GOSPEL LIGHT #757

 Be In The Man To Whom Heaven Is Open

..."Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." Joh 1:51

God's holiness has locked heaven from a sinner. Yeah, sin has bolted it shut. But here's a Man to whom heaven is wide open. And the Bible says that we could be united to Him. There is such a thing as being "in Him" in the reckoning of God. And the way to it is through faith in what this Man did on the cross of Calvary.

In Him, we are as beloved by God as He is beloved by God.

MT 3:16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, THE HEAVENS WERE OPENED, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him,

MT 3:17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “ This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased

Ro 1:7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Many times in Romans, the apostle Paul viewed the Romans here as being in Christ. Christ was and is God's beloved Son; so were the Roman Christians here "beloved of God."

So beloved that heaven opens up to them. Be in the Man to whom heaven is open.

GOSPEL LIGHT #756

The Atonement That Demands No Works 

LEV 23:28 “You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the LORD your God.

LEV 23:30 “As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.

The day of atonement or Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the nation Israel. It was a day when the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle (and later in the Temple) to make atonement for the sins of the nation of Israel. It was a day of complete rest; no work was to be done on this very day. Absolutely no work should be done on this very day. To emphasize it, the Lord told Moses "...any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people." Let's apply this to the salvation of a sinner --- No human works should be mixed with the atonement. Salvation should be through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. It is not faith in the atonement plus works.

It is faith in the atonement of Christ...and no other.