Month: July 2023

Categories
Fellowship

Lord Jesus Christ, Saviour, Master, King, Author & Perfecter of our Faith

Shall we read from John 3: 16: “16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”.

The Lord saves us because He knows that we cannot save ourselves. The best we can do is not good enough before the Holy God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Habakkuk 1: 13. Our sins separate us from Him (Isaiah 59: 1-2). The finest we can accomplish is described as a filthy rag (Isaiah 64:6).

We praise and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, for paying for our sins on the cross of Calvary. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”( John 15: 13). What is more, He gives us eternal life as we are saved.

As a sinner, I repent of my sins, the most serious of which is ruling my life and taking my decisions. In repentance, I surrender the control to Him, I accept Him as Master and have an innate desire to  live in obedience to him as a result of the salvation which He has given to me by His grace. “8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast”. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”.

As a result of our salvation, we walk with Him doing good works. Not just what we choose, but as He directs. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10: 27-28). The Lord saves us, keeps us, guides us as the good Shepherd as we walk with Him daily in obedience and holiness. We shall never perish and His protection is guaranteed.

The Lord has called us to a life of fellowship in which He uses us to do good works as we walk with Him, living a life of holiness.

A Father-child relationship is the Lord’s plan for the believer.  From John 1: 12, we read: “12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

 Please, can we mull over the following passages which underline our call to holiness:

16 “What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

I will live with them  and walk among them, and I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.”[c]

17” Therefore, “Come out from them  and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”[d]

18 And, “I will be a Father to you,  and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”[e]  (2 Corinthians 6: 16-18)

11 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2: 11-13)

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy”(1 Peter 2: 9 -11)

In summary: The Christian is saved by grace to live in a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Master and the Good Shepherd who guides His sheep to live a life of obedience and holiness. The Lord guarantees that He protects them in this present world, as eternal life start here, and to eternity when they leave this world and return to Him in Heaven.

Importantly, He uses them to do good works here on earth to reach others, labouring with Him to bring others into salvation as His Spirit guides. We are saved to serve to bring glory to the Lord in our everyday living. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. 1 Corinthians 3:9

14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”. Matthew 5: 14-16

Categories
Personal walk

Importance of Obedience

 

Since writing the blog entitled “obedience is pivotal to successful Christian living”, I have felt constrained to write on the importance of obedience.

To start with, it needs to be clearly stated that salvation is by grace through faith. There is nothing that we can do to earn our salvation because it is completely a gift from the Lord based on the merits of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ to pay for our sins on the cross of Calvary.

The question is what is the importance of obedience?

There are two Bible passages that could be used to provide a graphic answer to this question. They are as follows:

  1. Encounter of Peter with Cornelius, Acts. 10: 1 – 48
  2. The conversion of Saul, Acts 9: 1-19

Starting with the Encounter between Peter and Cornelius

Cornelius was a Roman centurion in Caesarea and a God-fearing man who always prayed to the Lord. During one of his prayer sessions, an angel appeared and advised him to send for Peter who was then in Joppa that he would explain to him the way to relate to the Lord.

At this time, it was not normal for the disciples to travel to non-Jewish areas to preach the gospel message.

While Peter was praying on that day, the Lord spoke to him through a vision of a vessel with all types of animals including those that it was unlawful for the Jews to eat. The Lord invited Peter to kill and eat them but he politely refused, explaining that he would not eat anything unclean. The vision came to him three times, and he rejected the invitation on as many times. The Lord told him not to describe anything God has cleansed as unclean.

Meanwhile, Cornelius had sent three men to Peter inviting him as the angel directed. By the time they got to where Peter at Joppa, the Lord had prepared Peter to be willing and ready to go with them.

The men arrived at where Peter was staying. After the greetings, they explained why they were sent to him by Cornelius. Peter thanked and informed them that they were to travel together the next day to Cornelius.    The next day, they travelled to Caesarea and met with Cornelius. As Peter was preaching they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. They believed and were baptised.

In summary, it took the obedience of Peter for Cornelius and his people, Gentiles, to receive the gospel message and be converted. Please recall that it was an angel that advised Cornelius to send for Peter who came and the Lord used him to convert Cornelius and his people. In effect, Peter was used to do a job that an angel could not do.  The obedient Christian is used by the Lord to win converts, do the task of discipleship, and other assignments  here on earth which angels cannot do.      

Summary:

Cornelius, a God-fearing man was sent by an angel to invite Peter to tell him the gospel . It was unusual for Jews to associate with Gentiles but the Lord prepared Peter for the trip. Peter obeyed and travelled with the people sent by Cornelius to Caesarea where Cornelius was.  He gave them the Gospel message and they were converted.

The second is the conversion of Saul. Acts 9: 1-19

As Saul travelled to Damascus from Jerusalem to arrest the Lord’s followers and bring them back to Jerusalem as prisoners, a dazzling light from Heaven shone around him and his two companions. He fell down. A voice called him and asked why he was persecuting him. He asked who he was. The Lord answered that it was Him that Saul was persecuting. He asked what He wanted him to do. The Lord told him to get up and go to the city and there he would be told what he must do. As he got up, he discovered that he was blind and was led to where they stayed.

Meanwhile, the Lord spoke to Ananias, a disciple and told him to go and attend to Saul. He explained to the Lord how Saul had been arresting and punishing Christians. Further, his present trip was for the same purpose.  The Lord assured him that it was perfectly safe to go, that Saul had become “a chosen vessel” to spread the gospel message to the Gentiles and he would suffer much doing this.

Ananias went to where Saul was. Prayed for him and he regained his sight.

It took obedient Ananias to pray with Saul at his conversion for him to regain his sight and health. Obedient Ananias obeyed the Lord to go to Saul in spite of the inherent and obvious danger in going to carry out the assignment, given the frightening reputation of Saul as a persecutor of Christians.

Conclusion

The Lord is not interested in the death of a sinner but that the sinner should repent and live. Ezekiel 18:32

4 God wants everyone to be saved by understanding the gospel message and believing in Him. 5 There is only one God, and there is only one way that people can reach Him. That way is through Christ Jesus, who as a man, 6 gave Himself to pay for everyone to be free. This is the message that was given to us at just the right time. 1 Timothy 2: 4-6

The salvation of sinners is a task that is nearest His heart, which is why He sent His Son to die and resurrect to bring persons back to Him.

He says: “Go into the world and preach the gospel”.  The Lord has been using obedient Christians to reach out and win people to Himself. And also uses them to do other good works to bring glory to His Name. This is one of the points that underline the importance of obedience in Christian living.