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Calvary Has No
Rivals
“No
doctrine, no teaching, no principle, no organization, no ritual, no sacrament
(no matter how “biblical”) can be raised to the same level of importance as the
finished work of the Cross for right standing before God. This includes
everything: baptism in water, circumcision, devotional life, Christian service,
Christian experiences with gifts of the Spirit, Christian disciplines, and
church membership. Several of these things are extremely important, but not one
eclipses Calvary for right standing before God. Not one! Any teaching that, in
effect, raises anything to the same level of importance as the finished work of
the cross for right standing before God is error. Period!
What Jesus did in becoming our sin offering is so complete that
there is nothing else that you or anyone else can ever offer for your sin. The
Bible teaches this clearly. Hebrews 10:14-18 says:
For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who
are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after
saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
says the Lord: I will put my laws upon their heart, and upon their minds I
will write them.” He then says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I
will remember no more.” Now where there is forgiveness of these things,
there is no longer any offering for sin.
If
there is no longer any offering for sin, then there is no longer any offering
for sin. Therefore, nothing any sinner or any saint can do replaces or rivals
Calvary as the means of right standing before God.
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under
heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved (Acts
4:12).
There
is no Christian teaching that can eclipse this, and, in fact, all legitimate
Christian teaching builds upon it. Let no man or devil rob you of it. It is your
firm foundation (1 Cor.3:11), your anchor (Heb. 6:17-20), and your hope for
eternity (1 Pet 1:13). It is your rock. To build elsewhere is to build on
shifting sand. Forget this and you forget the gospel. Stand on this, and you
cannot be shaken.”
–Jeff A. Harkin, Grace Plus Nothing, p. 295f.
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