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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