The Mystery of Salvation

Romans 10:9 “…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”                                    

Ephesians 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.”

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”                       

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Mystery of Salvation. At first glance, these scriptures appear at odds with one another. Yet when we consider the work of the Holy Spirit, His deliberate involvement in our lives before we have fully formed or have been fully informed, it makes sense – yet it is still a Divine mystery. John 16 tells us that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will convict the world of sin and of righteousness, and that when He comes, He will guide those predestined by God into all truth, speaking on the authority of the Father. Through God the Holy Spirit’s work in us as the truth speaker, and the author of the gospel of our salvation, we are sanctified – set apart for God’s use. (2 Peter 1:21; John 17)

By God’s plan, the Holy Spirit convicts our hearts (that is, those who God has predestined for salvation) and makes us ready to receive the gospel of truth, the gospel of our salvation (Romans 1:16). And by His grace implants the seed of faith within us and moves in such a way that we can declare with our mouths, or the better word, confess with our mouths Christ as Savior and Lord, since we are regretting our sinful lives and desire to repent or turn around from that life. Part of the mystery is that with each individual who has been saved, there is a uniqueness in each instance of salvation. We don’t all experience that moment of salvation at the same age, in the same place or circumstance, etc. Salvation does not result from a confirmation or catechism class, or even a baptism, but by God’s will. Otherwise, it is a human intervention or effort -- not God -- doing the saving. And, yet, in His grace and goodness, He allows us to choose or affirm what He has worked in us. He allows us to covenant with Him. In the very best sense, we put ‘skin in the game’, that is, we surrender ourselves to His sovereignty and Lordship over us in our confession. We are allowed to make ourselves a living sacrifice to God, based on the work of the Cross – Christ’s sacrifice that covers us. (Romans 12:1; Ephesians 2:15-17)

The greatest mystery in salvation is that God has chosen us – as the Spirit has Paul write so well at Ephesians 2, we who “were dead in [our] transgressions and sins,  in which [we] used to live when [we] followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” I cannot comprehend that, but accept by faith what He has done in me, what He has done in all of us whom He has called. A great mystery, indeed.

From the Handbook for Successful Living

Dear Friends,

                           Psalm 119:9-16 

I read today a devotion that cited the passage above, and wanted to take the thought and share with the group here.

When my children were growing up, like any other children they liked testing their limits, aka ‘exploring’ to a little child. The whole sensory thing – touching, seeing, tasting, hearing, etc. – is a vital part of a young child’s growth. However, as a parent, I knew that there were things that the children should not experience – things that could prove harmful (even back then there was a movement to give children free rein of their lives – to be ‘free range children,’ which I did not subscribe to!). Harmful things like going under the sink where cleaning products were kept. Touching the stove or fiddling with the knobs. Playing too close to the stairs. And for loving parents the list goes on. I recall only once when I had to truly demonstrate to my children the consequences of a hot stove, which lesson proved beneficial because they never fiddled with a stove again until they were old enough to safely cook – that is another story! I placed physical barriers to certain areas of our home – like guardrails – that were designed as warnings and security tools to keep the children from danger and the very unpleasant consequences of fiddling with things that could damage them. As a parent, being the ‘police’ was exhausting, was not fun, nor was it always a popular thing to do; however, because I love my children, I knew I had to do those things to ensure their safety and protect their lives.

Why, then, do we sometimes expect God to be any different from a loving parent, or would even want Him to be? After all, He is the one who created the capacity for parenthood, and provided the template and instructions. As a loving Parent, He’s not just a provider. Our Father Who Art in Heaven knows all things about us – He can see from the beginning to end and beyond in our lives. He knows every millisecond about us. He knows our needs better than our own human parents. He knows what will make a mess of our lives, what decisions will have never-ending consequences, what impact the things we see and hear will have on us, what impact the people we hang around will have on us, and even knows the number of hairs on our head that we will ever have in this life. (see also Psalm 103:8-19; Psalm 121:8 in conjunction with Deuteronomy 6:24-25 and Jeremiah 29:11-13; Isaiah 55:6-11; Matthew 10:29-31) He has given us the Handbook for Successful Living for this life and beyond. This Handbook, God’s Word the Bible, sets forth guardrails for our success and protection, and like toddlers, we sometimes try to get over them, stamp our feet in defiance, or have a tantrum because we think those guardrails are preventing us from enjoying something good or fun, or popular. When we ignore those guardrails, those protections and guides that God Who Knows All Things has put in place for us – His children – we get into trouble; unfortunately, some of the consequences can last a lifetime, or result in irreparable harm or even death. (compare Galatians 6:7-10)

Please know that when I speak about these things, I’m not talking from a viewpoint of a Pollyanna or as someone just repeating what I have heard. I have seen the ‘back alleys’, and I know the consequences of going against God’s successful way – and please believe me when I say, as the Galatians universal warning above states, the resulting consequences of going against God is no respecter of persons. That is, yes – if you choose to not follow God’s provisions for a successful life, you will have consequences. There are no Teflon people or exceptions to the Galatians rule – none! And I repeat – there are no exceptions. Not even for ‘smart’ persons, church-going persons, or really nice persons. God illustrates that over and over again in His Word as a warning for us. Even His most devoted servant and child David – the same David who believed God and slew the giant, proved that rule to be true: when David chose a course of behavior that rebelled against God’s successful guide for his life – i.e., he ignored, did not find applicable to him – God’s successful guide for sex, David suffered irreparable and devastating damage affecting his family, and his kingdom that he never fully recovered from. Even though God forgave David of his rebellion, David still had to face the very sad consequences of his bad choices; the universal rule did not skip over him. So please, take God’s provisions at Psalm 119 above (and the other scriptures) as His expression of His love for you, instead of something depriving us of fun, or denying us of something that we think feels good, looks good, and that we cannot do without.

 

Oh, what a sad day it is when a person looks back on his or her life and knows that rebelling against God resulted in a life-long difficulty – one that God had wished for us to avoid, and one that grieved Him because He knew the pain and complications we would face. The God Who Sees All Things knew the path our choice would take us – one that caused us great heartache and difficulty. But what rejoicing to know that God forgives us through the blood of Christ, and that because He is the All Powerful God He can use the painful consequence of our bad choice and thoughts, when you and I have repented, to bring about something good! (compare Romans 8:28-39) [Because the Bible is written for each of us, one way to ‘get it’ is by adding our name in place of the first-person pronoun or where the text is being directed generically to a person or persons.]  

May “all these blessings come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God…”; “the Lord bless you, and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.” (Deuteronomy 28:2; Numbers 6:24-26) – hugs. ms jo

 

Are you in THE BOOK?

Dear Friends,

We are in so many listings so that we can be identified and reached by others: Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, to name a few electronic ones. The school and work office keeps you on a list. Social Security Administration has you on a list. Those of you who have ever worked are probably on at least one tax list in the federal or state books. You may be in the White pages in either the hard copy or online version. You may be on a scout list, a birthday list. You may appear on a 'virtual' list should your name be Googled. You and your home may be in a book down at the department of land records or whatever the agency is called. You can probably think of other books and lists that you can be found on.

But, ARE YOU IN THE BOOK?

Do you know what book I mean? We all start out there, but we do not all end up in there. For the answer, you need to read…. Exodus 32:32-33; Psalm 69:28; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 20:15.

God keeps lists. He is a list-keeping God. Wonder why if He is all knowing and all present? Think about who benefits the most from the lists we mortals keep. Not just the list-generator, but also as those who will view/use the list and the one who’s name is listed.

Ok. All for now.

-jo