Tag: Devotion

We are saved by Christ’s blood, shed to wash away our sins (v9). We are saved by Christ’s resurrection, giving us eternal life (v10). We are saved by God’s grace, Christ’s great sacrifice on our behalf (v15). We are saved by the gift of righteousness, freely available to us through Christ (v17).

How can we ever repay Christ for the price paid to save us? We can never do so! This is the message of God’s love enacted by Christ. The Apostle Paul described the greatness of this love by Christ’s humility – the willingness to yield and do the Father’s will.

The sacrifice of Christ on the cross surpassed all human reasoning and leads us to understand the truth that God loves us. For a man to sacrifice himself to save good men and righteous men is understandable. But for Christ to sacrifice Himself for criminals like the thief that was hung on the cross beside Him is difficult to comprehend. He deserved to be punished for the crime that he committed.

What a statement of truth in demonstration of God’s love. Indeed, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

God loved us while we were “yet without strength”, while we were in a hopeless condition of moral weakness and helpless. While we were plagued by the deadly disease of sin, God intervened in our lives to show us a way out. The emphasis of the text is in the personal pronoun “we”. It is repeated twice in the original Greek text to show our helpless, hopeless and lost condition. If God had not sent His Son, Jesus Christ, godless men would have been consigned to the fires of hell for all eternity. We, indeed, need to be thankful for this salvation in Christ!

The believer who trusted in the faithfulness and goodness of God and experienced it, has an experiential knowledge of God. He gains confidence and hope in God. He knows God does not disappoint. He will trust God and call upon Him, making it a life long habit. He moves from a maturing to a matured faith. We can always hope in God all the days of our life and experienced His care and protection.

When God sends us affliction, He also supplies us His grace to bear under it. The test is to keep faith and trust God. To keep praying and leaning upon His promises. It is a time where virtue in the believer’s life is formed. The strength to endure and not give up comes from God. He supplies the strength. We tarry with Him. Deliverance will surely come! And we learn that we are not alone in our affliction. God is with us.

There is a spiritual strength that subsist in affliction. A strength that comes from within. This word “experience” means “to be approved”. When we keep walking with God, He sees us through that affliction. We can understand in our heart that God is working in and through us. And we experience victory with Christ. Victory to overcome sin, to say “no” to temptation, to live a holy life, to keep faith before God and man. And experience gives us hope, a boldness to keep trusting God and experiencing His grace in our lives.

In the Christian’s life, we are to expect tribulation. Troubles, sufferings, tears, affliction and distress are a part of this earthly life. We cannot avoid it. It is allowed by God in His sovereign will to mould us that it may bring forth godly virtues.

One of the fruits of tribulation is that it produces this spiritual fruit called patience. Tribulation builds Christian character. We do not welcome tribulation, humanly speaking. As we think of the emotion, mental, physical suffering that it brings, often we shudder. We look at the life of those who went through tribulation, we acknowledge it is tough going.