Galatians 3:1-14 makes one thing crystal clear: We are reconciled to God and receive His Holy Spirit by faith, not by obeying rules. Jesus accomplished what was need for our relationship with God to be restored (reconciled) when He died on the cross. The evidence of this restoration is the Resurrection and the Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
I know this is not anything new, but this morning it hit me in a fresh way. I truly got it.
I finally realized that I was still trying to impress God with my accomplishments and deeds and successes. I finally realized that my success did not run my relationship with God. This was a mindset shift (a paradigm shift, if you will) for me. I didn't even realize I had fallen into this mindset of hoping for God's acceptance, but I had.
As I reflected further, I realized that the life transformation Christ called the Church to proclaim and accomplish in the lives of His Bride was this shift to a relationship of receiving God's grace and love in everything rather than trying to earn it.
The best title I could come up with this way of life was: The Sacramental Life. A sacrament is a means (i.e. medium, way, avenue) of grace. I am truly living in the Kingdom of God when the entirety of my life is a means of grace. When I can receive God's grace and love through every thing I do, I am truly living the life Christ died to give me. Sanctification is positioning myself to see God's grace and love in everything. The disciplines are simply a tactic for opening myself up to God and His grace and love. Serving others becomes a way of receiving grace and love. Worship is now a means of receiving grace and love. I'm no longer doing things to make myself a better person, I'm doing things so that I might better see God at work in me.
Today, I will begin seeing every situation, every person, every moment as an act of faith - receiving God's grace and love in each. I will live the Sacramental Life.
Under the Mercy,
Jason
Terra Nova
New Ground For Your Spiritual Journey
Showing posts with label salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salvation. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Jonah 3:4-10 - SALVATION!!
"The Ninevites believed God."
2 Thoughts:
1) The Ninevites believed God, not Jonah. They truly thought that God was the God whom Jonah was talking about. This is why Jonah uses the phrase in his prayer (2:9) "Salvation belongs to the Lord." Deliverance, salvation. The Hebrew word here means either of these terms. The Hebrew word (yeshua) is the root word used in the names Joshua & Jesus. Not only is Jesus the bringer of salvation and deliverance for us, He is slavation incarnate.
It is God who saves us. Our salvation is about a reconciled relationship with God - not about a formula or set of beliefs or doctrines. Our salvation is about life - now and forever - with God. This is why it is His to offer.
2) The Ninevites' repentance grew out of their understanding of God. When they realized how much they had offended a holy God, their natural reaction of was to repent and call on God to forgive. And God heard.
Remember how this book started - God spoke and Jonah didn't hear. Now God is the one listening. When those who are far from Him call on Him, He hears. No matter how "bad" they had been.
As I read this passage, I am reminded how important my relationship with God is. I am reminded that it cost God much more than it costs me. I am reminded that it is grace that keeps me and not my own good works (what little I have). My relationship with God is based on His gracious love for me.
The Father is quite fond of me (and you!).
Under the Mercy,
Jason
2 Thoughts:
1) The Ninevites believed God, not Jonah. They truly thought that God was the God whom Jonah was talking about. This is why Jonah uses the phrase in his prayer (2:9) "Salvation belongs to the Lord." Deliverance, salvation. The Hebrew word here means either of these terms. The Hebrew word (yeshua) is the root word used in the names Joshua & Jesus. Not only is Jesus the bringer of salvation and deliverance for us, He is slavation incarnate.
It is God who saves us. Our salvation is about a reconciled relationship with God - not about a formula or set of beliefs or doctrines. Our salvation is about life - now and forever - with God. This is why it is His to offer.
2) The Ninevites' repentance grew out of their understanding of God. When they realized how much they had offended a holy God, their natural reaction of was to repent and call on God to forgive. And God heard.
Remember how this book started - God spoke and Jonah didn't hear. Now God is the one listening. When those who are far from Him call on Him, He hears. No matter how "bad" they had been.
As I read this passage, I am reminded how important my relationship with God is. I am reminded that it cost God much more than it costs me. I am reminded that it is grace that keeps me and not my own good works (what little I have). My relationship with God is based on His gracious love for me.
The Father is quite fond of me (and you!).
Under the Mercy,
Jason
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Ecclesiastes 7 - Solomon & Calvin
The King is distraught with people. He finishes this chapter with a cutting comment:
"This only have I found: God created humankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes." (7:29)
This is the cry of every staunch Calvinist! "There is none righteous, no not one" is how Paul summarizes the King in Romans. We have all messed up.
Of course the question is "were we born this way or do we become depraved?" I will admit, from my study of Scripture, I'm with the King and Paul - we are born sinners in need of salvation. No matter how wise or how smart or how rich or how able we might become in this life, ultimately, it is God's grace working in our life that saves us. We cannot ever be good enough to stand blameless before our holy God.
With this in mind, I can simply rest in God's grace and "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other." (7:14)
Are you able to admit that you aren't good enough for God to call holy, but instead you are ready to embrace His grace and allow Him to make you a new creation? Are you able to humbly acknowledge God's holiness and see our need for a mediator to reconcile our relationship with Him? I have to do this daily.
Under the Mercy,
Jason
"This only have I found: God created humankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes." (7:29)
This is the cry of every staunch Calvinist! "There is none righteous, no not one" is how Paul summarizes the King in Romans. We have all messed up.
Of course the question is "were we born this way or do we become depraved?" I will admit, from my study of Scripture, I'm with the King and Paul - we are born sinners in need of salvation. No matter how wise or how smart or how rich or how able we might become in this life, ultimately, it is God's grace working in our life that saves us. We cannot ever be good enough to stand blameless before our holy God.
With this in mind, I can simply rest in God's grace and "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other." (7:14)
Are you able to admit that you aren't good enough for God to call holy, but instead you are ready to embrace His grace and allow Him to make you a new creation? Are you able to humbly acknowledge God's holiness and see our need for a mediator to reconcile our relationship with Him? I have to do this daily.
Under the Mercy,
Jason
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