Saved by Grace
WEEKLY CHRISTIAN BIBLE STUDY AND DEVOTIONAL FROM GOD’S WORD, FOR THE NEWLY SAVED AND MORE SEASONED BELIEVER, AND FOR OTHERS SEEKING TRUTH. OUR PRAYER IS TO ENCOURAGE YOU AND STRENGTHEN YOUR FAITH IN GOD’S INFINITE MERCY, LOVE AND GRACE, AND IN THE GOSPEL OF THE DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION OF HIS SON JESUS CHRIST, THAT ALL WHO SEEK HIM HAVE ETERNAL, ABUNDANT LIFE.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Are You Like the Prodigal Son or the “Good” Son?
Saturday, March 9, 2024
Three Found Treasures
Like sheep, people are also vulnerable to three types of danger. In spiritual terms, these are being devoured by the devil (1 Peter 5:8), falling into temptation because of our sinful flesh (1 Corinthians 10:12), and wandering away when we are lured by worldly pleasures (James 1:14-15; 2 Timothy 4:10), namely the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).
Saturday, March 2, 2024
Feed Them!
Photo by User:Mattes 2015 |
Imagine that a couple you recently met invite you and your
spouse to spend the evening at their home. You accept, looking forward to
getting to know them better. Assuming this is a dinner invitation, you and your
spouse eat an early and light lunch on the appointed day. You both dress
nicely, arrange for a sitter for your children, and purchase a lovely bouquet
of flowers for your hosts.
When you arrive, they greet you warmly, ask you inside, hang
up your coats, thank you for the flowers and arrange them in a vase. They give
you a tour of their house and invite you to sit down in their cozy living room.
But they don’t offer you anything to eat or drink! After an
hour or so of pleasant conversation, you start to feel very hungry and a little
light-headed, and you’re embarrassed because your spouse’s stomach is growling
loudly!
Suddenly your hosts stand up, thank you for coming, and
tell you how much they enjoyed your visit. Seeing this as a clear signal that
it’s time to leave, you awkwardly scramble to your feet, thank them for a
pleasant evening, and make your way to the door. Once in the car, you and your
spouse exchange puzzled looks and rush to the nearest fast-food restaurant!
Despite your hosts’ kind invitation and hospitality, they
neglected to feed you! This scenario seems ludicrous, but it may hold a warning
for our Christian life. Once we are saved by trusting in the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), it is our blessing, privilege and
responsibility to lead others to Him.
Like the woman at the well (John 4:28-29;39),
many of us take the first step, telling others of how Christ changed our life and
of how they too can be saved. But once someone makes a profession of faith, do
we feed them by teaching them God’s Word as Jesus commanded in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19),
encouraging them to read their Bible, discipling them, or at least inviting
them to church?
Once a newly saved person goes to church, what sort of
welcome will they receive? Many churches offer new visitors a warm greeting at
the door, a good seat suggested by an usher, and perhaps a tour of the church
facilities. But will those in attendance be fed with the milk and meat of God’s
Word (1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12), or will they hear
a “feel good” message laden with platitudes but without substance? Will the
church rely on Biblical preaching to encourage faithful attendance, or on
worldly entertainment, giveaways, and a fancy coffee bar?
When someone prays the Sinner’s Prayer in our presence,
whether one-on-one, at church, through street preaching, or at a revival or
evangelical outreach, what happens next?
Is there follow up with individual mentoring and discipleship, or at
least referral to a local Bible-believing church?
Evangelist Paul Washer once explained his heart for new
converts and his fear that the seed of God’s Word sowed in their heart might
not take root (Matthew 13:18-23). Whenever possible, he spends
hours, often spread out over days, listening to a newly saved person’s
questions and answering them from God’s Word.
Jesus not only saves us (Acts 4:12), but He
keeps us, sustaining us (Psalm 3:5; 55:22) with spiritual
as well as physical food (Psalm 37:25; Matthew 6:11, 25-26).
After preaching to the masses, He fed them with the miracles of the loaves and fishes, so that their satisfied bodies could absorb further spiritual truth (Matthew
14:19).
When Jesus raised a young girl from physical death, He did
not immediately rush off to resume His busy schedule, but first made sure she
was given something to eat (Mark 5:41-43). After His resurrection
and during His third appearance to His disciples in His resurrected body, He provided
a haul of fish and cooked a delicious meal for them before He showed His
forgiveness and continued plans for Peter (John 21:5-22).
James warned us that if we see someone who is hungry, it is
not enough to tell them to be fed, but we must provide food for them (James 2:15-18).
While he was referring to acts of charity – the works by which we prove our
faith to others – his admonition also has spiritual applications.
When Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him, Peter
answered “yes” three times (once for each time he had denied his Lord). And
what were Jesus Christ’s last instructions for Peter? If you love me, feed My
sheep (repeated twice), and feed my lambs (John 21:15-17).
If we love our Savior, may we make sure to feed His flock,
both physically and spiritually!
© 2024 Laurie Collett
Saturday, February 24, 2024
The Distracted Ruler Loses Focus, Faithfulness, and Fear of the Lord
King David had just scored a great victory over Syria (2 Samuel 10) and was enjoying a well-deserved respite in his home at Jerusalem. Certainly there is nothing wrong in rest (Matthew 11:2; Psalm 127:2), renewal (Isaiah 40:31), and refreshment (Exodus 23:12) after triumph in a hard battle, whether it be physical, spiritual, or political warfare. God Himself rested after His work in the six days of creation (Genesis 2:2-3).
But overindulgence in rest (Proverbs 6:9-11) can become distraction (Hebrews 12:1) from God’s purpose for our life, leading to idleness (Ecclesiastes 10:18; Ezekiel 16:49), and slothfulness (Proverbs 19:15). In David’s case, his year of rest should have been over, for it was time for the warring kings to return to battle, and for him to lead his troops. Instead, he sent his commander Joab, his servants, and all of Israel to destroy the children of Ammon and besiege Rabbah, while he lingered behind in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1).
This sin of idleness soon put him in a position where he could be tempted by the lust of the eyes, which if uncontrolled soon leads to the lust of the flesh and pride of life (1 John 2:16). Pride is evident in David’s belief that fulfilling his desires was more important than not hurting others or disobeying God.
When born-again believers, meaning those who are saved by our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), are not doing God’s work, we get restless. The new man within us longs to yield to the Holy Spirit, to serve God, and to be in the center of His perfect will (1 Corinthians 2:9-16).
Yet our sin nature rebels against God (Romans 7:7-25) and tries to convince us that we deserve time off, or that we should be directing our efforts toward improving our position in the world, or just “following our heart.” All of these are euphemisms for sin and lies from the devil (John 8:44; 1 John 2:22), causing us to grieve the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
So David, who should have been fulfilling God’s plan for him as faithful servant, benevolent ruler, and heroic warrior, instead lost his focus, lingered in temptation, and fell into sin. One evening he was so restless that he arose from bed, walked out on his roof to enjoy the cool breeze, and spotted a beautiful woman bathing (2 Samuel 11:2).
Billy Graham once wrote that if a young man notices a beautiful woman who crosses his path, that is only temptation, but if he stares at her, that is sin. God always provides a way out of temptation if we choose it (1 Corinthians 10:13). David could simply have averted his eyes, walked back inside, and prayed to God to create a clean heart within him (Psalm 51:10).
Instead, he allowed his temptation to grow into lust (a sin in thought) which soon gave way to sinful acts toward the family of Bathsheba, described as the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. He discovered who she was, sent messengers to bring her to him, and had sexual relations with her (2 Samuel 11:3-4).
Jesus said that if we even look at another person with lustful thoughts toward them, it is as if we have committed adultery in our heart (Matthew 5:28). David went beyond that to commit fornication in the flesh, and adultery by sleeping with a woman who was already married, setting up a love triangle between himself, Bathsheba, and her husband Uriah.
This was particularly shameful as David had many wives and concubines, yet he defiled Uriah’s only wife. David’s sins began to snowball out of control, as idleness gave way to lust, coveting another man’s wife, and adultery. God’s anger over adultery is so intense that the laws He gave Moses demanded that both partners in adultery be put to death (Deuteronomy 22:22)
The apostle Paul writes that sexually immoral persons, idolaters and adulterers will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), making it clear that sexual sins are a form of idolatry, because they separate the sinner from fellowship with God and they elevate one’s own desires over the good of others. Thus, committing adultery becomes a form of apostasy, or rebellion against God Who imposes laws against fulfilling the desires of our sin nature.
We see this clearly with David, whose sin of adultery led not only to deception, but ultimately to murder, all of which are transgressions against God’s laws in the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:7-17-21). When Bathsheba got pregnant, David plotted to make Uriah think he was the father. He had his commander Joab send Uriah to David, and he asked Uriah to report on the progress of the battle (to cover his true motive for bring him home), and then ordered Uriah to go home to his wife while he was in town (2 Samuel 11:5-8).
This elaborate scheme was intended for Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba, so that when her pregnancy became obvious, everyone would assume Uriah was the father, and David would not be held responsible. But Uriah had far more honor, loyalty, and valor than David, for he could not choose the comforts of home while his fellow soldiers were camped out in the field.
When David questioned why Uriah did not go to his house, he replied “The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing (2 Samuel 11: 9-11).
So David tried again to lure Uriah into Bathsheba’s arms, plying him with liquor in hopes of making Uriah abandon his principles (Proverbs 20:1), but he could not. When Uriah had been in Jerusalem for three days, David wrote a letter to Joab, sent it with Uriah, and in it ordered Joab to position Uriah on the front lines of the hottest battle, withdraw support, and allow him to be fatally wounded (2 Samuel 11:13-15).
Consequences, judgment and heartache always follow sin, but no sin is too great for God to forgive. Lest we follow David’s path, may we gird up the loins of [our] mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13).
Saturday, February 17, 2024
Love and Death
Photo of Michelangelo's Pieta by Torbjorn Toby Jorgensen |
For the first time in decades, Valentine’s Day and Ash
Wednesday fell on the same date this year. One holiday celebrates love,
while the other reflects on death. The Catholic ritual of wearing ashes in the
shape of a cross on the forehead symbolizes the human condition as sinners
doomed to eternal death in hell, were it not for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus
Christ on Calvary’s cross (Romans 6:23).
Ash Wednesday thus marks the beginning of Lent, a time of
reflection on Christ’s finished work on the cross (John 19:30) and
on sinners’ unworthiness (Romans 3:12), based on their own merit
(Ephesians 2:8-9), to receive His freely given gift of eternal life. Lent ends on Easter Sunday, commemorating Jesus Christ’s resurrection
from the dead, and the triumph of God, Who is Love (1 John 4:8),
over death. Praise God that through the righteousness of Christ credited to the
account of all believers (Romans 4:16-24), He no longer remembers
our sin and frees us from its penalty of death (Hebrews 8:12; 10:17).
The perfect, sinless, Lamb of God (John 1:29)
– God the Son – came to earth in human form (John 1:14) specifically
to die. His death was excruciating, marked by the physical suffering of
crucifixion, the emotional isolation from His friends and disciples who
betrayed (Luke 22:3-4;34) and abandoned Him, and the humiliation
of being rejected, mocked, and mistreated by His people whom he came to save (John
1:11; Luke 23:20-23).
Worst of all, He had to be momentarily separated from the
God the Father (Matthew 27:46), with Whom He had been present in
close fellowship and love since before the beginning of time (John 1:1-2),
as holy God could not look on our sin, which Christ became to save us (2
Corinthians 5:21).
Yet this horrific death was motivated by self-sacrificing
love. There is no greater love than to die for others (John 15:13).
Christ’s death was the very definition of love, for it was the perfect
sacrifice to appease the anger of holy God and to reconcile sinful man to Him (1
John 4:10).
Christ died for us while we were not only sinners (Romans
5:8), but children of the devil (John 8:44) and His
enemies, rebelling against Him in anger and hatred. His inspiration to endure
this agony was the joy that came from knowing that all who trusted in His
sacrifice and resurrection would live forever with Him in Heaven (Hebrews
12:2).
God the Father loved the world so much that He was willing
to submit His precious Son to this torturous death (John 3:16). God’s
love is unfathomable by our mere human minds. We might be willing to take a
bullet for our spouse or child, and our brave troops and first responders daily
risk their lives to protect our country and communities. We might sacrifice
ourselves for a good person, but for an evil, hateful one? (John 8:44)
So how can we begin to comprehend how the Divine Godhead,
in need of nothing (Psalm 50:10-12), Creator of all (Genesis
1:1), with infinite power (Jeremiah 27:5), riches and
wisdom (Psalm 139:1-6), could love us infinitely? We who are
vile, lowly sinners, made from dust and destined to return to ashes? (Genesis
2:7;3:19).
Appropriately enough, the ashes used on Ash Wednesday come
from palm fronds burned after the previous year’s Palm Sunday service. It is a
sad reminder to be careful lest we fall (1 Corinthians 10:12),
for the very people who loudly praised Jesus, crying Hosanna and waving palm
branches on His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, were the same who cried out for
His death on the cross a few days later.
Through His supreme sacrifice He changed all who would
believe in Him into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). By
trusting Christ we are transformed from His enemies to His friends (Proverbs
18:24), from children of the devil to God’s children, becoming
joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:14-17) in eternal life, peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), joy in His salvation (Psalm 35:9), wisdom through the mind of Christ (1
Corinthians 2:16), and all the blessings of Heaven.
Beyond that, His death allowed His love to make us His
ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), given the unique privilege,
honor and blessing of being able to share the Good News of His love, death, and
resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-5) as the only Way (John
14:6) to Heaven. At the moment we trust Him, we become part of His
church, or beautiful bride that one day will unite with Him in sinless, holy
perfection (Revelation 21:2).
Once we experience the transformation His love and death
allow, love and death take on a new meaning for us. We love Him because He
first loved us, and He is love itself (1 John 4:8,19). His love
is infinite, while ours is still tainted by the curse of sin, stained with
selfishness and pride. Yet as He daily molds us into His image (Romans 8:29),
often through suffering (Philippians 3:10), our love can also
begin to reflect His self-sacrificial agape love, which we can share
with others to bring them closer to Him.
For the Christian, death loses its sting (1
Corinthians 15:55), for it no longer represents eternal punishment in
hell, but a momentary transition from the burden of this aging and infirm body
to the freedom and joy of being in the presence of Jesus Christ (2
Corinthians 5:6-8). When we lose loved ones in Him, we have the sure
hope that we will one day be reunited. Yet while we are still on earth, we must
die daily (1 Corinthians 15:31) to our sin nature, to the
corruption of the world (Romans 12:1-2), to the temptations of
the flesh (Romans 8:6-7), and to the traps set for us by Satan (Ephesians
6:11).
I chose the Pieta, the renowned sculpture by Michelangelo,
to illustrate this post, as it so poignantly communicates the love of a mother
for her dying Son, of a sinner for her Savior, of the Son to die for the sins
of the world, of the Father to give His Son, and of the Spirit to raise the Son
from the dead, that all who trust Him would have everlasting life.
As we reflect on Christ’s death, burial and resurrection
this Easter season, may we let His love shine through us to bring others closer
to Him!
© 2024 Laurie Collett
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Oil of Gladness: Triplets of Royal Perfume
Photo by Raul654 On May 1, 2005. |