All of Grace

A wise neighbor said that Christians are saved in an instant then spend the rest of our lives trying to figure out what happened. This can become controversial. Many Christians say “when I choose Christ” even though Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you. . . .” and others will say they were seeking God even though the Bible says, “no one understands; no one seeks for God.” (Romans 3:11)

Many Christians base their conclusion of how salvation happens on their experience, even to the conclusion that others who have a different experience cannot be saved. The Word of God speaks to that also:

Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. (2 Corinthians 10:12)

My salvation experience was something like the Apostle Paul. While I was not seeking to put Christians in prison, or walking on a road, or even realizing God was goading me, Jesus appeared and at that instant everything changed. But I cannot say this is how salvation should happen to everyone.

Today’s devotional cites an incident in the life of Christ. A ruler of the synagogue, Jairus, came to Jesus pleading him to heal his daughter who was dying. “While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” (Mark 5:35–36)

The author of the reading said this was all we have to do, even though Jesus was not talking about salvation, but His power to heal. This author also wrote that the gospel of Christ is addressed to sinners as sinners, ‘not awakened sinners, not sensible sinners, not convicted sinners, not lost sinners, not repentant sinners—just sinners.” He added that God does not command sinners to feel a certain way, experience something or come to realize something about themselves. God commands sinners to ‘believe on his Son, Jesus Christ’.

However, the Bible also says that faith comes by hearing and that the Holy Spirit communicates it to us, so the hearing is from Him, as is the conviction of sin and the gift of repentance. Whatever order they come in, or seem to be realized, the responses to the ‘hearing’ about Christ are all gifts from God. So is being able to believe what He says;

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

Saying that my part in believing is true, yet beware that faith becomes a work on my part and one more thing that I can boast about. While I should never insist that the salvation experience of others be like mine, what happened to all of us should be like what the Bible says; it is all of grace — even the faith to believe is grace.

The moment any condition or qualification of any kind is placed upon the sinner before he can be saved, including “just believe” slips away from the gospel of pure grace. Anything that seems like a prerequisite is actually a gift from God, including repentance, conviction of sin, lamentation and sorrow over sin. These are part of faith, and may deepen with faith, but whenever they occur, all these experiences are part of God's saving power, not something anyone could or would do on their own.

No one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:11–18)

PRAY: Grace humbles me even as it blesses me. It enables me to trust You. Because You softened my hard heart and put in it a desire for You and to love and obey You, my life is changed and changing — and it is not my doing. Every part of salvation and the results are gifts of grace and because that is so, I worship You.

Acknowledging the bad, remembering the good . . .

 

READ Micah 5–7

While the media is not prone to publishing good news, some days I wonder if there is any. People send clips of government corruption and political exploitation. Ordinary advertising is filled with promises that appeal to human comfort and vanity to the point of ridiculousness. Where is integrity and compassion? Stirring up trouble is far more popular than kindness or peace-making. Seeing a soccer player shake an opponent’s hand after a game has become a rare gesture when it used to be the norm.

Micah’s language is almost foreign, yet a few passages stand out that offer hope and instruction for OT times and for today’s messy world. They experienced corruption and turned from God, just as many do today, yet the promise of salvation is for them and for us:

And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him . . .  (Micah 5:4–5)

Like many prophecies, this one has an immediate fulfillment yet points ahead hinting a Messiah who will eventually rule, bringing security and peace. When listening to all the bad news, I remember that Jesus is coming back, and He will be “great to the ends of the earth.”

In those OT days, God asked His rebellious people what He had done to warrant their rejection. He had delivered them from bondage and from their enemies, and given them good leaders and laws for life. They responded well at times, yet their offerings and sacrifices became mere ritual rather than heart-felt worship and obedience. Micah wrote:

With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (6:6–8)

Such simple instructions, yet God’s people had become unjust, without compassion, proud and anything but contrite in the privileges God had given them. His response to their sinfulness:

Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins. You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be hunger within you; you shall put away, but not preserve, and what you preserve I will give to the sword. You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine. For you have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels, that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing; so you shall bear the scorn of my people.” (6:13–16)

Micah’s words often sound as if he is living in our time. However, he determines that no matter what others do, he will follow the Lord:

The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand. Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms; for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house. But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. (7:2–7)

His prayer is also my prayer: “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.” (7:18–20)

Today I will remember and dwell upon the goodness of God, even though most of what I’m hearing in the media is about the failure of humanity.