I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Struggling believer do not fear Christ's return and the final judgment: ". . . the very person of the Judge removes all our fear. For the Father handed over all judgment to the Son as the Son of Man so that He might calm our consciences and remove all terror of condemnation (John 5:22, 27). This is because we believe now that He will be the Judge, and also because with our eyes we will gaze on Him in whose body our sins have been atoned for and the entire curse removed (Heb. 9:28; Titus 2:12–14)." Olevianus, Caspar, An Exposition of the Apostles’ Creed
Q. Why is he called Christ, that is, Anointed? A. Because he has been ordained by God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, 1 to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, 2 who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption; 3 our only High Priest, 4 who by the one sacrifice of his body has redeemed us, 5 and who continually intercedes for us before the Father; 6 and our eternal King, 7 who governs us by his Word and Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in the redemption obtained for us. 8 ~Scripture Proof~ 1.Ps 45:7 (Heb 1:9); Is 61:1 (Lk 4:18); Lk 3:21, 22. 2.Deut 18:15 (Acts 3:22). 3.Jn 1:18; 15:15. 4.Ps 110:4 (Heb 7:17). 5.Heb 9:12; 10:11-14. 6.Rom 8:34; Heb 9:24; 1 Jn 2:1. 7.Zech 9:9 (Mt 21:5); Lk 1:33. 8.Mt 28:18-20; Jn 10:28; Rev 12:10, 11.
Ignorance of the difference between the law and the gospel promotes also, in a great degree, the strength and influence of a self-righteous temper. When a man is driven to acts of obedience by the dread of God’s wrath revealed in the law, and not drawn to them by the belief of His love revealed in the gospel; when he fears God because of His power and justice, and not because of His goodness; when he regards God more as an avenging Judge than as a compassionate Friend and Father; and when he contemplates God rather as terrible in majesty than as infinite in grace and mercy, he shows that he is under the dominion, or at least under the prevalence, of a legal spirit. If he builds his faith of the pardon of sin, of the favor of God, and of eternal life upon any graces which he supposes are implanted in him, or upon any duties which are performed by him, he is evidently under the power of the self-righteous temper. He shows that he is under the influence of his hateful temper by grounding ...
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