Here's another great article by Mick Mooney. Read the bold print if you're short on time.
Grace=Peace,
Jeremy
Our Salvation
by Mick Mooney
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom!"
Luke 12:32
It really is beyond imagination. That the Almighty creator of the heavens, who designed the entire universe in all of its majesty as well as the earth in all of its detail, would offer us a better best friend, a better leader and a better hope than ourselves. He has given us his very own Son.
All of us share a similar moment in time. It was the moment we heard the good news of Jesus, and having believed, we were included in Christ. In this moment we went from being distant from God, to being even more than a friend, we became children of God! (Eph. 1:13)
We didn't earn our salvation, but Christ earned it for us. We didn't deserve to be favoured because of our own works and effort, but we were included in Christ who has earned God's full favour on our behalf through his perfect atoning sacrifice upon the cross. As Christians, we do not boast in our own goodness, we boast in the goodness of Christ. Our boast is not that we have earned our holiness, righteousness and redemption. Our boast is in Christ, who has become for us, our holiness, righteousness and redemption.
Everything that we have is a gift from God based on our belief upon Jesus. It's amazing to know that even our holiness is a gift. We are not just holy, but we have actually become the holiness of Christ. That means that when God wants to define his holiness he simply points to you! If you are in Christ then you have become his holiness, his righteousness and his redemption.
This blessedness is not only for the moment we are included in Christ, but for every day we walk on earth and for eternity to come. You are forever in the position of blessing. You are forever loved. You are forever forgiven. You are forever favoured. You are forever accepted. You are forever credited as righteous, holy and blameless in God's sight. You are forever set free. Not by your efforts, but because you belong to Christ. This is the good news for your life!
For many believers, when we first believed in Christ we were so in awe of his greatness. As time went on we began to take our eyes off of Jesus and place them back onto ourselves. This is a common process that has a domino effect which leads a believer back into a false religious mindset, instead of remaining in our glorious new covenant reality. When we do this, we become self-focused (or ministry-focused, or church program-focused) and not Christ-focused. The result of changing our focus is a change in our relationship with God.
Instead of thanking God that we are included in Jesus, our prayers become consumed with how sorry we are to God. Not sorry that we have sinned, but sorry that we are just not better Christians. We work harder for God, but feel less worthy of his presence. We begin to believe that we have to do everything for God (work harder in our ministry, work harder to build the church programs, work harder in our prayer life!)
When we begin to believe that we have to earn everything from God we start living by worldly principles instead of by the reality of Christ. Instead of remaining in the truth that we receive all things from God because we belong to Christ, we begin to believe some other fine sounding argument that doesn't depend on the reality of Christ at all. It is this very problem that the Apostle Paul addresses with the Colossian church.
"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." Colossians 2:8
We can't earn anything from God for the very fact that Christ has earned it all for us already. Christ now gives everything to us as a gift from God. As Christians we need to remind ourselves why God sees us the way that he does and why God favours us the way that he does. It is based on Christ's finished work, not our unfinished work.
The simple gospel truth is that we have not earned any of the blessing and benefits of God, but we have freely received them from God because we belong to his Son, Jesus Christ. We, as the church, need to take our eyes off of ourselves and place them once again upon Jesus and his perfect life and sacrifice. When we do this, suddenly everything starts to make sense; we begin to accept that we really are loved, accepted, holy, righteous, blameless and favoured. We don't accept this reality based on our works, but based on God's abundant provision of grace! (John 1:16).
All of these blessings belong to Christ, all of the promises belong to Christ, the fullness of the Holy Spirit belongs to Christ, and the kingdom of God belongs to Christ. It all belongs completely to Christ. No one else could ever earn, buy or deserve them. By the grace of God when you believed in Christ you were placed in him and you were credited with all of this.
The good news of Jesus Christ is that in him and through him we can rejoice that God has now given to us his kingdom of peace, righteousness and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Grace=Peace,
Jeremy
Our Salvation
by Mick Mooney
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom!"
Luke 12:32
It really is beyond imagination. That the Almighty creator of the heavens, who designed the entire universe in all of its majesty as well as the earth in all of its detail, would offer us a better best friend, a better leader and a better hope than ourselves. He has given us his very own Son.
All of us share a similar moment in time. It was the moment we heard the good news of Jesus, and having believed, we were included in Christ. In this moment we went from being distant from God, to being even more than a friend, we became children of God! (Eph. 1:13)
We didn't earn our salvation, but Christ earned it for us. We didn't deserve to be favoured because of our own works and effort, but we were included in Christ who has earned God's full favour on our behalf through his perfect atoning sacrifice upon the cross. As Christians, we do not boast in our own goodness, we boast in the goodness of Christ. Our boast is not that we have earned our holiness, righteousness and redemption. Our boast is in Christ, who has become for us, our holiness, righteousness and redemption.
Everything that we have is a gift from God based on our belief upon Jesus. It's amazing to know that even our holiness is a gift. We are not just holy, but we have actually become the holiness of Christ. That means that when God wants to define his holiness he simply points to you! If you are in Christ then you have become his holiness, his righteousness and his redemption.
This blessedness is not only for the moment we are included in Christ, but for every day we walk on earth and for eternity to come. You are forever in the position of blessing. You are forever loved. You are forever forgiven. You are forever favoured. You are forever accepted. You are forever credited as righteous, holy and blameless in God's sight. You are forever set free. Not by your efforts, but because you belong to Christ. This is the good news for your life!
For many believers, when we first believed in Christ we were so in awe of his greatness. As time went on we began to take our eyes off of Jesus and place them back onto ourselves. This is a common process that has a domino effect which leads a believer back into a false religious mindset, instead of remaining in our glorious new covenant reality. When we do this, we become self-focused (or ministry-focused, or church program-focused) and not Christ-focused. The result of changing our focus is a change in our relationship with God.
Instead of thanking God that we are included in Jesus, our prayers become consumed with how sorry we are to God. Not sorry that we have sinned, but sorry that we are just not better Christians. We work harder for God, but feel less worthy of his presence. We begin to believe that we have to do everything for God (work harder in our ministry, work harder to build the church programs, work harder in our prayer life!)
When we begin to believe that we have to earn everything from God we start living by worldly principles instead of by the reality of Christ. Instead of remaining in the truth that we receive all things from God because we belong to Christ, we begin to believe some other fine sounding argument that doesn't depend on the reality of Christ at all. It is this very problem that the Apostle Paul addresses with the Colossian church.
"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." Colossians 2:8
We can't earn anything from God for the very fact that Christ has earned it all for us already. Christ now gives everything to us as a gift from God. As Christians we need to remind ourselves why God sees us the way that he does and why God favours us the way that he does. It is based on Christ's finished work, not our unfinished work.
The simple gospel truth is that we have not earned any of the blessing and benefits of God, but we have freely received them from God because we belong to his Son, Jesus Christ. We, as the church, need to take our eyes off of ourselves and place them once again upon Jesus and his perfect life and sacrifice. When we do this, suddenly everything starts to make sense; we begin to accept that we really are loved, accepted, holy, righteous, blameless and favoured. We don't accept this reality based on our works, but based on God's abundant provision of grace! (John 1:16).
All of these blessings belong to Christ, all of the promises belong to Christ, the fullness of the Holy Spirit belongs to Christ, and the kingdom of God belongs to Christ. It all belongs completely to Christ. No one else could ever earn, buy or deserve them. By the grace of God when you believed in Christ you were placed in him and you were credited with all of this.
The good news of Jesus Christ is that in him and through him we can rejoice that God has now given to us his kingdom of peace, righteousness and joy in the Holy Spirit.
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