Day: August 24, 2019

“We pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”    2 Corinthians 5:20b-21

This sums up the gospel in just a few lines.  Christ died on our behalf, paying a debt He did not owe, the one we owed but could not pay.  On the cross, Jesus took our sins on himself, and God treated Jesus as if he had lived our lives.  All our sinful thoughts, dishonest deeds, and selfish ways were put upon Christ and he was punished as if they were his own thoughts and deeds and ways.

Jesus was our substitute; he took our place on the cross, but just as importantly, He gave us His righteousness.  In the eyes of God we have the very righteousness of Christ Himself.  So because Jesus went to the cross undeservedly, we go to heaven undeservedly.  But wait, it is not underserved because it is now as though we have lived Jesus’ life!  Our rap sheet is as white as snow- there is nothing there.

Paul begs us to be reconciled to God, for God has done the impossible and a way has been made for us- corrupt and faulty sinners that we are — to have complete, unhindered access to and communion with the holy God.  Christ’s death brought (and brings) reconciliation to all who believe on Him.  This is the message we must spread, both through our words and deeds.  Any other message we can share pales in the light of this great truth.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? God forbid.” Romans 6:14-15

It is hard to believe that people who receive a wonderful gift would misuse that gift, but it happens all the time. This is especially true with the gift of grace from our Father which provides us with eternal life and gives us power over sin. No sooner than the doctrine of grace was revealed, it came under attack. It was and is hard for prideful man to believe that he can do nothing to earn his salvation. The concept that our salvation is totally based on the shed blood of Christ and that we cannot add anything to that sacrifice on our own behalf is unacceptable by many. That is why so many cults and “isms” require works as part of their salvation. But the scriptures are clear- it is a free gift.

If I came up to you and said I had a gift for you and then gave you a price you would have to pay for it, it would no longer be a gift. The covenant that God has made with us is kept on the strength of who He is, not on what we can pay. We can never pay enough. The price is to high. As hard as that is to understand, we need to get a hold of that if we are going to experience grace.

But even when people get beyond the difficult concept that salvation is free, they must face more struggles, because our sinful nature will take any wonderful gift of God and try to pervert it. Examples of what God has given us that we twist around are many, but just a few examples are intimacy, humor, nature, and science. None of those things are invented, they are all discoveries of what God has already built into our universe. Unfortunately, we often find a way to pervert them to fit our own sinful desires. We do the same thing when we discover the free and unbreakable gift of salvation. We try to pervert it.

The movie Casualties of War tells the true story of a squad of soldiers which fought in the Vietnam War. The lead role in the film is Private Erikson who’s is played by Michael J. Fox. The other men in the squadron begin to be involved in a string of atrocities, the latest against a Vietnamese girl. As Erickson struggles with what has happened, he says to the other men in his squad, “Just because each of us might at any second be blown away, we’re acting like we can do anything we want, as though it doesn’t matter what we do. I’m thinking it’s just the opposite. Because we might be dead in the next split second, maybe we gotta be extra careful what we do. Because maybe it matters more. Maybe it matters more than we ever know.”

Some people mistakenly see grace as a license to sin, just like the men in this story who saw the possibility of death as a reason to commit sinful acts. There is nothing that justifies sin, especially not grace. What is a gift for us cost God beyond comprehension. To take advantage of that gift lessens the incredible sacrifice of Christ on our behalf.

In today’s verse Paul had to correct the way many in Rome were approaching salvation. They were accepting God so that they could live like the devil! “After all,” they were saying, “if salvation is free and it can’t be lost, why worry about the way we act? In fact, the more we sin, the more it illustrates God’s grace! Right?” Wrong. Paul tells us in Romans that we cannot take evil advantage of God’s grace. Earlier in Romans 6:1-2 Paul says, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

We are new creatures, why would we live like the old? In fact, in every epistle Paul illustrates the dangers of Christians living sinfully and his warnings are strong and to the point. We will lose comfort, joy, peace, and many other wonderful blessings that accompany knowing Christ. In fact, in Corinthians, he makes it clear that we can even lose our lives.

So grace is good, sin is bad, and just because we experience grace, we should not sin to celebrate. Sin does not celebrate or illustrate God’s grace. Sin diminishes what God has done in our lives and mocks the incredible sacrifice that Christ has made for us. He became sin for us so that we could live outside of sin, so by His power, that’s what we should do.

Have a wonderful day!

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13

Peter and John are examples of what should happen when we meet the risen Christ. They had walked with Jesus for three years and had seen His many miracles. They had seen His compassion and wisdom. They had seen His strength and His resolve. Yet, they still did not understand Him.

When Jesus was arrested, they ran. When He was being tried they hid. When Peter was confronted, he denied. After Jesus was crucified, they were discouraged. They talked about the good run they had had, but it was time to go back to fishing.

Then something amazing happened. Christ rose from the dead and presented Himself to them. Suddenly, these men who were hidden in an upper room discussing their return to normal life began to be strengthened. They saw the risen savior and touched Him. They received the Holy Spirit and was filled by Him. They suddenly had more wisdom and courage. They went from hiding to preaching boldly, and all but John would go on to be martyred for their message.

So what happened? The same thing that should happen to us. We have seen the risen Christ through His Word and many other evidences. We have received the Holy Spirit. We know who Jesus was (and is) and what He means to this world. We should boldly step from hiding to the open proclamation of Him. We have had the same experiences as the men who walked with Him; we should have the same boldness. People should marvel that we have been changed and in us, they should now see Him.

Adrian Rogers tells about the man who bragged that he had cut off the tail of a man-eating lion with his pocket knife. Asked why he hadn’t cut off the lion’s head, the man replied: “Someone had already done that.” Christ’s boldness has paved the way for our boldness. He has done the hardest work, so we can do the hard work. He has declawed fear, so that we need not fear.

Let’s not talk about how great it was that the disciples were changed; Let’s change who we are and talk about how great Christ is. Let the world marvel that we of lowly positions (most positions are lowly), seem to speak like we have some special knowledge and boldness- because we do.