Saturday, February 23, 2013

Salvation’s Instant Rewards Program


At the moment we call out to Jesus in prayer, realizing that we are a wretched sinner in desperate need of Him as our personal Savior, and we place our faith in His death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only way to Heaven (John 14:6), we are automatically enrolled in an instant rewards program beyond compare!

We are positionally justified in Christ.(Romans 3:24,25,28; 5:1,9; 8:30; Galatians 3:11,24) All our sins, past, present and future, are forgiven and paid for by Christ’s death on the cross (Psalm 103:12). When God looks at us, He no longer sees our sins, but only the perfect righteousness of His Son (Ephesians 4:24; 1 Peter 3:14). In His eyes, it is “just as if” we had never sinned (1 John 2:2;4:10).

We are adopted as a child of God the Father, and a joint heir with Christ, through our relationship to Our Father and as the betrothed of God the Son (Romans 8:16-17). When we are born again, we become part of the church, which is the bride of Christ. (Revelation 19:7-9). Just as an earthly bride gains access to the family, legal, and financial heritage of her husband, every believer is elevated to heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3; 2:6) and entitled to live, rule, and reign in His kingdom (Romans 5:17; Revelation 20:6).

We are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). This doesn’t mean that we will never sin again, because we still have our sin nature, but we will no longer want to sin (Romans 7:14-25). We will want to yield to the Holy Spirit, pleasing Him with our life, choices, habits, words, and thoughts (Romans 8:1-5). Others recognize that we are different from what we used to be and different from the world (1 Peter 1:14-16), because we are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13).

We are indwelled by the Holy Spirit (John 14:17).  He enters our heart and remains there throughout our earthly life, guiding us, teaching us from God’s Word, convicting us of sin, comforting us in difficult times and giving us wisdom. He is our constant Comforter (John 16:7), Companion, and Guide. How can He leave us, for He inhabits our very body as His temple! (1 Corinthians 3:16).

At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit give us at least one spiritual gift to be used to tell others about Jesus, to encourage and teach other believers, and to glorify God.in all that we do (1 Corinthians 12:13-28).

We have immediate, continuous access to God the Father on His throne 24/7, because Christ is the perfect sacrifice and the Great High Priest Who tore away the veil separating sinners from Holy God (Hebrews 10:5-20). We never have to make an appointment or worry that His line is busy, for we can boldly approach the throne of grace! (Hebrews 4:14-16). The Spirit makes our prayer requests clearly known to the Father when we don’t even know how or what to pray! (Romans 8:26).

We have abundant life (John 10:10) beginning at the moment of salvation. Life is richer and more meaningful because the Holy Spirit leads us, and we are never alone, because He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).He is the Friend Who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).

We have the assurance of security that nothing can separate us from God’s love. We did nothing to earn our salvation, and there is nothing we can do to lose it (Romans 8:35-39), for we are held securely in the double grip of Jesus’ hand clasped tightly in the Father’s hand (John 10:28-29).

All this is just the beginning! From the moment of salvation, we begin our Christian journey of progressive sanctification – of becoming more like Christ as we yield increasingly to the Holy Spirit – as we shall see next week!


© 2013 Laurie Collett
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35 comments:

Denise said...

Bless you.

NadwraĹĽliwiec said...

Sometimes I think about problem of going out to world after calling out Jesus to our life. There are people, who came back to world after their convertion. There was time in my life short after my convertion, when situation became really hard. I was really nearly to became agnostic. One night I screamed to God: "If You exist, help me!". And He helped me, giving His loving hand.
I'm always full of worship to our Lord, who is so patient and full of grace for us.
Greetings for You :)

Kelly ~ Our Everyday Harvest said...

Praise the Lord!! This is beautiful post and a great reminder of the love that God has for all his children.

It is a pleasure having you link up at this week's Harvest of Friends Weekend Blog Hop.

Jennifer Dougan said...

Laurie,

Regarding your comment on my post "Sign Language Theology", your line [God] "will give more through us than to us" makes me pause and ponder this morning. Thanks.

Jennifer Dougan
www.jenniferdougan.com

Frank E. Blasi said...

Dear Laurie,
YEEEAAAAY! Absolutely true. I want to praise and thank God for revealing to me within the last two weeks the real impact of Justification by Faith, or as I call it, Judicial Acquittal. Not that I didn't believe it before now, rather I was well aware of this wonderful truth. But it was God himself that revealed its power to me, and my latest two postings are about this subject.
An excellent blog.

By the way, I noticed that you have 109 blogs altogether on one page. I have now reach 100 postings on my page. I take it that you had no problem going over 100 and still keep to your page? If you can help on this matter, I would truly appreciate it, as I have no desire to start a new page at the moment.
God bless,
Frank.

Laurie Collett said...

God bless you too, Denise!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Kelly, for your sweet comment, for hosting, & for following! Praise God for His infinite love and saving grace!
May you have a blessed week in Him!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Jennifer! I'm glad my comment spoke to you.
God's blessings to you!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Dear Frank,
Thanks so much for your encouraging comment! It looks like God was working in both our hearts this past week to write about justification by faith! Praise God that we are saved by grace through faith, and that there is nothing we can do or need to do to receive this free gift!
I'm sorry that I can't be of much help on the technical issue. I don't know why my blog allows all posts to be on the same page -- maybe because of the way they are archived? Perhaps if you check your blog settings you might find a way to allow access to more posts from your home page.
Welcome back to the blogosphere, & God bless!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Praise God for His faithfulness! We may turn away from Him, but He is always there, ready to forgive and bless us as we come back to Him! Thanks for your comment, & blessings & greetings to you!
Laurie

RedecĂłrate con Lola Godoy said...

Your blog is very beautiful and interesting. I know your blog by Harvest of Friends Weekend. Besitos.

http://redecoratelg.blogspot.com.es/

Elizabeth Dianne said...

Oh to become more like him--thank you!

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Maria, for your visit and lovely comment!
God bless you!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Dianne! May we become progressively conformed to His image! Thanks so much for your visit and comment.
May you have a blessed week in Him,
Laurie

Donald Fishgrab said...

It is that failure to understand and believe what God has done for us that allows so many to fall away, because they don't really understand how much he loved them. What a blessing that he loves us that much.

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Donald! His love for us is infinite, extending to us blessings beyond compare. How tragic that all do not accept this freely given gift, and that even some who do accept it quench the Spirit and do not live in those blessings.
God bless,
Laurie

Janis Cox said...

Laurie,
You have me laughing in the kitchen at the moment. I am following you again. Well my friend another great post. I love, "we are automatically enrolled in an instant rewards program beyond compare!"

That's much better than anything that man can figure out, isn't it.
have a great day,
Janis www.janiscox.com

Janis Cox said...

Laurie,
I can't find a Twitter handle but I tweeted your post.
Blessings,
Janis

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Janis -- I really appreciate that! I'm not on Twitter yet -- still transitioning into the Information Age! :-)
God bless,
Laurie

Jennifer Camp said...

Love all these verses of truth--and your words of encouragement. Happy to find you through #tellHisstory.

Unknown said...

Can't get a better rewards program than that! Thank you so much for the reminder.

I also wanted to say thanks for linking this up at my Oh HAPPY Day Party. You made my day twice!

mail4rosey said...

You always write the best things and the verses here go together nicely in supporting one another and telling a great story.

a joyful noise said...

Entering the Christian walk is certainly a growing process, I am still learning and growing!

Unknown said...

As a follower of Christ - I love how encouraging and uplifting your blog is! Thank-you! My sister-in-law and I just launched our blog today - www.sophandlulu.com - We'd love to have you stop over for a visit!
Blessings,
'J'

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Jennifer, for your visit and sweet comment! Blessings to you and your ministry,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Holly -- all good and perfect gifts come from above! Thanks so much for your lovely comment & for hosting!
God bless,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Rosey, for your encouraging comment! You are such a blessing!
May you have a blessed week in Him,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Hazel! If we listen to the Spirit's guidance, He will teach and lead us throughout our earthly life!
Blessings to you,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Jamie, for your sweet comment! Best wishes for your blog -- I'll hop on over!
God bless,
Laurie

Brenda said...

Hi Laurie,
we have so many blessings to claim through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit if we only realized that all the promises of God are 'yes' in Jesus. He is a wonderful saviour and a beautifully protective sanctuary as we daily have our minds renewed in Him.

WhatIfWeAllCared? said...

Amen~ couldn't have said it better!!!

Laura Hodges Poole said...

Reassuring and encouraging words. Great post! (Visiting from Faith Filled Friday linkup.)

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Brenda! Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we have the mind of Christ! What an amazing Saviour!
God bless,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much for your visit and kind comment!
Blessings to you,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Laura! I really appreciate your stopping over and brightening my day!
God bless,
Laurie