LIVING SACRIFICES Devotion 3 of 24 Because we will be dealing with something God requires of us, there is a facet of salvation that should first be considered. An understanding of this aspect of redemption will assist us in doing what the Spirit admonishes us to do. – Tomorrow:
Obedience is fundamental to life in Christ Jesus. The fact that we are saved by grace through faith by no means suggests obedience has no critical role in our new lives.
• Divine Choice and Empowerment are in order to Obedience. "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, UNTO OBEDIENCE and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied" (1 Pet 1:2).
• The Spirit is Given to those who Obey God. "And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who OBEY HIM" (Acts 5:32).
• Jesus Authors Salivation in those who Obey Him. "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that OBEY HIM" (Heb 5:9).
This obedience is the result of faith. It involves human effort, but is accomplished in the energy of faith. As it is written, "Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience THAT COMES FROM FAITH" Rom 1:5, NIV).
Obedience and keeping the commandments of God are never denigrated in Scripture, and they must not be among those who wear Christ's name. The good news of the Gospel announces that a power, or enablement to obey, is offered in Christ. Our initial obedience, baptism into Christ, is referred to as the time we "obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you" (Rom 6:17).
Our text is going to admonish us to present our bodies a living sacrifice unto God (Rom 12:1). No view of salvation must be allowed that considers that to be a mere suggestion, or an option that may or may not be fulfilled. You must know that there are thousands of professed believers who have never done this, yet regard themselves as followers of Christ. While we are not licensed to go about assessing the validity of people's profession, it is our business to remind them of the seriousness of the requirement, and the necessity of obeying it. Because of this, we must encourage believers with a faithful declaration of their ability in Jesus to respond commendably to the commandments, exhortations, and admonitions of the Lord.
Here we come to the matter of the freedom which is experienced when we "know the truth." As our blessed Lord said, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). Knowing the truth is possessing a working acquaintance with it – a familiarity that comes from faith, and includes "the love of the truth," which is a requirement for salvation (2 Thess 2:10). The knowledge of the truth is willing involvement with it, as well as an understanding of it.
That freedom involves emancipation from the guilt and power of sin, delusion, and Satan's power. It involves ultimate deliverance from corruption, the grave, and the wrath of God. To put it another way, we do not need the world's input to sustain spiritual life. In fact, it cannot be sustained by that means. We have been liberated from the dominance of the temporal order because it consistently tends to death, not life. If sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil did not introduce eternal liabilities, there would be no need to be delivered from them. We have been freed from things that prohibit the obtaining of glory. That is precisely why it strictly forbidden to seek help from the world, or cursed order, in matters pertaining to God.
Whatever was impotent to bring you to Christ, is equally powerless to keep you in Christ. The order from which we have been liberated can in no way promote life in the "heavenly places," to which we have been raised and in which we have been placed (Eph 1:3; 2:6).
We have been freed to keep the commandments, obey God, come to God, and obtain essential resources from Him. Therefore, whatever He requires of us is not only necessary, but is doable.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You through the Son that salvation equips us to willingly and joyfully respond to Your word and direction.