"... God has set forth (JESUS) to be a propitiation through FAITH IN HIS BLOOD." -(Rom. 3:25)
"Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by law; ye are fallen from grace." -(Gal. 5:4)
According to God and His Word (the Holy Bible), man's core problem is (a) SIN (nature), and the sins that he commits as a result of that nature. God, from before the foundation of the world, has decreed that man be justified from sins by only one Way: Faith in Jesus Christ (called "the Lamb of God") and the Blood He shed on the CROSS. Yet man from the dawn of civilization has always tried to justify himself his own way: by self-works of "law". Either laws that he conjures up, or the ceremonial laws (in the Jews' case), or "the Law of Moses' (this being, of course, the moral law called "the Ten Commandments"). So these then are the two ways, two CHOICES, in dealing with man's problem of "SIN": 1) Walking by GOD'S GRACE THROUGH FAITH IN THE SHED BLOOD OF JESUS (JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH), or ..... 2) Walking by SELF-PERFORMANCE OF WORKS BY LAW (JUSTIFICATION BY LAW). And... it is impossible to mix the two!
Out of those who seek to be justified by "law", we can see an interesting scenario:
The unsaved either deny their need of SALVATION FROM sin, or..... they try to "earn" it.
and
The saved (and those who just THINK they are saved) tend to try to "earn" VICTORY OVER sin in their daily Christian walk through what they do or do not do.
All of these ways though, are a great insult to God, Who paid the ultimate Price to obtain our salvation (and... SANCTIFICATION) from... "the sin nature": The death and shedding of Blood by His Son Jesus on the Cross as the Sacrifice for our sins. In turn, God does not expect a lot from us, but He DOES demand that this Sacrifice BE and REMAIN the sole object of our faith; Yet... this very issue seems to be the hardest thing for man, because it goes contrary to his bent toward self-will, self-reliance, and PRIDE!
If a person remains in either of these states of DENIAL OF SINNING, or of JUSTIFICATION BY "LAW", the "sin nature" will dominate that individual in some fashion. Only GOD'S GRACE THROUGH FAITH IN THE BLOOD (ie.: "THE CROSS") disables it's power.
"For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under law, but under grace." (Rom. 6:14)
Many believe that at salvation, God has given the believer all he needs to live a life victorious over the sin nature by a simple act of the will: that this victory should just be "automatic". But if this were true... #1) why would Paul see the need to write this in his epistle here to the Roman CHURCH (ie: CHRISTIANS)?, and #2) why is it that so many Christians and ministers struggle with sin addictions? Is it really that they were never saved to begin with, or that they are just "no good", or "weak", or that "aw, they just WANT to sin!"? I believe the answer is as follows, and that this is backed up by the Word of God (specifically, Rom. 6,7,8, and "Galatians"):
Jesus Christ and His Work on the Cross is INDEED sufficient to give the Christian all he needs to live a life victorious over (the) SIN (nature). However, the problem does not lie with HIM OR THE SACRIFICE (SHED BLOOD), but with US AND OUR TENDENCY TO GRAVITATE TOWARD FAITH IN OURSELVES AND OUR PERFORMANCE OF WORKS. This is how ministers and laymen alike "run-aground" in bondages of SIN. A Christian can NEVER be justified through what he DOES, but through faith in the Blood of Jesus (The Cross) ALONE. This, in turn, will then PRODUCE those good works and performance of spiritual disciplines by THE EMPOWERMENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
One must be careful, however, to also CHOOSE "THE FEAR OF THE LORD" (Psa. 111:10; 36:1), or he will fall into the ditch of "ANTINOMIANISM". Anti, what?? Here is the definition of this big word: "ANTI" means "against", while "NOMI" means "law".... so you put them both together and you get..... "AGAINST LAW". If a person has 1) the fear of the LORD and 2) is truly "in Christ", he WILL KEEP THE LAW, because the law is FULFILLED "in Christ"; And the Holy Spirit will then conform him into the Image of Christ, which is to do "the law" by (the Divine) NATURE (see 2 Pet. 1:4).
Let us now look at various categories of people, and how they handle the SIN problem:
#1) Those who deny their NEED of salvation from sin: Many people believe that they are "not all that bad". They feel this way because they see other people who are into "worse" sins than THEY are, so they believe God should cut them a break. Still others minimize their sins by justifying themselves for their actions. They play the "blame game", like Adam and Eve did with God in Gen. 3:12-13. And still OTHERS re-define the term "SIN" altogether, calling it a "problem" that needs "psychological help" or a "support group". Yet what does GOD say about ALL of mankinds's condition?....
"... to him who believes on Him who justifies THE UNGODLY, his faith is counted for righteousness." -(Rom. 4:5)
This is a VERY HARD THING... for people to realize that God thinks of them, thinks of ALL of us, as..... UNGODLY! Romans 3:23 says that "ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God." You see, God is so PURE, righteous, HOLY, that we all are considered as an unclean thing in his eyes. Habakkuk 1:13 says... "Thou art of purer eyes than to look upon evil, and cannot look on iniquity." And this is particularly troublesome to many people who do a lot of good works, a lot of wonderful deeds. "But HOW", say they, "can WE be condemned by God with the likes of Hitler, with serial killers, with thieves, with druggies?? That's not FAIR! We are GOOD, upright citizens. We don't cheat on our taxes! We give money to the poor, donate clothes to Goodwill. We go to church, pay tithes. We have SACRIFICED of our time, energy, and resources to worthy causes to HELP people. HOW then, GOD, can You STILL lump US into the category of.... the UNGODLY?!!"
What these people fail to realize, is that "all of our righteousness is as filthy rags" in the sight of God (see Isa. 64:6). That is because all of mankind, through the fall of Adam and Eve, are born with a SIN-nature. Job 15:14 declares... ""What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" And again, in Rom. 3:9-10, the Holy Ghost through Paul declares, that "All are under sin. There is NONE righteous, no, not one:... they are alll gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is NONE that doeth good, no, not one." Many Christians deny they HAVE a sin nature any more; Yet, in 1 John, which was written to CHRISTIANS, we read the following: "If we say that we have no sin (nature), we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us." -(1 Jhn. 1:8)
#2) Those who recognize their lost state, but try to "earn" their salvation. All of the false religions and cults (such Mormonism, Buddism, Hinduism, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.) are this way, being "performance-based" to try to EARN righteousness. Still other people of this mold are those who pour their time, effort, and money into charitable causes. The commonality of both of these types of people is that they justify themselves through what they DO.
#3) Those who are saved -and even those who THINK they are saved- but they try to earn their SANCTIFICATION (victory over the sin nature). These type of people may start out good by placing their trust solely in the Blood Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. They then enter, as it were, a brand new world of spiritual liberty, a state of euphoria of having their sins washed away, of becoming a "new creature IN CHRIST" (2 Cor. 5:17). This is great, wonderful, good. Most modern Christians, when they talk about the Cross and the Blood of Jesus, think back to this wonderful Salvation experience (which they SHOULD). But... they have now a whole lifetime AHEAD of them of... LIVING FOR GOD. And THAT is when the trouble for many Christians BEGINS! They are as those in Jesus' parable of "the Sower" (Matt. 13:18-23), who received the "Good Seed" (the Word of God) either in stony places or among thorns. Those of the stony places could not handle tribulation or persecution resulting from the Word; And those among thorns got too entangled in the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches which choked OUT the Word. As a result of these things, these type of Christians find their faith wandering OFF of Christ and the Cross, onto THEMSELVES and their PERFORMANCE AND METHOD of spiritual activities such as prayer, bible study, fasting, witnessing, church work, tithing, etc.: All good things in their own right, yet TURNED INTO A MEASURING STICK FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS,.... "LAWS"; Not realizing that....
"Christ is the END of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth." -(Rom. 10:4)
THEN, to make matters WORSE, many denominations and churches tack on OTHER things not even in the Word which they think Christians aught to be doing: Such as.... "If you get into a sin habit, you need to get off by yourself somewhere, or confess certain scriptures, or go through a certain regimen of work, or have counselling sessions, or be PUNISHED in some manner." Another example would be.... "You need to pray in a certain manner or you cannot get through to God.", or "If you go through our ministry school, you are not allowed to date anyone during this time, or it will be too much of a distraction." Really, this list of "do's" and "don't's' can go ON AND ON. Man, inherent from NATURAL BIRTH, likes to take the wheel HIMSELF, pull himself up by the boot-straps, and EARN everything he gets. And... he loves to come up with his various rules and regulations for EVERYTHING. So... this whole mind-set, this focus upon "me and what I need to DO" creeps into the life of the Christian, and in the process.... "Grace through faith solely in Christ and His shed Blood" gets set aside or becomes mixed with works AS A MEANS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Yet Paul says in Galatians 2:21... "I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ died in vain." In Romans 6,7, and 8, and in virtually the entirety of his epistle to the Galatans, Paul goes into great detail on HOW a person is to gain victory over sin and to live for God. And in these epistles, as well as others, his is NOT speaking to the UNSAVED; He is speaking to CHRISTIANS. The Message he tells them is to get back to "the simplicity that is IN CHRIST". He spells OUT this simplicity as being grace through faith in Christ and His Work on the Cross, of being "IN CHRIST" through identification in His death, burial, and resurrection...... that "abundant Life" is not found in what we DO, but it is found in a PERSON: JESUS CHRIST; And that is why then, that we are "complete IN HIM" (Col. 2:10), the "true Vine" (John 15:1,4-5).
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IN HIS BLOOD
Let us now turn our attention to the FINAL category of people...
#4) Those who have been SAVED by grace through faith ALONE for justification and victory over the sin nature. These are those of the final category in JESUS' "SOWER parable. They hear the Word, and understand it, and bear FRUIT, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. These are those who are DEAD to the law for righteousness (Although the law is not dead to THEM, for they perform it by nature "IN CHRIST")
"now we are delivered from the law, being dead to that wherein we were held; That we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." -(Rom. 7:6)
No LONGER is their attitude... "I don't really WANT to do this sometimes (prayer Bible study, etc.), but I am COMMITTED to it." Now, their attitude is... "I WANT to do this because this is WHO I AM and what I LIKE to do!" No LONGER do they STRIVE to do the things of God as a duty. Now... they REST IN CHRIST, Whose HOLY SPIRIT does those things THROUGH them with EASE! Halellujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALLOW now... the Holy Spirit to minister to you through these scriptures, and I pray that He will now illuminate the "eyes of your understanding" to "see" this grand revelation of RESTING IN CHRIST AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, OF BEING JUSTIFIED SOLELY BY HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD, SHED ON THE CROSS.... FOR YOU: ......
"Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ..." -(Rom. 5:1)
"God has set forth (Jesus) to be a propitiation through FAITH IN HIS BLOOD." -(Rom. 3:25)
"And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our FAITH." -(1 John 5:4)
"And they overcame Him (satan) by THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, and by the Word of their Testimony (the Message of the CROSS)..." -(Rev. 12:11)
"But now the righteousness of God without the Law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Even the righteousness of God which is by Faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference." -(Rom. 3:21-22)
"For they (those justified by law), being ignorant of god's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness (SELF-righteousness) have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." -(Rom. 10:3-4)
"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.'
And the Publican, standing afar off, would not lift so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.'
I tell you, this man went down to his house JUSTIFIED rather than the other." -(Lk. 18:10-14)
Notice how that the Pharisee justified HIMSELF by his performance of "law", and the Publican trusted in GOD to justify him, Whose Way is by "the Blood". And.....
GOD CHOSE THE PUBLICAN (despised by that society).
Which type will YOU be??
To the Lord Jesus Christ, the "Lamb of God", be glory and honor and power and dominion for EVER and EVER. Halellujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All of these ways though, are a great insult to God, Who paid the ultimate Price to obtain our salvation (and... SANCTIFICATION) from... "the sin nature": The death and shedding of Blood by His Son Jesus on the Cross as the Sacrifice for our sins. In turn, God does not expect a lot from us, but He DOES demand that this Sacrifice BE and REMAIN the sole object of our faith; Yet... this very issue seems to be the hardest thing for man, because it goes contrary to his bent toward self-will, self-reliance, and PRIDE!
If a person remains in either of these states of DENIAL OF SINNING, or of JUSTIFICATION BY "LAW", the "sin nature" will dominate that individual in some fashion. Only GOD'S GRACE THROUGH FAITH IN THE BLOOD (ie.: "THE CROSS") disables it's power.
"For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under law, but under grace." (Rom. 6:14)
Many believe that at salvation, God has given the believer all he needs to live a life victorious over the sin nature by a simple act of the will: that this victory should just be "automatic". But if this were true... #1) why would Paul see the need to write this in his epistle here to the Roman CHURCH (ie: CHRISTIANS)?, and #2) why is it that so many Christians and ministers struggle with sin addictions? Is it really that they were never saved to begin with, or that they are just "no good", or "weak", or that "aw, they just WANT to sin!"? I believe the answer is as follows, and that this is backed up by the Word of God (specifically, Rom. 6,7,8, and "Galatians"):
Jesus Christ and His Work on the Cross is INDEED sufficient to give the Christian all he needs to live a life victorious over (the) SIN (nature). However, the problem does not lie with HIM OR THE SACRIFICE (SHED BLOOD), but with US AND OUR TENDENCY TO GRAVITATE TOWARD FAITH IN OURSELVES AND OUR PERFORMANCE OF WORKS. This is how ministers and laymen alike "run-aground" in bondages of SIN. A Christian can NEVER be justified through what he DOES, but through faith in the Blood of Jesus (The Cross) ALONE. This, in turn, will then PRODUCE those good works and performance of spiritual disciplines by THE EMPOWERMENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
One must be careful, however, to also CHOOSE "THE FEAR OF THE LORD" (Psa. 111:10; 36:1), or he will fall into the ditch of "ANTINOMIANISM". Anti, what?? Here is the definition of this big word: "ANTI" means "against", while "NOMI" means "law".... so you put them both together and you get..... "AGAINST LAW". If a person has 1) the fear of the LORD and 2) is truly "in Christ", he WILL KEEP THE LAW, because the law is FULFILLED "in Christ"; And the Holy Spirit will then conform him into the Image of Christ, which is to do "the law" by (the Divine) NATURE (see 2 Pet. 1:4).
Let us now look at various categories of people, and how they handle the SIN problem:
#1) Those who deny their NEED of salvation from sin: Many people believe that they are "not all that bad". They feel this way because they see other people who are into "worse" sins than THEY are, so they believe God should cut them a break. Still others minimize their sins by justifying themselves for their actions. They play the "blame game", like Adam and Eve did with God in Gen. 3:12-13. And still OTHERS re-define the term "SIN" altogether, calling it a "problem" that needs "psychological help" or a "support group". Yet what does GOD say about ALL of mankinds's condition?....
"... to him who believes on Him who justifies THE UNGODLY, his faith is counted for righteousness." -(Rom. 4:5)
This is a VERY HARD THING... for people to realize that God thinks of them, thinks of ALL of us, as..... UNGODLY! Romans 3:23 says that "ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God." You see, God is so PURE, righteous, HOLY, that we all are considered as an unclean thing in his eyes. Habakkuk 1:13 says... "Thou art of purer eyes than to look upon evil, and cannot look on iniquity." And this is particularly troublesome to many people who do a lot of good works, a lot of wonderful deeds. "But HOW", say they, "can WE be condemned by God with the likes of Hitler, with serial killers, with thieves, with druggies?? That's not FAIR! We are GOOD, upright citizens. We don't cheat on our taxes! We give money to the poor, donate clothes to Goodwill. We go to church, pay tithes. We have SACRIFICED of our time, energy, and resources to worthy causes to HELP people. HOW then, GOD, can You STILL lump US into the category of.... the UNGODLY?!!"
What these people fail to realize, is that "all of our righteousness is as filthy rags" in the sight of God (see Isa. 64:6). That is because all of mankind, through the fall of Adam and Eve, are born with a SIN-nature. Job 15:14 declares... ""What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" And again, in Rom. 3:9-10, the Holy Ghost through Paul declares, that "All are under sin. There is NONE righteous, no, not one:... they are alll gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is NONE that doeth good, no, not one." Many Christians deny they HAVE a sin nature any more; Yet, in 1 John, which was written to CHRISTIANS, we read the following: "If we say that we have no sin (nature), we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us." -(1 Jhn. 1:8)
#2) Those who recognize their lost state, but try to "earn" their salvation. All of the false religions and cults (such Mormonism, Buddism, Hinduism, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.) are this way, being "performance-based" to try to EARN righteousness. Still other people of this mold are those who pour their time, effort, and money into charitable causes. The commonality of both of these types of people is that they justify themselves through what they DO.
#3) Those who are saved -and even those who THINK they are saved- but they try to earn their SANCTIFICATION (victory over the sin nature). These type of people may start out good by placing their trust solely in the Blood Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. They then enter, as it were, a brand new world of spiritual liberty, a state of euphoria of having their sins washed away, of becoming a "new creature IN CHRIST" (2 Cor. 5:17). This is great, wonderful, good. Most modern Christians, when they talk about the Cross and the Blood of Jesus, think back to this wonderful Salvation experience (which they SHOULD). But... they have now a whole lifetime AHEAD of them of... LIVING FOR GOD. And THAT is when the trouble for many Christians BEGINS! They are as those in Jesus' parable of "the Sower" (Matt. 13:18-23), who received the "Good Seed" (the Word of God) either in stony places or among thorns. Those of the stony places could not handle tribulation or persecution resulting from the Word; And those among thorns got too entangled in the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches which choked OUT the Word. As a result of these things, these type of Christians find their faith wandering OFF of Christ and the Cross, onto THEMSELVES and their PERFORMANCE AND METHOD of spiritual activities such as prayer, bible study, fasting, witnessing, church work, tithing, etc.: All good things in their own right, yet TURNED INTO A MEASURING STICK FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS,.... "LAWS"; Not realizing that....
"Christ is the END of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth." -(Rom. 10:4)
THEN, to make matters WORSE, many denominations and churches tack on OTHER things not even in the Word which they think Christians aught to be doing: Such as.... "If you get into a sin habit, you need to get off by yourself somewhere, or confess certain scriptures, or go through a certain regimen of work, or have counselling sessions, or be PUNISHED in some manner." Another example would be.... "You need to pray in a certain manner or you cannot get through to God.", or "If you go through our ministry school, you are not allowed to date anyone during this time, or it will be too much of a distraction." Really, this list of "do's" and "don't's' can go ON AND ON. Man, inherent from NATURAL BIRTH, likes to take the wheel HIMSELF, pull himself up by the boot-straps, and EARN everything he gets. And... he loves to come up with his various rules and regulations for EVERYTHING. So... this whole mind-set, this focus upon "me and what I need to DO" creeps into the life of the Christian, and in the process.... "Grace through faith solely in Christ and His shed Blood" gets set aside or becomes mixed with works AS A MEANS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Yet Paul says in Galatians 2:21... "I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ died in vain." In Romans 6,7, and 8, and in virtually the entirety of his epistle to the Galatans, Paul goes into great detail on HOW a person is to gain victory over sin and to live for God. And in these epistles, as well as others, his is NOT speaking to the UNSAVED; He is speaking to CHRISTIANS. The Message he tells them is to get back to "the simplicity that is IN CHRIST". He spells OUT this simplicity as being grace through faith in Christ and His Work on the Cross, of being "IN CHRIST" through identification in His death, burial, and resurrection...... that "abundant Life" is not found in what we DO, but it is found in a PERSON: JESUS CHRIST; And that is why then, that we are "complete IN HIM" (Col. 2:10), the "true Vine" (John 15:1,4-5).
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IN HIS BLOOD
Let us now turn our attention to the FINAL category of people...
#4) Those who have been SAVED by grace through faith ALONE for justification and victory over the sin nature. These are those of the final category in JESUS' "SOWER parable. They hear the Word, and understand it, and bear FRUIT, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. These are those who are DEAD to the law for righteousness (Although the law is not dead to THEM, for they perform it by nature "IN CHRIST")
"now we are delivered from the law, being dead to that wherein we were held; That we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." -(Rom. 7:6)
No LONGER is their attitude... "I don't really WANT to do this sometimes (prayer Bible study, etc.), but I am COMMITTED to it." Now, their attitude is... "I WANT to do this because this is WHO I AM and what I LIKE to do!" No LONGER do they STRIVE to do the things of God as a duty. Now... they REST IN CHRIST, Whose HOLY SPIRIT does those things THROUGH them with EASE! Halellujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALLOW now... the Holy Spirit to minister to you through these scriptures, and I pray that He will now illuminate the "eyes of your understanding" to "see" this grand revelation of RESTING IN CHRIST AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, OF BEING JUSTIFIED SOLELY BY HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD, SHED ON THE CROSS.... FOR YOU: ......
"Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ..." -(Rom. 5:1)
"God has set forth (Jesus) to be a propitiation through FAITH IN HIS BLOOD." -(Rom. 3:25)
"And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our FAITH." -(1 John 5:4)
"And they overcame Him (satan) by THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, and by the Word of their Testimony (the Message of the CROSS)..." -(Rev. 12:11)
"But now the righteousness of God without the Law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Even the righteousness of God which is by Faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference." -(Rom. 3:21-22)
"For they (those justified by law), being ignorant of god's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness (SELF-righteousness) have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." -(Rom. 10:3-4)
"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.'
And the Publican, standing afar off, would not lift so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.'
I tell you, this man went down to his house JUSTIFIED rather than the other." -(Lk. 18:10-14)
Notice how that the Pharisee justified HIMSELF by his performance of "law", and the Publican trusted in GOD to justify him, Whose Way is by "the Blood". And.....
GOD CHOSE THE PUBLICAN (despised by that society).
Which type will YOU be??
To the Lord Jesus Christ, the "Lamb of God", be glory and honor and power and dominion for EVER and EVER. Halellujah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 comment:
Awsome blog site brother! Keep it up! I have added you to my site as well! God bless,
Jeremy Strang
Post a Comment