Salvation is at Hand

“As God’s fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!.”
                                                                                                – 2 Corinthians 6:1-2

 

I did it again.  As much as I try to tell myself not to, my mouth gets ahead of my thoughts and it just slips out.  Fighting against temptation is never going to be easy.  There is a basic fact that we are in flesh and that flesh is prone to a sinful nature.  We can try to tell ourselves not to do something, but in many cases it is a futile effort.  That is without the power of the Holy Spirit living within you.

You see, we are all sinners, yes even you.  Sure, we do good things, we’re nice to others, help others, and obey the law; but these are only acts on the outside.  Sin is much deeper than actions.  It goes to the heart of mankind, the thoughts, the lusts, the desires and the intent.  God knows your thoughts before you, and knows your heart.  That is why He sent the Holy Spirit as our comforter, our helper and guide through this life.  Because we are all prone to sin, we are incapable of a relationship with God the Father, for He alone is perfect and sinless.

Coming into His presence requires an atonement for our sins.  This is why Jesus Christ had to die on the cross.  The beatings, the scourging, the pain and suffering He endured was the wrath that should have been poured out onto us as sinners.  For you see, Jesus Christ, was God manifest in the flesh of a human.  He lived the sinless life and alone was capable of atoning for the sins of mankind because of it.  Just like the Passover lamb was spotless and perfect to atone for the sins of the family in the old covenant, Jesus sacrifice is to atone for our sins.

His resurrection then leads to our salvation, for now He alone is capable as an intercessor between us and the perfect Father.  Because He rose from the grave and sits at the right hand of the Father, He speaks on our behalf, and continuously washes our sin away with our repentance.  He gave us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and keep us focused on His righteousness and from the evil of this world.  But, it takes an acceptance for Him to be empowered.

We must confess that we believe in Jesus Christ, as our Savior and Lord, and that we trust in the Holy Spirit to dwell within us until we are called home again.  This acknowledgement, this acceptance sets the sinful Christian apart from the sinful man of this world.  Our sins can be forgiven through recognizing them, repenting from them and turning away from the evil of this world.  This doesn’t justify a sinful life, but rather the opposite.  The more we take on the image of the Holy Spirit in our life, the less prone we are to fall back into sin.  How do we take on the Holy Spirit?

Spending time in the word, in prayer and in quiet with the Lord.  Open up your heart to allow Him to settle therein and work from the inside out.  Cleaning your mind, your heart and your intentions will lead to a life filled with less and less sin, just by the nature of who lives within you.  One day, your days will come due.  In the end, we will all stand (or kneel) before the Lord of All and reconcile our sins with His perfect existence in heaven.  At this time, I will be able to say, “I’m not worthy of your presence Lord, but Jesus Christ died for my sins.  It is on His sacrifice I stand before you today.”  I fear for those who will stand there without a belief in Jesus and what they will face.

You too can have this peace of mind, in knowing what will happen to you after you die.  Put your whole trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and be born again in the Spirit.

 

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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