Live by Faith in Jesus

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Thursday, March 12, 2009
Devotions: Ps 71, 74; Jer 4:9-28; Rom 2:12-24; Jn 5:19-29

Lord, in these tough times, I take refuge in You. I have been dependent on You since my conception, and all the good I have comes from You. I am filled with Your praise; keep me strong in my old age; don’t forsake me when my strength is spent. Put my enemies to shame, and I will praise You always. You are great and do great things. You have allowed me to see troubles, but You will redeem and vindicate me forever! Glory to You, my God. I will praise You as long as I have life and breath. Your enemies presume against You and Your people, my God. How long will You let them scoff and oppress? Crush the dragon, Lord! Protect Your covenant; defend Your people. Let us who struggle find reason to praise You today, my Master!

Days of testing will come, in which priests and princes will despair. God’s judgment will weigh heavily, and God’s people will repent and plead for forgiveness. Our sins bring us suffering, but our holy God will bring us deliverance and joy. After the wasteland comes God’s new earth, His new Jerusalem. God’s perfect will is inevitably coming; let us gird ourselves and endure until He delivers and prospers us.

The law is not the decisive factor in our salvation—it is our choices and God’s sovereignty that determine our outcome. Those under grace are judged by their responses to grace—obedience and gratitude or idolatrous rebellion; and those under law are judged by their keeping the law—or their failure to do so. No one can succeed in keeping the law—only Jesus has done so. So if we would be righteous, if we would be saved, it must be by grace through faith—both God’s sovereign gifts to us. And we must behave in accordance with the grace and truth God has given us.

Jesus asserted that He did only what His Father showed Him; His acts were in perfect harmony with the will of God the Creator. Mortals can be saved for eternal life through these actions of God’s steadfast love. The judgment of mortals will be by the Son, with authority given Him by the Father. And no one can honor the Father who does not honor the Son. Jesus said, ‘Whoever hears My word and believes Him Who sent Me, has eternal life and will not be condemned; that person has crossed over from death to life.’ Jesus the Messiah will bring the opportunity for salvation to the dead and the living; and all will be raised, either to judgment or to eternal life.