'A Personal Note'

As I'm sitting here in our new Missions House in Santa Elena having my devotions, being blessed with a cool Belizean shower listening to a worship tape it occured to me to share what I'm reading- a quote from Kenneth Wuest in his 'Word Studies In The Greek New Testament' that is blessing my spirit and I pray it will bless yours as well.

Wuest writes: "Paul tells us that we have the Spirit of adoption (Rom. 8:15).  To those who received the Lord Jesus as their Saviour, as the One who died in their stead on the Cross, thus satisfying the justice of God in view of man's sin, God gave the legal right to become His children.  Regeneration is therefore dependant upon justification, the fact of the law being satisied in the punishment of the crime committed.  In human law courts this is impossible, for the prisoner cannot be punished and set free at the same time.  And the judge certainly will not step down from the bench and take upon himself the penalty which he justly imposed upon the prisoner.  But praise be to the Lord, it happened in the law court of the universe.  God the Judge stepped down from His judgement bench, and at Calvary paid the sinner's penalty, thus justifying His justice, and procuring for sinful man a legal right to receive the mercy of God.  Thus, nothing stands in the way of a just God regenerating a believing sinner and placing him as His son in His family.  The Holy Spirit as the Spirit of adoption regenerates the believing sinner and places him as a child of God in a legal standing in God's family, having all the privileges and rights of God's only begotten Son.  Think of it- to occupy a place in God's family in which He loves us just as much  as He loves His only begotton Son.  Think of it- to have a place in God's family just as eternal and secure as His only begotten Son.  Think of it- to have a place in God's family in which all of the loveliness of God's Son is ours.

The Spirit of adoption is therefore the legal representative of God, so to speak, imparting to us the divine nature and placing us in the family of God, doing all this in accordance with the eternal and unchanging laws of God."

I'm so glad to be part of this great family God has richly placed each one of us in.  Are you glad also?

Your brother & sister in Christ,

Jim & Debie

'...and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.' 2Cor 5:15