How to Be Useful to the Lord
Chapter Four
Week 2 - Saturday
Bible Reading: Luke 7:36-50; 15:1, 6-7, 11-32; 19:1-9; 23:32, 40-43; John 1:1, 3:3, 5, 15-16; 4, 14; 10:10b; 20:31
Read and pray: "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written: ‘The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
THE NEED TO GROW AND MATURE IN LIFE
AFTER RECEIVING SALVATION
AFTER RECEIVING SALVATION
THE TRADITIONAL CONCEPT OF GOD’S SALVATION
In today’s Christianity, including Catholicism and Protestantism, most people do not have an accurate understanding of God’s salvation, nor a clear knowledge of God’s economy and arrangement in His salvation.
There is a widely accepted concept in Christianity today, seemingly based on the Scriptures, which is actually the result of human speculation. This concept did not exist in the early church but was later formed by human conjecture and eventually became doctrine. Now, it has turned into a traditional concept that prevails in Christianity.
What is this concept? Those who hold this belief acknowledge that all are sinners, but since God had mercy on us, He sent His only begotten Son to be our Savior. This Son died for us on the cross, rose, and ascended to heaven, and now continually intercedes for us before God as our great High Priest.
According to this concept, if an individual who feels they are a sinner and deserves perdition repents, believes in the Lord, receives Him as their Savior, and calls upon Him, their sins will be forgiven, they will be reconciled to God, and God will have compassion on them and grant them blessings.
Consequently, this person becomes saved. Since God has shown them mercy, they should then express gratitude to God by living in a way that glorifies His name. After death, their soul will go to heaven to enjoy eternal blessings. This is the so-called orthodox belief in today’s Christianity.
COMPARING THE TRADITIONAL
CONCEPT WITH THE BIBLE
Is this concept correct? We must carefully compare it with the truth of the Scriptures. When Martin Luther compared the Catholic doctrine of the sacrament of penance with the biblical truth of justification by faith (Romans 1:17), he discovered that the teaching of penance was a human-made tradition based on human opinions and completely erroneous.
Today, we must also discern the authenticity of the so-called orthodox beliefs taught in Christianity by comparing them with the truth revealed in the Bible. If we were to abandon human opinions and traditional concepts, not clinging to our own ideas and viewpoints but simply turning to the Word of God, we would see that the prevailing Christian concept of God's salvation contains certain inaccuracies and deficiencies.
To be inaccurate means to be incorrect and not aligned with the truth revealed in the Scriptures, and to be deficient means to fall short of the biblical truth in its transcendence.
THE EMPHASIS OF THE GOSPELS OF LUKE AND JOHN:
SALVATION BY FAITH
The Gospels are not a single book but four, each with a different emphasis. For example, Luke, from beginning to end, focuses on the truth of the forgiveness of sins—the gospel of forgiveness (Luke 24:47). It shows us that, in God’s eyes, we were prodigal sons far from God the Father, as well as sinners and lost sheep (Luke 15:1, 6-7, 11-32).
Therefore, God sent His Son as our Savior to find us and bring us back. God accepted us, the prodigal sons, when we repented and returned to Him. Even if we were like the sinful woman in chapter seven, who had many sins (7:36-50), like the tax collector in chapter nineteen (19:1-9), or like the thief on the cross in chapter twenty-three (23:32, 40-43), when we repented and believed in the Lord, receiving Him as our Savior, our sins were forgiven.
This is the truth of the forgiveness of sins presented in Luke's Gospel. Since the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished redemption on the cross, whoever believes in Him receives the forgiveness of sins freely, without having to pay any price.
John, on the other hand, preached the Gospel of life. At the very beginning, John’s Gospel shows us that the Lord was God, that life was in Him, and that He became flesh (John 1:1, 4, 14). The reason He came from heaven to earth was to impart life to the world (John 10:10b).
He said that He was a grain of wheat and, as such, could not release the life within Him for men to receive unless He fell into the ground, died, and resurrected. For this reason, He went to the cross and died, and on the third day, He rose again.
Now, at any time and in any place, if a person believes in His name and receives Him as Savior, He will enter them as the Spirit so they may receive the life of God. In this way, the person can be regenerated and have the life of God (John 3:3, 5, 15-16; 20:31). This is the grace of life, which we receive entirely by faith, without having to pay any price.
This is clearly seen in the Gospel of John. Thus, Luke and John show us that we can receive the gospel, whether of the forgiveness of sins or of life, simply by faith. There is no need to pay any price or fulfill any requirement.
Enjoy more: Hymn 16
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