The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Devotion and Discipline"
"The fear of His loving, but forthright discipline unites with our confidence in His loving and faithful devotion, resulting in reverence and rejoicing. Both must be resident in the sensibilities of every believer."
The security of our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ should thrill our hearts with wonder.
"We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all… By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified… Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord… Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Hebrews 10:10; 14; Romans 6:9-11; 4:8).
The Christ who began our salvation maintains it forevermore as "He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). Thrilling indeed! However, as always with Scriptural truth, a counterbalancing reality accompanies the assurance, namely, a most serious and urgent admonition:
"For we know Him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto Me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:30-31).
God must eternally maintain His integrity in all He does. The provision of salvation as the freest gift ever given would greatly jeopardize His righteousness and holiness if He allowed those who receive the gift to escape His discipline when and as necessary. Warnings to believers grace the pages of the New Testament, along with promises. "Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth" (Hebrews 12:6). We all require these challenges to faithfully navigate the path of righteousness. Without them, the flesh of even the most godly among us would result in taking advantage of grace. The fear of His loving, but forthright discipline unites with our confidence in His loving and faithful devotion to us, resulting in reverence and rejoicing. Both must be resident in the sensibilities of every believer.
A salvation our Father will not revoke must be accompanied by our realization He will not be mocked. He will keep through His Son that which He promises by both the glorious intercession of our Savior, and the administration of His chastening and scourging hand if we wander from His grace and truth in Christ. The Apostle Peter spoke to both realities in the first chapter of His first epistle, declaring the assurance and the admonition…
"Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls."
(I Peter 1:7-9)
"And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear, forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."
(I Peter 1:17-19)
Weekly Memory Verse
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
(Ephesians 5:8)
6918
No comments:
Post a Comment