Category: Salvation

Heroic Quest

We think of love as a feeling.

God says that love is more than a feeling. It’s a feeling followed up by action. When we love God, our actions will align with his will. It becomes not a burden, but a joy to follow God’s commands.

Being obedient to God is no longer a “have to.” It’s a “get to” for the one who loves God.

This is all because spiritually, we’ve been reborn. This rebirth gives us a changed heart, a new state of mind, and a will to no longer be a victim of the world.

We have victory over the world through faith in Christ. Instead of victims, we are overcomers.

As people of our culture, we relate well to putting an end to the victim mentality, taking responsibility and being on a heroic quest to overcome. This is a cultural narrative that we live with, and most of us simply assume it to be the truest and best way to live.

Be aware, however, there’s a huge twist. In our culture, victory over the world is achieved when we vigorously go after and subsequently accomplish our own individual hopes and desires. In this narrative, we are heroes on a quest to actualize our dreams. We are only overcomers if we make an outstanding effort, find our true selves, and in this way fulfill our heroic quest.

John the apostle teaches a completely different way to overcome. It begins with understanding that Jesus is the true hero. And the quest is actually his. He made the outstanding effort to overcome the world by first allowing the world to seemingly overcome him. His quest was to seek us, and save us: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10, NIV).

It’s really quite beautiful. We don’t have to be victims anymore. We can be overcomers from now on!

And it’s really quite simple. We overcome the world when we are attached, by faith, to the One Who Overcame the World.

“In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:3-5, NIV).

Lord Jesus, thank you for overcoming the world on my behalf. Grant me your Spirit so that I can trust you, stop being a victim and overcome with you. I know you love me, and with your help, I want to obey your commands so that I can thank you for all you’ve done for me.

Our Bible reading for Saturday, December 5, is Daniel 11:36 – 12:13, 1 John 5:1-21 and Psalm 139:1-10.

Header image based on "Me rappeling." by Mike Petrucci, CC By-SA 2.0

It’s All God, From Start to Fuel to Finish!

What God starts, God fuels. What God fuels, God finishes.

Sounds a little bit like running a distance race, doesn’t it? You make your start. You make sure you’re fueled up during the race. And then you overcome all the obstacles and “walls” and make it through to the finish line.

But in the race of faith, the subject of all those sentences is God. God makes my start. God fuels me up. God overcomes the obstacles and walls and sees to it I make it through to the end. That’s important to know. Because what this means is that we don’t have to start this race, fuel it, or finish it.

That might sound pretty crazy at first, but think of it this way. God chose us and called us by the work of the Spirit to come to the starting line. He did this by having the gospel taught to us — typically through someone he sent. It might have been a parent, a friend, a family member, or just someone we know at work or in our neighborhood who invited us to church.

God then fuels our faith. Again, this is not our work, but the work of the Spirit. He does this through Bible teaching, and through sacraments like baptism and the Lord’s Supper. This fueling of faith is typically done at a church. Paul told the Thessalonians, they had only to stand firm and hold fast. In other words, don’t push the Spirit away. Don’t stop listening to the word. And as it imperfect as it can certainly be at times, don’t despise the church.

And it’s God who finishes the work, too. By grace he encourages us to eternity. By his steadfast love he gives us good hope. And with his forgiveness and power, he strengthens us to experience life-change. Our deeds and words change over time and become more and more attuned to the deeds and words of Jesus. Stay in touch with word and sacrament, with Christian friends and leaders, with growing and serving, and God will finish his work in you.

In the book of Hebrews, God is called “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” And in the book of Philippians, we read that the apostle Paul is confident that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

That’s really what Paul is also saying in today’s reading. But here in his second letter to the Thessalonians, he gives us just a little more detail about how that works. Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther described the process beautifully in his explanation to the third article of the Apostle’s Creed:

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church he forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.

“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17, NIV).

Lord Jesus, you are the impetus, the fuel and the finishing power in my race of faith. Give me the strength to overcome every obstacle and wall in my race. By your forgiveness, your wisdom, your power, and most of all, your love, take me through to victory!

Our Bible reading for Wednesday, October 14, is Jeremiah 29:24 – 31:14, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 and Psalm 119:33-40.

Header image based on "Spartan Race 092411 472" by Edwin Martinez, CC By 2.0

Christian Gladiator Race

He created you in the first place. Then, after you were sold into slavery to sin, he bought you back at the cost of his own life. Finally, he personally summoned you by name to be his own.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit collaborated as one (because they are One!) to make you a child of God, bought with the blood of Jesus Christ.

He is your Savior and Redeemer. Now you can be fully confident that you are God’s child. You belong to him. And he will afford you his full protection.

It’s a good thing because life is a lot like one of those “gladiator races” you see on TV.

Life is full of obstacles. Problems and heartaches may threaten to flood you. And you may even get “wet” from those floods.

And life is full of challenges. Adversity and opposition may lick at you like flames of fire. And you might get “hot” from those flames.

Nevertheless, you and I can run that race confident that we are his.

“But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:1-3, NIV).

Lord, I know that life is full of obstacles and challenges. Problems and adversity are just part of the deal. Help me to run my race confidently, knowing that I am yours, and that you have promised me your divine, supernatural protection.

Our Bible reading for Friday, September 18, is Isaiah 43:1 – 44:23, Galatians 3:26 – 4:20 and Psalm 108:1-5.

Header image based on "130504-A-FH790-007" by Fort Carson, CC By 2.0

Get Ready for What’s Coming

Life is nothing more than a blip, really. So, it’s actually amazing that we have some time to think about what’s coming next after this blip is over. But we do, by the grace of God.

What’s next is eternity. Heaven. Our salvation is near and our destiny is drawing closer. And that means that this blip of a life is going to end sooner than we realize. Before we know it, we’ll have blown right through the blip.

So one thing Paul wants us to remember is this. We have only so much time here on planet earth to fully live in our new identity as children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. The time is short for us to put aside the deeds of darkness, with its key goals being to “party hardy,” stay high, get wasted, sleep around, divide people, devastate relationships, and self-centeredly wish I had more of this or that than anyone around me.

Paul says that the way we get ready for what’s coming is to get rid of all of that and put on the Lord Jesus Christ. And what he means by that is that we need to have a faith-relationship with Jesus. We need to trust that he is our Savior, and our Lord.

God will provide this for us. Through baptism. Through his word. And through the sacrament of holy communion.

Time is short. If we refuse to put ourselves in position for God to reach us through the word and sacraments, God will not come to us in any other way. We need to quickly put down the deeds of darkness and the desires of our selfish, sinful self. We need to give Jesus space to work on our hearts.

We can’t, in other words, put on one set of clothing until we’ve taken off the old set. In this case, “layering” just isn’t going to cut the mustard. There’s no “both-and” to be had here. This is a definite “either-or”.

So which set of “clothing” do you want to put on? Remember, “what’s next” is coming very, very soon. And it’s very clear that we need to have the right set of “clothing” on right now!

So get ready for what’s coming!

“And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh” (Romans 13:11-14, NIV).

Our Bible reading for Thursday, July 30, is 1 Chronicles 7:1 – 9:1a, Romans 13:1-14 and Psalm 89:38-45.

Jesus, thank you for giving me your perfection as my new clothing. Help me to treasure it and to be ready for what is coming.

Header image based on "Stopwatch" by William Warby, CC By 2.0

Restored.

My aunt Mildred loved to restore furniture. And she was very, very good at it. Once, she even restored an old loom and got it working so that she could make various textiles on it.

But the most memorable of all were the pieces of furniture. When she got them, they would be ugly, old painted pieces of furniture. But when she was finished with them, they were beautiful!

All the dents and dings had been sanded out. All the old paint had been stripped away. And just the right number of coats of stain and varnish made the grain in the wood stand out and shine.

They were like new again.

Asaph, the court poet and musician, reminds us that God has the power to do the same to sinful humans beings like us. By promising to send Jesus to be our Messiah and our Lord, he made a solid plan, and put us on the path to full restoration.

All our sins and transgressions have been sanded away by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. All the shame painted on our hearts has been stripped away by forgiveness and the hope of the resurrection. The stain of Jesus’ blood and the varnish of his righteousness have made us beautiful in God’s sight once again.

We are no longer set aside for the garbage heap called hell. We have been saved, and are ready for the heavenly home that God has prepared for those whom he has redeemed and restored!

“Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved” (Psalm 80:7, NIV).

Our Bible reading for Saturday, July 4, is 2 Kings 8:16 – 9:37, Acts 23:12-35 and Psalm 80:1-7.

Lord, thank you for restoring me to a right relationship with you through Jesus Christ, your Son and my Savior.

Header image based on "Kirsty Hull: Caroline (Vintage collection)" by Design Initiative, CC By-SA 2.0

Four Causes of Salvation

When we look at the Bible, we can see that it uses “both-and” language in describing the spread of Christ’s kingdom.

On the one hand, the grace of God deserves the credit for people coming to faith and the kingdom growing. The faithful and undeserved love of God causes him to see our guilt and misery. And it causes him also to freely forgive us of all of our sins because of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice on the cross. This is the key to our salvation.

Theologians call this the “impulsive cause” of salvation.

But if you look at the Bible closely, you’ll also find that it’s people who bring God’s grace to those who need to hear it. In today’s reading, for example, we read of Barnabas sharing the gospel with the people of Antioch. And it’s clear that he played a role in the salvation of the people of Antioch. He was Christ’s agent and ambassador to carry the message of grace to this city.

Bible scholars call this the “ministerial cause” of salvation.

But did you know that when the Bible talks about the salvation of souls, it’s actually a “both-and-and-and” situation?

For instance, there’s the gospel in word and sacraments, which is also credited with leading us to salvation. This is the powerful tool that ministers are given to use to spread the kingdom. God the Holy Spirit creates faith and gathers the church through the gospel.

This is known as the “instrumental cause” of salvation.

And finally, there is the root, the very heart of our salvation: God. Everything originates with him — with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Without God, there is no grace, no minister to share the gospel, no Bible, no baptism, no Lord’s Supper.

Because of this, God is the “principal cause” of our salvation.

Count them. Four “causes” of salvation. Both-and-and-and. But is this just theological hairsplitting? Or is there a very practical and very necessary aspect to understanding the four causes of our salvation?

In short, the answer to that question is, “Yes!” Because once we know the cause, we can use the cause to produce the effect. In other words, if you want faith, if you want to help the kingdom grow in others, if you hope for salvation, now you know exactly where to go!

Go to God. Go to his grace and mercy, his steady and unfailing love and forgiveness. Go to the gospel in word and sacrament. Go to the people who want to share these with you. And be one of the people who wants to share them with others.

Clearly, Barnabas had a good handle on this, and that’s exactly what he did:

“News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (Acts 11:22-24, NIV).

Our Bible reading for Wednesday, June 17, is 1 Kings 2:13 – 3:15, Acts 11:19 – 12:19 and Proverbs 15:1-10.

Lord, help me to be your agent in the world to share the gospel with others, pointing them to you, and to your amazing grace.

Header image based on "Antioch" by FotoGuy 49057, CC By 2.0

A heart of worship. A song of joy.

Today is Christmas! And you know what that means, don’t you?

Our Salvation has come! Jesus, the Chosen One—whose arrival was prophesied for millennia—has made his way into our world.

The most wonderful thing ever is God becoming man so that he could demonstrate to us the full extent of his love! Our redemption draws near!

And that fact cries out for worship in our hearts and a song on our lips!

“And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: ‘Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed'” (Revelations 15:3-4, NLT).

Our reading for today, Christmas Day, is Haggai 1:1 – 2:23, Psalm 147:7-11, Proverbs 30:20 and Revelation 15:1-8.