in God, by practicing the golden rule of doing to others as they would have others do to them, and by bearing living testimony that the Father loves them even as He loves His Son. They labor together with God in cooperation with the great Master Worker, become partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption in the world through lust, and by consistent Christian lives of courtesy and unwavering fidelity, justice and mercy magnify God's law and make it honorable, showing the law of the Lord to be perfect, converting the soul.
His death must not be made vain for those for whom He died, and appreciating the price of salvation means not living only to save self but working earnestly and wisely to bring others to Christ. It is died in vain for those satisfied with a cheap experience that costs little, whose lives declare it by showing no special interest in giving gospel light to those in darkness and winning others to love of the truth, by counting it no honor to partake of Christ's sufferings, by feeling no burden for the perishing, and by unwillingness to sacrifice and save means for the work, refusing at every step to share in His sufferings and self-denial as laborers together with God. The sacrifice made to save every person must not be made vain by neglecting the life and work of a branch abiding in Him, for those who receive life in Christ bear fruit as His followers by helping sinners learn the truth, while remaining self-centered and careless of others risks being lost from the vine and facing eternal death. The infinite Son paid with His own life the ransom price for souls, and where souls are not saved His death is in vain, so those He purchased must work earnestly with heart and soul, with pen and voice, to point souls to the narrow path, laboring on the right hand and on the left and sowing beside all waters without knowing which shall prosper, each in living union with Christ with soul knit to His, for without this none are safe.
Christ died to give life in and through His rich grace, and His death is in vain for a person unless that person uses the entrusted portion of His goods to His name's glory and cooperates with Him by doing with strength, means and influence what He would have done. His death is in vain when people live for self rather than use God's gifts to glorify Him, for apart from His atoning sacrifice human goodness has no value before God, who delights in people renewed in knowledge and grace and made new in Christ. His suffering and death must not be treated as vain but call for gratitude and faithful use of entrusted gifts, so that lives honor Him and share His love with others.
His death is without effect for the person who keeps exalting self, cherishing pride of talent or intellect, striving for supremacy and human praise and deference, and fostering independence rather than humbly honoring Him. Jesus as both God and man stood in the gap, bore the full unabated penalty of the broken law with no reduction in its severity, and gave humanity another trial, and to live in pride and independence is to refuse that sacrifice and stand in the fearful position of one for whom that death does no good. Such a person must instead humble himself, adore Jesus, put away all haughtiness and self-exaltation, and learn Christ's meekness and lowliness.
The verse makes Christ's death central to the hope of salvation and presses home the personal question whether Jesus shall have died for me in vain, calling for return to Him and surrender to God. His death must not be made vain by refusing to turn from sin and lay hold of Him, for salvation is not secured by another's righteousness, since even Noah, Job and Daniel could deliver only themselves by their own righteousness, so whether a person enters God's kingdom rests on personal response, and continued resistance grieves the Spirit and risks eternal loss. Christ purchased salvation and intercedes for its acceptance, so neglecting His saving grace and refusing His calls disregards His mercy, compassion and love, and the verse applies as an appeal to accept salvation and return to God.
His death must not be in vain, and this requires valuing eternal life, accepting truth, obeying God even when it involves sacrifice or loss, and recognizing heaven's claims. It is made of no benefit where the opportunity of salvation is not seized by overcoming appetite and passions through daily self-denial, which is the only hope of eternal life. It is made of no benefit to any living soul who fails to come into right relation to God and take a decided position on the Lord's side while heaven stands open, while those given opportunity to bless others make it effective by communicating the thoughts Christ taught and living the life Christ lived, with right conduct in actions, speech and life keeping His death from being wasted and preparing them for Christ to acknowledge them as good and faithful.
Christ died for children, who are purchased by His blood and precious to Him, and His death is not in vain when they are educated as younger members of the Lord's family, given moral fitness to do their Redeemer's work, and fitted to witness in a careless, Christless world. He died to save people through His own merits and restore them to God, for righteousness could not come by keeping the law, so parents must not let worldly customs and amusements draw children from Christ but teach them to know God and Jesus. Neglect to train children according to God's Word can make it seem He died for them in vain, so parents are responsible to model Christ, teach obedience to His commandments, and prepare children for His service. This guidance toward behavior acceptable in His presence is to be given with tender care, watchfulness, conversation and prayer rather than angry words or hasty blame and punishment.
His death is in vain for those who receive the light and evidence of salvation through grace yet refuse to make the effort to meet its conditions, and their destruction is their own responsibility. Since righteousness cannot be obtained through the law, Jesus must not have died for a person in vain, and in view of these personal stakes a preacher must guard against becoming a castaway.
To frustrate the grace of God is to set it aside, for righteousness does not come by keeping the law, and if it did then Christ died needlessly and in vain. No human good deeds, even a lifetime of repentance, can earn God's favor or pay for sin, for His death was the only sacrifice that could save the fallen race and open eternal life through faith with His righteousness credited to believers. His death proves the law could not be changed to fit fallen humanity but stands vindicated and established, so grace does not make the law void but calls for obedience joined to a living faith that works. His death is not wasted for those who prize the infinite cost by turning from self and pride, dying to the law as a way of justification to live unto God with Christ formed within by daily feeding on His word, and showing it in obedience to the commandments, self-denial, and a life hid with Him. It becomes of no effect for the one who lives for self and refuses to labor for others, so gratitude requires using strength, means, and influence to bring souls to Him and to train children to know and obey Him, lest He be found to have died for them in vain.
Righteousness Not by Law
Not to frustrate the grace of God is not to set it aside, for righteousness does not come by keeping the law, and if it did Christ died needlessly and in vain. No human righteous acts, even a long life of repentance, can earn God's favor or redeem sinners, and if they could there would have been no need for Him to endure humiliation and death. His death was the only sacrifice God could accept to save the fallen race. His life and death make righteousness and eternal life possible through faith in Him. God gave Jesus to take away sins and to impute His righteousness to believers, which is what righteousness by law cannot accomplish, so testimonies that praise this gift acknowledge that He did not die in vain.
His death proves that God's law could not be changed to fit fallen humanity, for if the law could have been altered He would not have needed to die. That death vindicates God's justice and establishes the law, while His intercession makes eternal life available, so obedience to the law is called for but does not replace His saving work. Without Him the penalty of the broken law would fall on sinners without any reduction in its severity. Combining deity and humanity as both God and man, He stood in the gap, bore the full unabated penalty, and gave humanity another trial. His grace does not make God's law void, so to claim acceptance through Him while opposing the law is to misunderstand grace and faith. Faith is joined to truth and is supported by good works, and a claimed faith that refuses obedience is dead and not saving faith, for grace and law are not enemies.
Seeking justification by Christ means being dead to the law to live unto God, crucified with Christ yet living because Christ lives within, living in the flesh by faith in the Son of God who loved and gave Himself. As blood is formed in the body by food eaten, Christ is formed within by eating the Word of God, which is His flesh and blood. The written Word brings the searcher to Him, and through obedience he becomes a partaker of the divine nature, with Christ formed within the hope of glory. As the body cannot live by eating once but must eat daily, God's Word must be eaten daily as meat and drink to be feasted upon. Its entrance gives light and understanding to the simple, renews the spirit of the mind, and causes growth up into Christ the living Head.
Death Not in Vain
Christ has not died needlessly for those who value God's great gift to the world and use heaven's provision made at infinite cost to draw souls to obedience to God's law. Their course of life bears witness by conforming to obedience to the commandments, by unity in the faith of the Scriptures and being bound together as one in Christ with lives hidden with Christ in God, by practicing the golden rule of doing to others as they would have others do to them, and by bearing living testimony that the Father loves them even as He loves His Son. They labor together with God in cooperation with the great Master Worker, become partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption in the world through lust, and by consistent Christian lives of courtesy and unwavering fidelity, justice and mercy magnify God's law and make it honorable, showing the law of the Lord to be perfect, converting the soul.
His death must not be made vain for those for whom He died, and appreciating the price of salvation means not living only to save self but working earnestly and wisely to bring others to Christ. It is died in vain for those satisfied with a cheap experience that costs little, whose lives declare it by showing no special interest in giving gospel light to those in darkness and winning others to love of the truth, by counting it no honor to partake of Christ's sufferings, by feeling no burden for the perishing, and by unwillingness to sacrifice and save means for the work, refusing at every step to share in His sufferings and self-denial as laborers together with God. The sacrifice made to save every person must not be made vain by neglecting the life and work of a branch abiding in Him, for those who receive life in Christ bear fruit as His followers by helping sinners learn the truth, while remaining self-centered and careless of others risks being lost from the vine and facing eternal death. The infinite Son paid with His own life the ransom price for souls, and where souls are not saved His death is in vain, so those He purchased must work earnestly with heart and soul, with pen and voice, to point souls to the narrow path, laboring on the right hand and on the left and sowing beside all waters without knowing which shall prosper, each in living union with Christ with soul knit to His, for without this none are safe.
Christ died to give life in and through His rich grace, and His death is in vain for a person unless that person uses the entrusted portion of His goods to His name's glory and cooperates with Him by doing with strength, means and influence what He would have done. His death is in vain when people live for self rather than use God's gifts to glorify Him, for apart from His atoning sacrifice human goodness has no value before God, who delights in people renewed in knowledge and grace and made new in Christ. His suffering and death must not be treated as vain but call for gratitude and faithful use of entrusted gifts, so that lives honor Him and share His love with others.
His death is without effect for the person who keeps exalting self, cherishing pride of talent or intellect, striving for supremacy and human praise and deference, and fostering independence rather than humbly honoring Him. Jesus as both God and man stood in the gap, bore the full unabated penalty of the broken law with no reduction in its severity, and gave humanity another trial, and to live in pride and independence is to refuse that sacrifice and stand in the fearful position of one for whom that death does no good. Such a person must instead humble himself, adore Jesus, put away all haughtiness and self-exaltation, and learn Christ's meekness and lowliness.
The verse makes Christ's death central to the hope of salvation and presses home the personal question whether Jesus shall have died for me in vain, calling for return to Him and surrender to God. His death must not be made vain by refusing to turn from sin and lay hold of Him, for salvation is not secured by another's righteousness, since even Noah, Job and Daniel could deliver only themselves by their own righteousness, so whether a person enters God's kingdom rests on personal response, and continued resistance grieves the Spirit and risks eternal loss. Christ purchased salvation and intercedes for its acceptance, so neglecting His saving grace and refusing His calls disregards His mercy, compassion and love, and the verse applies as an appeal to accept salvation and return to God.
His death must not be in vain, and this requires valuing eternal life, accepting truth, obeying God even when it involves sacrifice or loss, and recognizing heaven's claims. It is made of no benefit where the opportunity of salvation is not seized by overcoming appetite and passions through daily self-denial, which is the only hope of eternal life. It is made of no benefit to any living soul who fails to come into right relation to God and take a decided position on the Lord's side while heaven stands open, while those given opportunity to bless others make it effective by communicating the thoughts Christ taught and living the life Christ lived, with right conduct in actions, speech and life keeping His death from being wasted and preparing them for Christ to acknowledge them as good and faithful.
Christ died for children, who are purchased by His blood and precious to Him, and His death is not in vain when they are educated as younger members of the Lord's family, given moral fitness to do their Redeemer's work, and fitted to witness in a careless, Christless world. He died to save people through His own merits and restore them to God, for righteousness could not come by keeping the law, so parents must not let worldly customs and amusements draw children from Christ but teach them to know God and Jesus. Neglect to train children according to God's Word can make it seem He died for them in vain, so parents are responsible to model Christ, teach obedience to His commandments, and prepare children for His service. This guidance toward behavior acceptable in His presence is to be given with tender care, watchfulness, conversation and prayer rather than angry words or hasty blame and punishment.
His death is in vain for those who receive the light and evidence of salvation through grace yet refuse to make the effort to meet its conditions, and their destruction is their own responsibility. Since righteousness cannot be obtained through the law, Jesus must not have died for a person in vain, and in view of these personal stakes a preacher must guard against becoming a castaway.