Thursday: Now Is Our Salvation
“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Rom. 13:11).
As we have stated all quarter, Paul had a very specific focus in this letter to the Romans, and that was to clarify for the church at Rome – especially the Jewish believers there – the role of faith and works in the New Covenant context.
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The issue was salvation and how a sinner is deemed righteous and holy before the Lord. To help those whose whole emphasis had been on law, Paul put the law in its proper role and context. Although, ideally, Judaism even in Old Testament times was a religion of grace, legalism arose and did a lot of damage. How careful we as a church need to be that we don’t make the same mistake.
Read Romans 13:11-14. What event is Paul talking about here, and how should we be acting in anticipation of that event?
How fascinating that Paul was talking here to the believers, telling them to wake up and get it together because Jesus was coming back. The fact that this was written almost two thousand years ago doesn’t matter. We must always live in anticipation of the nearness of Christ’s coming. As far as we all are concerned, as far as our own personal experiences go, the Second Coming is as near as the potential for our own death. Whether next week or in 40 years we close our eyes in death, and whether we sleep only four days or for 400 years – it makes no difference to us. The next thing we know is the second coming of Jesus. With death always potentially just around the corner for any of us, time is indeed short, and our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
Although Paul doesn’t deal much in the book of Romans with the Second Coming, in the Thessalonian and the Corinthian letters he covers it in much more detail. After all, it’s a crucial theme in the Bible, especially in the New Testament. Without it and the hope it offers, our faith is really meaningless. After all, what does “justification by faith” mean without the Second Coming to bring that wonderful truth to complete fruition?
| If you knew for certain that Jesus was coming next month, what would you change in your life, and why? If you believe you need to change these things a month before Jesus comes, why shouldn’t you change them now? What is the difference? |
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Now is our salvation
Luke 9:23 23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross DAILY and follow me.
Our experience must be everyday walking with Lord.
We are all well acquainted with the words about denying self, taking up the cross and following Jesus, but what does in mean beyond saying the words. I have heard it said in Sabbath School class and Church services so often that we need to walk every day with Jesus. But what does it mean beyond reciting the words. What is is that we deny ourselves? What is the cross that we have to bear? How is "walking with Jesus" more than walking with a "friend in our imagination"?
Here is one answer: We fulfill the words of Jesus when we have a real concern for people around us. I often say that we are the ears of God because we have to listen to the unspoked prayers of the people within our circle. It is not about quoting scripture at them, or arguing with them about the nature of the Godhead, but the simple things of life. The judgement scene that God talks about mentions things like cups of cold water, visiting the sick and infirm, being there for the lonely. It is the little things of love for one another that are often forgotten. We are not denying self, when we are too busy to listen to a child, or step aside for someone who cannot walk as fast as you. We take up the cross when we carry the burdens of others.
It is worth reading the Gospels again, concentrating on how Jesus treated those in need. Following his example is indeed walking with Jesus.
Well said! I always hated the phrase WWJD, because I focused on the D-doing! When I realized that love equalled the doing and that Jesus loved therefore he did! Following Jesus is more about loving like Jesus did which means embracing my action through reflecting Jesus' love!
To me WWJD had nothing to do with 'doing' but with the way Jesus dealt with situations. Would he always be on the defensive? Would he explode at the slightest thing, particularly in traffic!? How would He discipline my child? etc etc. If we truly love Jesus we will become patient like He was! How can I share the gospel with the person I have just called an idiot or a neighbour I don't get to know first? How do I speak to my employees or servants? Jesus would never talk down at them or humiliate them. In our part of the world there is an outcry against farm murders. How many of them are results of laborers being treated with disrespect or as less than human? I think to have WWJD as a standard would help us be more like Jesus!
Thank you Maurice, we need to change our mind and wear the mind of Christ in order for us to truly take up our cross and follow him.
So how do we accomplish the changing of our minds and "Wearing the mind of Christ?" Do we just make a decision about this and it suddenly just happens as soon as we make this decision? NO! It is a daily experience of learning and failing etc. It is the work of a lifetime.
It is the work of a lifetime, and its to be a successful work every day. Every day people work in their gardens, and every day their gardens are beautiful.
Andrew, there is a lot packed into the comment, "wear the mind of Christ in order for us to truly take up our cross and follow him." And I think we really need to unpack these statements and understand what they mean in our lives.
I come back to the illustration of marriage. I cannot hide behind statements that "we are in love", and "our hearts beat together" and other romanticisms. it has to be translated into doing the house cleaning, even when I don't feel like it; taking my turn at grand-parenting, even when the two boys are fighting. After nearly 50 years of marriage, the romantic statements are not any less cogent but they have been rounded out by the practicality of living together and maintaining that relationship. You can never give up!
In our spiritual life we need to go beyond the nice words to the action of bearing one another's burdens, sharing and supporting one another. When Jesus wasn't preaching, what was he doing?
I am in full agreement Maurice and William, it is a life living thing and for the right purpose because God is a purposeful God and all his thoughts towards us is good. I am saying this knowing how difficult it can be sometimes because self is designed to seek its own interest; therefore, we must deny self in order for us to overcome and that is the war we are in "Flesh vs Spirit".We are called to walk in the Spirit.
THE CHOICE
We are living with a default motivator that determines every thought and feeling we have. All of our choices are based on this motivation and these choices will eventually destroy every one of us if we don't decide to change our motivator.
This default motivator is selfishness. We all have it and it is more dangerous than a heart attack because it affects our eternal destiny.
The opposite of selfishness is God's Love. This Love is the antidote for the results of selfishness. God's Love is not natural to us, but it can be bought. The price is our selfishness.
Since God's Love, by nature, is not forceful of our will, we must CHOOSE to receive it if that's what we want. God's Love is like light and our selfishness is like darkness. It will be eliminated in the presence of God's Love. We must be completely willing for this to happen to our selfishness before God's Spirit will bring forth this miracle in our life.
God is calling to us in our conscience by His Holy Spirit. If we will open the door to the heart He will come in to live in us and bring us into oneness with Him. With His Love as our motivation we can think and feel and act right so that we don't destroy ourselves. We are then motivated by His Love--not our selfishness.