With Him Then Purified

Michael E. Wood
August 30, 2011

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

The free grace of God is that which brings about the salvation of our souls through the finished work of Christ at Calvary. Countless numbers of those who have been made to see their need of eternal salvation from sin enter into an aggressive mode of transforming the external nature of their being by complying with the things that belong to the nature of their darkened understanding resulting in earthly temporal changes. In many cases, the Bible is used as a model of that which is perceived to be acceptable to God and outward conformity to its guidelines is made with human approval as the test of accuracy. Self aggrandizement becomes the goal rather than the glory of God, and the individual remains blinded to the Person and the purpose of Christ through the gospel.

Hear the words of God through the prophet Ezekiel, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

Salvation is of the LORD from beginning to end and our approval is found in Christ alone to the praise of His glory!

As long as I can hear, “Well Done”,
From God, my blessed Savior,
I’ll look to Him alone who changes
Me and my behavior.
For though the transformation
May be painful in my times,
I trust He will be glorified,
Give reason for the rhymes,
Of which I can not answer now,
But knowing He is just,
And hope in Him who takes
His children from this earthly dust
To which our bodies shall return
Until our coming King
Will glorify Himself
In our new bodies as we sing
Eternal Hallelujahs
To the One who justified
And gave the grace by which
We stand with Him then purified.