Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Something momentous about the truth of justification by faith developed in the latter years of the 19th century. Fresh insights into this glorious truth came through two young ordained ministers who thought through something that apparently no one else had clearly grasped. They simply combined Paul’s idea of justification by faith with the truth that we are now living in the great final cosmic Day of Atonement. The world’s High Priest, Jesus Christ, had begun His last work of fully reconciling alienated human hearts to God.
It was an antitypical work in the Most Holy Apartment of the heavenly sanctuary that fulfilled the type in the ancient high priest’s work when he entered the second apartment of the earthly tabernacle (see Hebrews 9). Now Christ’s objective was not merely preparing people to die and come up in the first resurrection (Rev. 20:6); now His work prepares a people to meet their Lord in person at His second coming (see 1 Thess. 4:16, 17), and be translated. Now every buried root of enmity against God (Rom. 8:7) is to be cleansed.
Only when the heart is cleansed can we be in total oneness with the Lord. Only then can it be said in all truth that “here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12). Christ’s righteousness is not merely legally imputed; now it is fully imparted.
This "most precious message" had within it the promise of fulfilling the prophecy of the message that must “lighten the earth with glory.” The reason was that it brought to parched human hearts what was in fact long-awaited “showers from heaven of the latter rain.” There was power in that message of justification by faith that delivered from the love of self. Those who believed treated their richest gain as loss and poured contempt on all their pride. This was refreshing to see in ministers. It was the greatest sign of the nearness of the end. But, why are we still here?
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 13, 2005.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."
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Sincerely,
The "Dial Daily Bread" Staff
