“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
2 Corinthians 9:15
British Baptist minister Charles Spurgeon, 1834-1892:
“Everywhere in the Scriptures, the great word is not merit, but grace; not deserving, but receiving freely of the great mercy of our God. Our Lord Jesus must be a gift to us if we are ever to possess Him. He could only come to us sons of men by way of gift….
“[M]y brethren, if we had kept God’s law flawlessly, … and we could have taken the combined merits of a perfect world and laid them at the feet of God, they could not have deserved that Christ should become man, that Christ should live in poverty, that Christ should die in shame for man…. It is clear from the Scriptures that He was given for the undeserving. He came into the world to save sinners. He took upon Himself, not our righteousness, for there was none for Him to take; but, … ‘The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.’…
“Christ does not come, therefore, to us as deserving Him; but He is God’s indescribable gift…. Oh, what a glorious thing it is that you and I and all of us may receive God’s indescribable gift!”
“Everywhere in the Scriptures, the great word is not merit, but grace; not deserving, but receiving freely of the great mercy of our God. Our Lord Jesus must be a gift to us if we are ever to possess Him. He could only come to us sons of men by way of gift….
“[M]y brethren, if we had kept God’s law flawlessly, … and we could have taken the combined merits of a perfect world and laid them at the feet of God, they could not have deserved that Christ should become man, that Christ should live in poverty, that Christ should die in shame for man…. It is clear from the Scriptures that He was given for the undeserving. He came into the world to save sinners. He took upon Himself, not our righteousness, for there was none for Him to take; but, … ‘The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.’…
“Christ does not come, therefore, to us as deserving Him; but He is God’s indescribable gift…. Oh, what a glorious thing it is that you and I and all of us may receive God’s indescribable gift!”
Scripture Focus
Romans 8:31-39
Insight
“This gift of God we’ll cherish well,/ that ever joy our hearts shall fill.” (German carol, arr. Hugo Jüngst, 1853-1923)
Bible In A Year
- Zephaniah 1-3
- Proverbs 26
- Revelation 8-10