Tag: Salvation

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Romans- Week 9- Day 2- Romans 10:9-10

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  (10)  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:9-10

Explanation:

Paul gets down to the heart of what saving faith looks like. It is an acknowledgement and a trust in the person of Jesus Christ and who He is. When we confess Jesus Christ as the the Lord and Messiah with our mouth, believing in our heart that He died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that He rose again on the third day according to the scriptures, placing our trust in Him by calling on Him to save us, we will be saved. That is promise language, and Jesus always comes through on his promises.

The prayer doesn’t save us.  God saves us.  This is why He includes believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth.  Calling on the Lord is an expression of the trust that we are placing in Christ as our only hope for salvation.  We agree with God about our sin, acknowledge who He is, and turn from our sin to Him as our hope for salvation.

He says that with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.  God imputes righteousness to thos who believe by faith.  The one who believes is now right with God not by the deeds of the law, but by God crediting Jesus’ obedience to our account.

Application:

Salvation comes through faith in Christ alone. I’m so glad that it is not by works that we must achieve righteousness, because we would be without hope.  There is a place for works.  We do good works after we are saved because of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling activity in our lives.

Salvation is for everyone who believes. We must believe ourselves, and make this news known to every person in our influence and beyond.

Salvation was made possible by the resurrected Christ. We know that salvation is possible because Jesus Christ died and was proven to be the Son of God with power by resurrection from the dead.

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.  (18)  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.  (19)  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.  (20)  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.  1 Corinthians 15:17-20

Response:

1. Believe.

2. Proclaim.

3. Rejoice!

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Romans: Week 5- Day 4- Romans 5:6-8

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  (7)  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  (8)  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Rom 5:6-8

Explanation:

On our own we have no capacity to be right with God.  We can’t keep the law.  By being guilty in one point, we are guilty in all.  The reality is that we are all guilty in many points, and so we are without moral or spiritual strength.

It is when we found ourselves in this condition that Christ died for us.  Think about how incredible this reality is!

It is rare for a person to die for someone else.  It is even rare for someone to “dare to die”- pledge their death, or say that they would die- for someone else.  If I were to ask most people who they would die for, I would imagine the list would be short, and anyone that would be on the list would be people that were loved.

But this is not how God’s love is.  God showed us his love in a tangible way.  God demonstrated His love by Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross when we were unlovely.  He died for us when we were sinners, unworthy of his love, and as we’ll see later, worthy of His wrath.

Our salvation is sure, because, being justified, we’ve been given peace, access, grace, hope, and love.

Application:

Our salvation is sure.  It is a promise from God.  He says that when we repent and trust, He justifies.  He declares us righteous.  This means I can be sure of my salvation.  I can live a life with the assurance of the love of God.  I can live a life that is holy not because I’m trying to earn or keep my salvation, but rather to honor and worship the One who gave me salvation.  He sends His Spirit into my life having transformed me from the inside out.

Response:

If you haven’t realized the love of God for you, know that Christ loved you so much that He died for you.  Respond today by calling on the name of the Lord to save you.

If you know Christ as Savior, tell someone about God’s love and sacrifice for them.

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Romans: Week 4- Day 5- Romans 4:1-3

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

(Rom 4:1-3)

Explanation:

Throughout the book or Romans Paul is very aware of questions and objections that might be coming into the mind of the reader.  For instance, as Paul has made the argument that someone is saved apart from the law, a jew may be thinking, “Is that really how the patriarchs were made right with God?  They kept the law.”  It’s a fair question.  If you are saying that the law can not save people, then that must be true of those who came before Christ.  They sure seemed concerned about the law.

Paul knows that this may be a question, and so He addresses it through what the Old Testament said about Father Abraham himself.  He was a patriarch.  He started the nation of Israel humanly speaking.  He was the first Hebrew.  Paul points out that Abraham was not justified by works, but by faith.  He pointed to the scripture.

And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

(Gen 15:6)

The idea of this word “counted” has the idea of “imputing” or “reckoning” or “considering”.  The idea is that God responded to Abraham’s faith and considered him to be righteous even though he had done wrong and was a sinner.  God declared Him righteous by His faith, and not by His works.  Of course we know that Abraham’s works justified his claim to faith.  Because he had faith he manifested that through good works.  But the faith and the justification before God came before the works that justified his faith.  Right faith always produces good works.

Application:

Justification by faith is not a new thing.  It is not exclusively a New Testament thing.  Everyone who has ever been made right with God has been made right based on the graciousness of God in responding to sincere faith.  The people in the Old Testament believed in the revelation that they had looking to God and trusting in Him.  Since Christ has come we put our trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Response:

Sincere worship to God by those who have placed their trust in Christ is the appropriate response.

Obedience to the faith for those who have never trusted Christ is the right response as well.

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Week 8: Day 3- Deuteronomy 19:8-10

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

8 And if the Lord thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers; 9 If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three: 10 That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.

Deuteronomy 19:8-10

Explanation:

God tells the people of Israel that with continued obedience they will enter the land and defeat it. The border would be extended by their faith in GOd to take it with the borders that he gave them. (See Dueteronomy 11:24-25). When they do obey and go in and conquer, He will make an additional three cities a city of refuge, for a total of nine cities with that status. There needed to be this many so that there would be access to a city of refuge by the whole nation of Israel. He told them that the purpose for this is “that innocent blood be not shed in thy land”. God desires true justice, because He is just. He is also gracious and merciful to us.

Application:

Several contrasts can be made to the cities of refuge and salvation that is found in Jesus Christ, according to Dwayne McCary. A person fled to a city of refuge because he was innocent, while we flee to Jesus Christ because we are guilty. The elders of the city investigated the situation to look for innocence, but we know that we are guilty and deserve punishment. To stay alive the innocent person must stay in the city. Those of us in Christ are are saved and don’t have to fear losing our salvation.

Response:

  • Take a few moments to thank God for the salvation that we have in Christ.
  • Is there anything in my life that I am doing that is unjust?