When regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ, everyone has a response to it, whether they like it or not. There are those who don't know about the event, and there are those who are skeptical nonbelievers, who say the resurrection could not have happened. And there are those who believe. There are a myriad of responses even among those who believe. I believe that as believers we need to embrace the resurrection of Jesus and live in obedience to His commandments as John 14:15 tells us.
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments." - JesusYou may be asking "Obedience? That sounds like we're working for salvation! As Christians, we believe that we're saved by faith alone and not by works. Surely you jest!" Just to clarify, I am in no way suggesting a works-based salvation, but I believe that genuine faith is followed by works. One implication of that is that if we are saved by works, there's a limit to what God could ask of us but because we are saved by grace, there's no limit to what God could ask of us and our obedience to Him must be unconditional. But how hard is it for each of us to obey even the simplest commandments such as loving our neighbors, let alone what God's called us to do? But there is hope.
In 1 Corinthians 15:10, Paul says that it is by the grace of God that he was able to work, which implies that we obey because God's grace allows us to. More often than not, we tend to say things like "I want to do more for You God," which while it's a noble thing to want to do more for Him, it is a misunderstanding of grace. It should be "God, You helped me in my time of need, and I need Your help in this very moment to obey You!" Without grace, we are unable to obey Him and being indebted to grace gives God all the glory, for it is not I, but the grace of God that is with me!
Soli Deo Gloria!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Enter your comment here.