Proverbs 5:21-23, The Transgressor Transformed!

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March 3, Proverbs 5:21-23

Mark 1:24f, 40f, 16:9; John 8:1-11 “Go and sin no more.”

The Transgressor Transformed!

Is there no remedy for the deadly virus of sin? Nothing but God’s grace can rouse a sleeping and stupefied conscience. Well may the guilty tremble and mourn, yet let none despair. The Arm that rescued Solomon and Samson and Magdalene and Paul is not weakened today. With Paul we cry: Thanks be to God there is cleansing for the lost, the lowest and the least. Proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound (Isa. 61:1). The Saviour healed the demoniac and cleansed the leper. In First Corinthians 6:11 we read this glorious affirmation, And such were some of you; but ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.

  1. Purification: Ye are washed! Yes, there is a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness (Zech 13:1). The blood that cleansed the Corinthians whoremongers is still available today. Not by works … but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost (Tit. 3:5). All the redeemed in heaven will sing, Unto him that washed us from our sins in his own blood. This is the glorious heavenly prospect of the deepest-dyed sinners who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 1:5, 7:14).
  2. Sanctification: Ye are sanctified! Unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints (1 Cor. 1:2). Paul again boldly declares: God hath from the beginning chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit (2 Th. 2:13). Peter puts it: Elect through sanctification of the Spirit (1 Pet. 1:2). None are cleansed from the pollution of sin, and reconciled to God through Christ, but those who are also Sanctified by His Spirit. “All who are made righteous in the sight of God, are made holy by the grace of god” (M. Henry).
  3. Justification: Ye are justified! Christ was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification (Rom. 4:25, 5:16, 8:33). God, the Father, justifies sinners based alone on the merits of Christ, and the Holy Spirit confirms it, the Trinity working in unity. “We in Christ equals justification; Christ in us equals sanctification” (M. Luther).
  4. Dedication: Ye are not your own (v.19)! Your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you. That is the Premise. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. That is the Conclusion. And in between is the Argument. Ye are bought with a price (v.20). Peter adds: Even the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:19). Hallelujah! “Not my own! Oh not my own! Jesus I belong to Thee. All I have, and all I hope for, Thine for all Eternity.” Salvation comes by the grace of God through the gospel.

Thought: Saving faith is not a submission to sacramental rites, but to a Saviour’s pledge.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for saving even me.