Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Sunday, February 15, 2015

The Crucified Life

Sunday, February 15, 2015, 1:55 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “For By Grace.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 9:18-27 (ESV).

He Was Crucified For Us

Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Jesus Christ often referred to himself as “The Son of Man.” I wanted to understand the meaning behind these words, so I did some research on this subject. What I learned from more than one source is that Jesus’ self-description was the “New Testament designation for Jesus as God incarnate in flesh and agent of divine judgment.” It appears that this reference to Jesus was primarily in the context of his humanity, his earthly ministry, his suffering and death, and his coming again to earth to judge, and to receive his bride (his saints/the elect) to himself (See: http://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/hbd/view.cgi?n=5959).

Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit. He left his throne in heaven, came to earth, took on human flesh, suffered as we suffer and was tempted in like manner as we are tempted, yet without sin. While on this earth he healed the sick, raised the dead, forgave sinners, comforted the sorrowful, and he preached freedom to those captive to sin. He also preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins and obedience to him and to his commands as necessary for receiving our eternal salvation, i.e. as an essential aspect of genuine believing faith (See: Lu. 5:32; 13:5; Jn. 14:15, 21; 15:10), for we are saved by God’s grace through faith (See: Eph. 2:8-10).

I also wanted to understand the meaning of “The Christ of God,” so I looked that up, as well. The Greek word “Christos” means: “Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ” (source: biblehub.com). As “Christ,” Jesus Christ is prophet, priest and king. He represents God to us and us to God, and he is ruler over all things, completely sovereign and in control over all that he has created. He was both the priest who offered the sacrifice for our sins as well as he was the sacrifice. He shed his own blood on the cross, taking upon himself the sins of the entire world, so that we would have the chance to receive forgiveness of sins and the hope of life eternal with God. He is our Savior who paid the price so we could go free.

We Must Die With Him

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

In Ephesians 2 we read that we are saved by God’s grace through faith. This salvation is not from ourselves, but is a gift from God. Even the faith to believe is a gift from God, but it is one we must decide to appropriate to our lives. We can do nothing in ourselves or of our own fleshly works to earn or to deserve such a great salvation. Jesus Christ was the only one who could secure this salvation for us, and it was through his death on a cross that he did so. Yet, we must receive this gift of grace by faith. This faith is not generated by ourselves, though. God has provided the faith we need to believe. We just have to apply it to our lives through humble submission to the cross of Christ and to our Savior.

There are many preachers and teachers of the Word today who are teaching a faith that is no faith at all, but is a mere outward confession of Christ, or is words that are mouthed only, or is an emotional experience or intellectual assent to who Jesus is, to what he did for us, and to our need to have him save us from our sins. Many of them teach salvation as though it is merely an escape from hell and a promise of heaven when we die. And, they teach that a mere prayer to ask Jesus into our hearts secures heaven for us no matter how we live our lives from this point forward. Yet, what they are missing is that genuine faith, which is required for salvation, involves turning from our sin (repentance) and turning our lives over to God/Christ in obedience and in surrender to his will for our lives. Grace that is absent of repentance and obedience is no grace at all, for God’s grace frees us from sin.

Jesus said that if we want to come after him, we must deny (disallow) ourselves (our self-life) and take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow him (in obedience). He said if we want to save our old lives of living for sin and self, we will lose them for eternity, but if we lose our lives (die to sin and self) for him, we will save them for eternity. Some people think this no longer applies to our lives, since it was before Christ died for our sins, and yet the apostles taught the same truth. They taught that we must die with Christ to our old lives of living for sin and self, that we must be transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and that we are to be given new lives in Christ, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (See: Eph. 4:17-24; Ro. 6-8; Gal. 2:20; & 1 Pet. 2:24-25).

It is not true GRACE if it does not free us from slavery to sin, and if all it does is just promise deliverance from the punishment of hell and promise the hope of eternal life in heaven. True grace is not a free license to continue in willful sin free from guilt and remorse. We read in Titus 2:11-14 that the grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to say “No” to “ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” while we wait for our Lord’s return. Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” True grace transforms human lives away from living for sin and self to living for God/Christ in his holiness and righteousness, in the power of the Spirit of God now living within us. Jesus Christ died, not just to save us from our sins, but so we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up for us (See 2 Co. 5:15).

If we say that we love God, that we know him, and that we are walking in fellowship with him/Christ, yet we continue to live sinful lifestyles and we do not walk in obedience to his commands, then scripture teaches us that we are liars, that we don’t really know God, and that he does not really know us (See: the book of 1 John). This does not mean we will live in sinless perfection, as the Word also teaches that our salvation is a process of sanctification, i.e. we are saved, being saved and will be saved. We are in the process of being made holy; of being purified; and of being conformed to the image of Christ. Our salvation will not be complete until Jesus Christ returns.

Yet, we should never use the excuse that we are not perfect, or that we are in process, to excuse away willful sin or to justify continuing to live sinful lifestyles after we claim to have been saved. Daily we should die to sin and self, and daily we should surrender to Christ, to the cross, and to our Savior’s will for our lives.

For By Grace / An Original Work / January 27, 2012

Based off Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace we’ve been saved
Of all our sins,
So that with Christ Jesus
Our lives begin.
Cleansing us from sin,
He made pure within
All who trust in Him
As their Savior, friend,
So that with Christ Jesus
Our lives begin.

We’ve been saved through faith;
This not from ourselves,
Lest that we should boast
In our fleshly works.
Our salvation is
A gift from our God,
Who loves us so much
That He gave His Son
To die on the cross
For all of our sins.

So repent of all
Of your sins today,
And He’ll forgive you;
Wipe your sins away.
Obey all of His
Teachings given you,
So that you can walk
With Him now in truth;
So that you can walk
With Him now in truth.




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