John the Baptist introduced our Lord with the proclamation: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). Throughout His earthly ministry, Christ was known as “the Son of David”, the king with whom God made a covenant to establish His Kingdom forever.

The Old Testament prophets predicted that Christ would — and He will — reign on earth upon the throne of His father David. While His Kingdom was being proclaimed “at hand”, He walked and talked and ate with men as “the Son of Man”. Wearied with travelling, He sat at Jacob’s well and asked for a drink of water. Pressed by the throng, He got into a fishing boat and addressed the multitudes from the sea. Hated by His adversaries, He was tried, scourged, spit upon, and nailed to a tree. This was indeed “Christ manifest in the flesh”.

With regard to His humiliation, however, the Apostle Paul says, by divine inspiration: “God also hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:9).

Again, the Apostle declares that God’s mighty power was “wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, FAR ABOVE ALL…” (Eph. 1:20). He is no longer to be known as “the lowly Jesus”, but as the exalted “Lord” in heaven. And this has its bearing on us too:

“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now, henceforth, know we Him no more” (II Cor. 5:16). Our blessed Saviour is now to be known as the glorified Son of God, the Great Dispenser of Grace to a lost humanity; the One who in love and mercy “tasted death for every man” (Heb. 2:9).

According to St. Paul’s inspired epistles, the human race is divided into four categories:

1. The natural man, i.e., the fallen son of Adam, as he is, without God. Of him the Apostle says: “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).
2. The babe in Christ.  When a person sees himself as a sinner and trusts Christ as his Saviour, he is “born again” and becomes a “babe in Christ”. But babes can and should grow, so these are exhorted: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere [pure] milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2).
3. The carnal Christian is one who, though perhaps a Christian for years, has not grown, due to indifference and neglect of the Word of God. He still has to be treated as a babe in Christ. The Corinthian believers were examples of this. Paul had to write them: “I…could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear [digest] it, neither yet now are ye able” (1 Cor. 3:1, 2). Everybody loves a baby, but the joy that fills the hearts of loving parents turns to bitterest sorrow if their baby fails to grow.
4. The spiritual Christian is one who, through prayerful study of the Word of God, has grown to spiritual maturity. He is no longer merely a child of God; he is a “man of God”. We should all “desire the sincere [pure] milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2) — “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14). Let us then heed St. Peter’s inspired exhortation: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18).

“…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:9-10).

In these sublime words, the Apostle Paul sets forth God’s simple plan of salvation. He calls it, in the preceding verse, “The word of faith, which we preach.”

But often babes in Christ are urged to get to their feet in public testimony on the basis of the words: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth . . . thou shalt be saved.” Thus, new Christians are given to feel that a heart faith is not enough to make them secure; that not until they have risen in public testimony are they saved and safe.

But what, then, does the Apostle mean by these words? Does he not plainly say, “If thou shalt confess… thou shalt be saved?” Yes, but here again, as with so many other passages, a traditional meaning has been superimposed upon the actual words of Scripture. What does the English word “confess” mean? Why, nothing more than to “acknowledge,” to “admit.” And this is exactly what the original Greek word means too, nor does Romans 10:9-10 say anything about confessing before men.

The trouble is that the idea of confession has been changed to profession — even public profession — and multitudes have followed the tradition of the fathers instead of examining the Word to see what it actually says. And so “the Word of faith” has been corrupted.

But does not the Apostle clearly say, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth… thou shalt be saved?” Indeed! And he adds, “and shalt believe in thine heart!” Now let us ask: Is it with that physical organ which pumps blood into our veins that we believe on Christ as our Savior? Oh, no! You say that is merely a figure of speech; somehow, the heart is associated with believing. Exactly! Then you would insist that it is with the physical mouth we must confess! Can mutes not be saved then?

As if anticipating the misinterpretation of his words, the Spirit-inspired Apostle adds:

“For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Vers.11,13).

This is “the Word of Faith, which we preach.”

Nothing will prove so helpful to a Christian in overcoming sin as an appreciation of Christ’s death for sin at Calvary .The Bible teaches that:

1. The cross stands between the believer and his SINS: the wrong things he does, or is prone to do, in thought, word and deed.

“And you, that were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled, in the body of His flesh, through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight” (Col. 1:21,22).

2. The cross stands between the believer and his SIN. It is not only men’s sins that keep them out of heaven, but their sin; not merely what they have done, but what they are and what they will do; not merely their deeds, but their nature. But Christ’s death took care of this too.

“…by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin… But… much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many… That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:12,15,21).

“For [God] hath made Him to be sin for us, [Him] who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

3. The cross stands between the believer and his SINNING.

“What shall we say, then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? … Our old man [nature] has been crucified with Him… that henceforth we should not serve sin… let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof; neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves to God, as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God” (Rom. 6:1,2,6,12,13).