April 16, 2017 IF
Colossians 1:21-23: “And you, that was sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked words, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; I Paul am made a minister;
For many years, the prevailing message from the church has been that of accepting Jesus as Savior that we might go to heaven when we die. In a subtle way, the message has been that if one will trust Jesus as their Savior, everything will be fine. What has been grossly neglected is the teaching and emphasis of how those who have accepted Jesus as Savior are to live as the people of God. Thank God that Jesus does secure our salvation, but He did much more than that; He purchased us and we are no longer our own; we belong to Him. We are saved by His grace and not by our works, but this great salvation is to bring with it a new life-a life different from the life we lived before our salvation. Our salvation is the beginning of our being transformed into the image of Christ, meaning that our life is to be becoming increasingly like the life of Christ. As believers, we are to take our salvation seriously, to take heed to what the scriptures teach regarding our salvation. In Philippians 2:12 we read: “Therefore, my friends, as you have always obeyed-not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good pleasure.” One of the key motivations for working out our salvation is the fact that it is GOD who is at work IN US-how dare we not pay attention to His work in us! And note, our life is to be all about living for “His good pleasure.” CS Spurgeon once said: “We have been clear upon the fact that good works are not the cause of salvation; let us be equally clear upon the truth they are the necessary fruit of it.” To proclaim Jesus as Savior has huge implications. We have the power to choose to not ‘work out our salvation’ but we will suffer consequences-not because God does not love us, but because life outside of the life that God has for us is life that is unfulfilling to say the least. God desires to bless His people, but contrary to popular thought, there is a big IF that we must consider. We will know and experience His blessings ‘If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.” God is desiring to bless even those who are not living in His will, but His richest blessings are for those who have died to themselves and are living for His good pleasure.
James 2:22 (speaking of Abraham) “You see that his faith and his action was working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. Verse 24: “You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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