Tag: Salvation

Qualified

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HIGHLIGHT

Colossians 1:12 (ESV): 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

EXPLAIN

This simple, beautiful clause states several assumptive truths that are expanded in other scriptures. First, while we should not try to separate or compartmentalize the three Persons of the Godhead (for God is one), scripture makes clear that the Father gave His Son to redeem humanity. John 3:16 (ESV): 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Compare this truth with 1 John 4:9–10 (ESV):

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Simply, the assumption reflection in Colossians 1:12 is that God took the initiative to redeem humanity from sin. We gain no brownie points for somehow realizing our desperate condition apart from God. For God, in his prevenient (going before) grace, sought us out, hemmed us in, convicted us of sin, and rescued us like the Good Shepherd reached down the side of the cliff to rescue the wandering sheep, stuck on a narrow ledge, only a step away from certain death.

Another assumption in this verse is that God’s redeeming grace completely restores us as the children of God. The Father has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

As 1 Peter 2:9–10 (ESV) so beautifully states:

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

The follower of Jesus gains an inheritance in heaven. We are not half-Christians. We do not merely hope for our salvation. There are no second-class Christians. If you have been redeemed from sin, regenerated, you possess an inheritance that is stored away for you by God.

But the third assumption in this verse is the one that most captivates my attention at this time. The Father has qualified you. In the world of sales, qualification is very important. The product or service a salesman offers may not be a match or be available for every potential client. I am reminded of the story of a salesman who spent a lengthy amount of time selling a product to a prospective buyer, only to be told by the buyer as they filled out the forms that he had been calling this potential client by the wrong name for the entire sales call!

What is worse is when due to various factors, a buyer may be ineligible for a product or service. They may want to buy the item. They may have the means to buy it. But they are not qualified.

Salvation, obviously, cannot be purchased. We cannot do enough good works to be qualified for salvation. Yet at the same time, if God had not qualified us, salvation would never have become a possibility. If God did not love us so much to sacrifice His Son, if the Son had been unwilling to go along with the Father’s plan, we would be without hope.

But the wonderful truth of scripture is that the Father has qualified us. Therefore, you may partake of God’s salvation freely. You may claim your stake in heaven. This is the reality provided for all those who repent of their sin and accept Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior.

It bears repeating again that you do not need to nor can you qualify yourself for salvation. Grace is the free gift of God through faith in Christ Jesus. At the same time, we also remember that God has called everyone to repentance. As Peter wrote: 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV). God qualifies us for salvation through no effort or initiative of our own, but in order to receive this grace, we must accept it by faith.

APPLY

We truly are privileged to have been qualified to become the children of God, redeemed from sin, born again spiritually, adopted into God’s family, sanctified for God’s purpose and glory.

As the great line from the Spiderman movie goes, “With great privileges come great responsibilities.” So we should live with gratitude to God: 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you Colossians 1:12 (ESV). This gratitude should be displayed in multiple ways, not limited to but including the following:

• we should live every moment as “worship” to God – Romans 12:1 (ESV): 12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

• we should seek to become more like Christ in our character, our mindset, our speech, and our actions – 1 Peter 1:14–15 (ESV): 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.

• we should share the good news of salvation to everyone we can – 2 Corinthians 5:18–20 (ESV): 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

That God would qualify us, who truly had no reason nor hope to be qualified, is amazing grace. Let us live in that grace with gratitude!

RESPOND

Heavenly Father, thank you for making me acceptable by the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the Cross. I thank you for your amazing grace. Help me to live in every way as an expression of my gratitude to you – in worship, in holiness, as an ambassador of Christ. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

All you need to know

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HIGHLIGHT

1 John 2:26–27 (ESV): 26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

EXPLAIN

John wrote this letter to assure a church that was experiencing the aftermath of conflict with false teachers. Various ones had come in the church teaching false doctrine. The church leaders had combatted the heresy. The conflict was ugly. Love seemed to be forgotten. The false teachers and those who accepted their deception left the church.

Now, John wrote to assure the believers that their hope in Jesus was true and to assure them that the love of Christ is demonstrated in how we treat one another.

Sincere followers of Jesus Christ desire to be always growing deeper in their knowledge about and of Christ. John was not saying that these believers had no more need to be taught spiritually (or else why did he write this letter?) or to grow spiritually.

Rather, John was assuring them that these false teachers who had come suggesting they had a secret knowledge were truly hucksters. Why? The Holy Spirit within us teaches all that we need to live in the light.

APPLY

If we listen closely to the Spirit’s voice and obey His command, we can be assured that we are where we need to be spiritually. We don’t need to worry about some special knowledge or insight others profess to have. Walking in step with the Spirit, we have full assurance of our salvation.

I love to learn more about God and His Word. I love, most of all, to learn Christ more deeply. But I need not feel unsure of my spirituality. If I abide with the Spirit, He will teach me all I need to know.

RESPOND

Heavenly Father, thank you for Holy Spirit who lives with me and in me. May I develop an increasing sensitivity to the promptings of the Spirit and be quick to follow His lead. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Forgetful Christian

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HIGHLIGHT

2 Peter 1:9–10 (ESV): 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

EXPLAIN

Peter began his second letter with a huge assurance and promise. God’s divine power has given to those who have believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior everything we need for life and godliness.

But he followed up this promise with an exhortation: with every effort you can, supplement your faith with a list of spiritual qualities: virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. These spiritual qualities keep us from being ineffective or unfruitful spiritually.

Then we come to our highlighted verses. If we lack these qualities, if we are not seeking to add these to our faith, if we reject these qualities, we forget our salvation.

It is worth exploring what it means and how we can forget that we have been cleansed from our past sinful life. Does this merely imply a huge lack of gratitude for the grace of God?

It would suggest that at least such a person is ungrateful.

This forgetfulness also might suggest the person is veering into false doctrine, somehow believing something or someone other than Christ’s sacrifice on the cross paid the penalty for our sins.

This forgetfulness might also suggest a purposeful determination to love the things of this world as opposed to the kingdom of God. Forgetting their great salvation, they allow themselves to be swept up in the carnal desires and practices of society.

APPLY

The follower of Jesus has a huge responsibility to confirm his or her calling and election in Christ. We are not saved by any work we do or promise to do, but after we are cleansed from our sins, we must choose to live a holy life, seeking to grow in Christlikeness.

RESPOND

Heavenly Father, thank you for your great grace, evidenced by the shedding of Jesus’ blood on the Cross. May I, in every way I speak, think, and act show my gratitude for your love. Help me to grow in in Christlikeness, adding each of these spiritual qualities in more abundance and purity to my faith. Thank you for giving me all I need to live holy before you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Striving to rest

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HIGHLIGHT

Hebrews 4:11 (ESV): 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

EXPLAIN

Using God’s rest on the 7th day of creation as an analogy along with the failure of the Israelites to enter Canaan as God’s rest, the writer contends that there is another rest for the people of God, in which we rest from our works as God did (Hebrews 4:10).

Fascinatingly, the Hebrews writer immediately uses the terminology of work, “strive”, to exhort the people to enter God’s rest.

The key to understanding this tension is in the concept of obedience. The Israelites in the wilderness failed to enter Canaan because of disobedience. So those who are called by God for salvation may lose out on the opportunity to be saved by failing to obey God’s call to trust in Christ alone by grace through faith.

In the latter part of Hebrews 4 and the beginning of Hebrews 5, the writer points out that Jesus, as God in flesh, understands our weaknesses and was tempted like us, yet he did not disobey. He lived without sin.

Indeed, Hebrews 5:8–9 (ESV): 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

APPLY

It has been ingrained in us that salvation is by grace, which is never and can never be earned, alone through faith. This is true, and we must understand that we do not gain salvation through our own striving.

Yet missing sometimes in our understanding of salvation is that faith is much more than an intellectual agreement that Jesus is God or even that Jesus died in our place, taking our sin upon himself.

Rather, faith is a believing obedience, a surrender to the lordship of Christ Jesus, the beginning of a life of obedience to the one and only King.

RESPOND

Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace. I have surrendered my life to you, but I recommit myself today to live in obedience to your precepts and principles, always listening closely to the whisper of the Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The privilege of sharing

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HIGHLIGHT

Hebrews 2:10–11 (ESV): 10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

EXPLAIN

Hebrews 2 begins with the challenge that we must pay closer attention to the gospel so we do not drift from this great salvation. The writer then spoke of the majesty ofJesus, Lord of the universe, who was made lower than angels for a little while so that he might taste death for everyone.

This was only proper so that the founder of our salvation might be made perfect through suffering. Indeed, both Jesus (who sanctifies) and his followers (who are sanctified) have one source.

We are brothers with Christ! Hebrews 3:14 says that we have come to share in Christ, “if … we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

APPLY

Suffering is not an extraordinary experience for the follower of Jesus. Indeed, it was necessary for Jesus to suffer… and it is necessary for us to suffer as we follow him.

Suffering for Jesus does not mark us as under God’s displeasure; suffering enables us to share in Christ!

RESPOND

Heavenly Father, thank you for the privilege of sharing in Christ. While I do not enjoy times of difficulty, may I see your hand in all seasons of life and live for your faithfully, holding on to the confidence of my salvation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Thank you, Lord, for your blessings

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HIGHLIGHT

Psalm 65:12–13 (ESV): 12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, 13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.

EXPLAIN

Psalms 63-65 may not have been written in chronological order, but they provide interesting comparison and contrast.

In Psalm 63, David was in the wilderness of Judah, longing for God’s presence. He chose to worship God and so expressed confidence that those who sought to destroy him would experience destruction.

In Psalm 64, David expressed his complaint to God, asking God to preserve his life from the enemy. David described their attacks as ambushes, mounting sudden, secret, evil attacks upon him. But David expressed his confidence that God would shoot his own arrows at the wicked and they would be brought to ruin.

In Psalm 65, we now find a psalm of praise in which vows would be performed to God in the house of worship. God was described as the one who established the mountains and stilled the roaring of the seas. Now God would visit the earth with water, causing the crops to grow abundantly.

APPLY

God allows us to traverse dark, dreadful valleys in our lives. Indeed, sometimes, God allows us to be chased into barren wildernesses. But for the one who seeks God faithfully, God blesses.

God’s blessing should not necessarily be equated with worldly riches, although that may be a result. The greatest blessing we receive from walking faithfully with God is the confidence of his presence, in good times and bad.

RESPOND

Heavenly Father, thank you for your abundant blessings upon my life. They are too numerous to list. But thank you especially for the assurance of salvation, growth in Christ, and the confidence of your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.