HOW YOU LIVE DOES MATTER

“And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.

“Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissention and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” Romans 13:11-14.

Swimming against the current is hard work. Have you ever watched the salmon navigating fast-flowing streams to reach their spawning ground? The life of a believer in Jesus is a bit like that!

Paul’s well-thought-out and thorough explanation of the gospel inevitably leads to an appeal for a response from his readers. Why did God do all this for us? He had a far greater purpose than simply rescuing us from hell and taking us to heaven. If that were all He were interested in, He would have taken us out of here the moment we put our faith in the Saviour.

He does not disqualify those who make a last-minute decision. The thief on the cross who recognised who Jesus was and submitted to Him in his dying moments, assures us that God is merciful to repentant sinners even at the eleventh hour. However, He has a far greater plan than that.

For us to experience in fullest measure the salvation of God, we must dig deeper than mere forgiveness, as crucial as that is. God’s forgiveness opens the door to His rich treasury of benefits the cross of Jesus provides for us. Not the least is access to our inheritance.

Every child receives an inheritance from his father – even though he or she may never have known him or enjoyed a relationship with him. We inherit our father’s nature and disposition towards evil and we possess our inheritance by confirming that nature in our choices and behaviour.

In the same way, when we are born of God, every son or daughter receives an inheritance from our heavenly Father. “But how,” you ask, “do we know what our inheritance is and how do we possess it?” We find clues here and there in the New Testament, summed up in Peter’s second letter.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” 2 Peter 1;3, 4.

Through believing and appropriating God’s promises, we learn to overcome the old sinful disposition inherited from our fathers, and increasingly grow towards the disposition of our elder brother, Jesus. How does this happen?

God orchestrates and permits uncomfortable or difficult circumstances in our lives in order to test us and to expose the corruption in us so that we can lay hold of His promises, not for material things but for transformation into the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29). Why does He do this?

Since God is perfect, He has no sin and therefore He cannot die because sin leads to death. He has promised us eternal life but, in order to receive that promise, we must learn to overcome sin and become partakers of His divine nature. What we do in this life matters because it is the preparation for eternal life which is the result of holiness.

“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become the slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:20-23.

So Paul urges: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now, much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12, 13, which is eternal life.

Acknowledgement

Scripture take from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.