That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life” (Luke 1:74-75). God surely had a purpose foe investing His only begotten Son in His redemptive program;and He is determined to see that purpose fulfilled. Otherwise, the blood-washed sinner becomes a good-for-nothing saint, who like a fat but fruitless tree deserves to be felled off. But the attitude of many Christians shows they are unmindful of God’s divine purpose for their salvation. The Bible declared; “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly,in this present world;Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” ( Titus 2:11-14).
All Christians are saved to serve. God’s purpose for pulling us out of the furnace of sin and placing us inside the coolness of His kingdom is not to accommodate our sins, make us His cosmic pets, nestle us in the sheepfolds to hear the soothing bleating of flocks; or regale us with the splendor of His majesty. We are saved to serve. And this purpose must be fulfilled.God has a dual purpose for saving sinners. It is to make them pure and peculiar people who will carry out the ministry of reconciliation (evangelism) on earth. “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18).For this reason, there can’t be a sinning saint or an idle believer in God’s kingdom. After our deliverance from the power of sin, we are brought into the kingdom and given the grace to live holily and no loafer.Therefore, each Christian should be diligent in ensuring that God’s dual purpose for his existence in Christ’s kingdom is fulfilled. The Christian must hate sin and serve the Lord (2 Corinthians 7:1). If a saint sins, he immediately loses his place in the kingdom. He could get back his position only through repentance and restitution. Unconfessed sin would not be pardoned and a saint, if he sins, isn’t freed on account of his past righteousness (Please read Ezekiel 33:12-13, 18 and Hebrews 6:4-8).
If repentance is delayed or there is no room for it, and death strikes, the former saint is lost forever.Therefore, every believer should fear sin and take time to be holy."If sin is deadly, dleness is equally perilous. It seems the two works together to steal,kill, and destroy. The devil hits the saints best with sin when the believer has let down his guard and signed off from duty. Besides, an idle believer is a bad investment for God. The Lord wouldn’t mind to wind up His dealings with such a believer or permit him to drift away into affliction and eternal damnation. Unless the believer heeds the warning, accepts His chastisement and seek pardon and readmission. Finally, every believer is called to serve. He is to serve God by doing a specific and practical duty according to the measure of grace given to him. Serve Him faithfully without reservation and expect no commendation from any man.
No comments:
Post a Comment