Tuesday, July 09,
2013, 7:01 a.m. – A tune was in my head that sounded somewhat familiar, as
I woke this morning. And, I had partial words, so I looked it up. It appears to
me that the Lord Jesus was putting this song in my head:
Until the Whole World
Hears / Casting Crowns
I wanna be your hands
and feet
I wanna live a life
that leads
To see You set the
captive free
Until the whole world
hears
And I pray the day
will see
More of You and less
of me
Lord I want my life to
be the song you sing…
Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. Yesterday I read 1 Corinthians 15, and today I read chapter 16, both in the NIV. I will
share selected verses from these two chapters and then I will write what the
Lord Jesus is teaching me through them. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2015&version=NIV;
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2016&version=NIV
The Gospel Preached
Now,
brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you,
which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you
are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you
have believed in vain (1 Co. 15:1-2).
As I read these first two verses, there were four things
that jumped out at me:
·
The gospel preached – what was it?
·
The gospel received – how so?
·
The stand upon the gospel – how done?
·
If you hold firmly – what does this mean?
First of all, the gospel preached by the apostles was Jesus
Christ crucified for our sins, buried, and raised from the dead in conquering
death, hell, sin and Satan. The gospel not only hangs on Jesus’ blood sacrifice
for our sins, but on his resurrection, for if he had not been resurrected then
our sins would not have been conquered, we would not have the victory over sin
that Jesus provided for us, and thus we would still be dead in our sins with no
hope of eternal life with God. Because Jesus Christ was resurrected from the
dead, we, too, will be resurrected. One day soon Jesus Christ will return for
his bride and our bodies will be changed into imperishable bodies, and we will
live with him forever in glory.
Secondly, the gospel preached by the apostles was one of the
necessities of death to sin and self, a life transformed by the power and
working of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer, and having a new life in
Christ under his control, leadership, guidance and direction, i.e. one that
follows Christ in obedience wherever he leads us. Jesus Christ died and was
resurrected so that we could die to our sins and have completely new lives in
Christ Jesus, free from the control of and slavery to sin, and free to walk in
Christ’s righteousness.
We receive the gospel by faith in Jesus Christ. This faith
requires that we turn from our lives of sin and rebellion against God, that we
are transformed into new creatures in Christ Jesus, and that we put on our new
lives in Christ, created to be like him in true righteousness and holiness. This
means that believing in Jesus Christ is not just an intellectual assent to his
death and resurrection, nor is it an emotional decision to have a desire to go
to heaven one day, but it is a decision to die to living in sin and for self,
it is a radical transformation of our thinking, believing, and behaving, and it
is a choice of our wills to daily die to sin and to walk by faith in Jesus
Christ our Lord, doing what he desires and requires for our lives (See Lu.
9:23-25; Ep. 4:17-24; Ro. 6; Gal. 2:20, etc.).
To take our stand upon this gospel means that we live what
we say we believe, and that we preach and teach what we live, and that we live
what we preach. It means that the true gospel of Jesus Christ should permeate
every aspect of our lives so that Christ Jesus is reflected through us, and
that we do feel what he feels, and we see through his eyes, and that we are his
hands and feet to those around us. Not one of us will do this perfectly, but
this should be what we daily strive for in the power and working of the Holy Spirit
within us.
And, this last part is key to the gospel, i.e. it is very
important that we understand this so that we don’t end up with a false sense of
security. Salvation, according to scripture, is a process of having been saved,
being saved, and that we will be saved one day when Jesus Christ returns and
our salvation is complete. Some people call this the process of sanctification.
In other words, we don’t pray a prayer at an altar – bam – we have our ticket
into heaven and now we can just chill, i.e. relax, take it easy, have fun and
play games. Our lives will be tested to see if our faith is genuine, and we
must pass the test. True faith endures to the end, and it holds firmly to what
it was taught. This doesn’t mean we go in and out of salvation every time we
sin, as some teach, but what it does mean is that salvation is also not just a
free ride to heaven. Jesus died to set us free from sin daily, and to set us
free to walk in his righteousness, holiness and in obedience. And, true
salvation will involve our lives daily dying to sin and self, and living for
his righteousness.
Give Yourselves Fully
Therefore,
my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give
yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in
the Lord is not in vain (1 Co. 15:58).
…
because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many
who oppose me (1 Co. 16:9).
Be
on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything
in love (1 Co. 16:13).
The Christian life, as wonderful as our salvation is, is not
usually easy. We will face obstacles, distractions, temptations, opposition, and
difficult circumstances, etc. that will all try and will challenge our faith
and commitment to Jesus Christ and to his service. We will also be hated,
rejected, persecuted, and even some of us may be killed for our testimony for
Jesus Christ. Yet, we should never give up, and we should never give in to the
enemy of our souls no matter how challenging or difficult life can be
sometimes. We should take these challenges as opportunities to increase our
faith and commitments to Christ and to his gospel, and we should daily put on
our armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s attacks against us (See Ep.
6:10-20). Many times when I have been going through some of those challenges,
these verses (above) have been just the right words to encourage my faith. I
pray that each one of us will let nothing move us, but we will give ourselves
fully to Christ.
Open My Heart /
An Original Work / July 2, 2013
“Be wise about what is good and innocent about what is
evil” (Rm. 16:19b).
Open my heart. Let
Your truth in.
Make of me a servant,
pure within;
Sing of Your praise
all of my days.
Let Your Spirit
transform all my ways.
Jesus Christ died on a
cross to
Save me from my sin.
“Repent of sin. Be
cleansed within.
Obey all of His
commands today.”
“Why do you doubt? Why
do you fear?
Jesus Christ will wipe
away your tears.
He cares for you. He
feels your pain.
Die to sin, and life
with Him you’ll gain.
Follow Him where’er He
leads you.
Talk with Him each
day.
Then you will know what
He has planned
For your life before
your world began.”
“Come unto Me, weary
in heart.
Let My love and grace
to you impart.
Believe in Me. Trust
in My care.
Take your burdens to
the Lord in prayer.
He will meet all of
your needs,
And give you peace within.
Rejoice in Him! Tell
of His love.
He will give you
comfort from above.”
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