May 1st 2022
The Gift Of Salvation Is Totally Free And Is Only Awarded By Jesus Christ!
Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
In this cursed world there is evil lurking at your door waiting for you open the door and let it in! However, if your door to this world is just slightly ajar, evil will still get in and may take the possible joy away from you. Now that is kind of a morbid start to this commentary, isn’t it! So, how can we get back to some happier thoughts? In the selected verses we read that if our concentration is focused not on mankind, but instead we should focus our even mundane tasks not on trying to please some human being, but instead put our efforts toward working for Jesus Christ.
So, in our everyday life when we work, we should, “work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Then we would be looking to the Lord for affirmation not seeking it only from a person or other people. Of course, as professing Christians we should be concerned about how other people view us, as we are supposed be working on becoming more Christ-like every day. So, how is that process working for you? We really need to answer this question for ourselves on a daily basis. Remember, this is a process, and we represent the “work in progress” on this noble task!
Currently we are in an election time and thus we experience a lot of ads from the candidates who are vying for a spot on their party’s ticket. Instead of them telling us what they will do if elected, they downgrade those who are opposing them. As these ads go on it leaves us all trying to decide who we dislike the least, so we can vote for that person. This is how our world works for the most part! I have heard it said before that two people talking for fifteen minutes cannot avoid saying something bad about at least one person.
This seems like pretty good evidence that we are all cursed with a sinful nature inherited from that original sin committed in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. (Romans 5:12-13). However, as Paul teaches us, we can override or overcome this fatal defect by becoming followers of Jesus Christ.
We seem to find ourselves in a world that rebels against any law that may limit our freedom to do what we want to do! This is of course not a new thing, but at least in this country we take this idea of freedom to the extreme that we want autonomy! Many people now do not really care about following reasonable laws, they prefer that no law should limit them in any way! Total freedom is also called chaos! Mob rule is shown when people riot and loot stores by creating mass hysteria by a huge group attacking a store and looting it. This is the new way of total lawlessness that was learned in the mob rule riots we experienced from the racial riots around the world in recent times.
I am finding it difficult to bring this commentary back to a positive report on this world we live in today. Of course, sin in this world is nothing new, none of us has yet lived in a sin free world. Most people prefer to remain as enemies of God so they can feel free to do whatever they want to do and feel good about what they have done. God knows this about us, and thus, we cannot save our immortal soul, because we are basically bad, if not evil. For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:10-11). God sent His Son, or He came into this world, as a man to allow our immortal souls to be saved despite the fact that we all have a sinful nature, which precludes any chance of being good enough to go to heaven when we die!
Salvation is the gift to only those who chose to follow Jesus Christ! This is the only plan offered to mankind for salvation of our immortal soul. You cannot work to earn your spot in heaven, you can only accept your salvation as a free gift, which was purchased for you by Jesus Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven, paving the Way for all to follow. What a wonderful gift available only to followers of Jesus Christ. Paul termed the gift as indescribable! Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15). Saul was having Christians imprisoned or killed because Saul believed they had been deceived by Jesus. When Jesus found Saul, he became Paul, and he was converted into a follower of Jesus Christ.
Modern editors do not like using the term free gift, as there is an assumption that all gifts are free. That is logical as a gift is assumed to be free, but some gifts are given expecting or guaranteeing a positive response or expecting a gift in return. The gift of salvation is totally free and is only awarded by Jesus Christ! No one can demand it or do good deeds to earn it!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
In this cursed world there is evil lurking at your door waiting for you open the door and let it in! However, if your door to this world is just slightly ajar, evil will still get in and may take the possible joy away from you. Now that is kind of a morbid start to this commentary, isn’t it! So, how can we get back to some happier thoughts? In the selected verses we read that if our concentration is focused not on mankind, but instead we should focus our even mundane tasks not on trying to please some human being, but instead put our efforts toward working for Jesus Christ.
So, in our everyday life when we work, we should, “work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Then we would be looking to the Lord for affirmation not seeking it only from a person or other people. Of course, as professing Christians we should be concerned about how other people view us, as we are supposed be working on becoming more Christ-like every day. So, how is that process working for you? We really need to answer this question for ourselves on a daily basis. Remember, this is a process, and we represent the “work in progress” on this noble task!
Currently we are in an election time and thus we experience a lot of ads from the candidates who are vying for a spot on their party’s ticket. Instead of them telling us what they will do if elected, they downgrade those who are opposing them. As these ads go on it leaves us all trying to decide who we dislike the least, so we can vote for that person. This is how our world works for the most part! I have heard it said before that two people talking for fifteen minutes cannot avoid saying something bad about at least one person.
This seems like pretty good evidence that we are all cursed with a sinful nature inherited from that original sin committed in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. (Romans 5:12-13). However, as Paul teaches us, we can override or overcome this fatal defect by becoming followers of Jesus Christ.
We seem to find ourselves in a world that rebels against any law that may limit our freedom to do what we want to do! This is of course not a new thing, but at least in this country we take this idea of freedom to the extreme that we want autonomy! Many people now do not really care about following reasonable laws, they prefer that no law should limit them in any way! Total freedom is also called chaos! Mob rule is shown when people riot and loot stores by creating mass hysteria by a huge group attacking a store and looting it. This is the new way of total lawlessness that was learned in the mob rule riots we experienced from the racial riots around the world in recent times.
I am finding it difficult to bring this commentary back to a positive report on this world we live in today. Of course, sin in this world is nothing new, none of us has yet lived in a sin free world. Most people prefer to remain as enemies of God so they can feel free to do whatever they want to do and feel good about what they have done. God knows this about us, and thus, we cannot save our immortal soul, because we are basically bad, if not evil. For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:10-11). God sent His Son, or He came into this world, as a man to allow our immortal souls to be saved despite the fact that we all have a sinful nature, which precludes any chance of being good enough to go to heaven when we die!
Salvation is the gift to only those who chose to follow Jesus Christ! This is the only plan offered to mankind for salvation of our immortal soul. You cannot work to earn your spot in heaven, you can only accept your salvation as a free gift, which was purchased for you by Jesus Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven, paving the Way for all to follow. What a wonderful gift available only to followers of Jesus Christ. Paul termed the gift as indescribable! Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15). Saul was having Christians imprisoned or killed because Saul believed they had been deceived by Jesus. When Jesus found Saul, he became Paul, and he was converted into a follower of Jesus Christ.
Modern editors do not like using the term free gift, as there is an assumption that all gifts are free. That is logical as a gift is assumed to be free, but some gifts are given expecting or guaranteeing a positive response or expecting a gift in return. The gift of salvation is totally free and is only awarded by Jesus Christ! No one can demand it or do good deeds to earn it!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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