[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Thursday, August 21, 2014

[Paul]

Hello and good day to you all on this third Thursday of August.  I hope that, by God's matchless grace and His providential care, that you are all having a good day today.  Of course, as this is being written for you in Australia and New Zealand it's a Friday morning, and I hope that your Friday will go well.

Here is an article which might sound elementary to most of you, but perhaps you know of some unsaved loved one who falls into this category.  I know that I did before coming to know the Lord, as probably many of you did.  Interestingly this piece has no author, but it is entitled "I was Religious, But Lost," rendered as follows:

Though raised in a religious home and thus believing I was a Christian, I was never taught that heaven was a free gift and I could know for certain that I had eternal life.

Not knowing where I would spend eternity when I died--whether in heaven, hell or purgatory--I grew up with a deep fear of death, active in a works-oriented system.  I was involved with rosaries, novenas, masses, and other rituals.

Not until I went away to college was my faith challenged when a roommate told me that all my rituals and works did not make me a good Christian.  She shared with me that Christ died for my sins, He was buried and rose again (I Corinthians 15:3, 4), but it was too simple just to believe these facts about Him and expect to be saved.

At the age of 23, however, God gave me understanding of His plan of salvation.  I understood the Gospel of the grace of God, was convicted by the Holy Spirit, and began to comprehend these spiritual truths:

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5).

"For by grace are ye saved through faith, and not of yourselves:  it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8, 9).

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Romans 5:5).

As I continued to search the Scriptures, I learned that all my past works were like filthy rags in the sight of the holy God.  "But we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away" (Isaiah 64:6).  But it seemed too easy just to believe that "Christ died for my sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (I Corinthians 15:3, 4).

Though I had always believed in God and knew Jesus was the Son of God, I had not believed that He died for me personally and all I had to do was to believe what God said about His Son.

Now that I understood those truths the best I knew how, I told God I believed He sent His Son to die on the cross for my sin.  I was going to trust Christ as my personal Savior--not my church, nor its leaders, not its traditions, nor the idolatry it entails.

With trusting Christ and Christ alone came the assurance that, if I were to die right then, or even today, I would be in heaven, not based on what I did, but by believing what Christ did for me at Calvary.

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" (I John 5:13).

Now that I have settled the matter of my eternal destination, I began to search the Scriptures even more to see if these things were so.  I learned about the ministry of the Holy Spirit who came to dwell in me the moment I trusted Christ as my Savior and I was baptized into the body of Christ.  "There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all Who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Ephesians 4:4-6).

As I grew in grace and knowledge of the Lord, I began to understand my role as a wife and mother.  Christ had given me liberty for this age of grace, not the bondage that the law gave Israel.  I saw that prophecy and tongues were not for today, but were for Israel.  "Charity never faileth:  but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away" (I Corinthians 13:8).

Instead of having to sell my possessions to follow Christ, I saw that I am to set my desires on things above, as commanded in Colossians 3:1, 2:  "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."

With my salvation secure and my destination settled, I began to see my position in Christ.  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ ... to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.  In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:3, 6, 7).

If you are religious--depending on your works or your religion to get you to heaven--why not trust Christ and Him alone as your all-sufficient Savior, at the same time settling your eternal destination and your position in Christ?

And there you have this unnamed female's contribution for today.  Now I realize that she said something about 2/3 of the way through her article that may have wrankled some of you, but she was only quoting the Word, and in my opinion the Word of God has the final authority.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Lord willing, tomorrow there will be another daily thought message and article for you.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul