God has an infinite amount of kindness. This daily devotional looks at how that kindness manifested itself in Jesus’ sacrifice.
Nuggets
- Jesus came to live on this earth for the sole purpose of paying the penalty of our sins to save us from eternal damnation only after we were recipients of God’s kindness.
- Jesus saved us so that we could change from the sinful nature in which we were living to a spiritually clean nature like God’s.
Devotions in the Confessing Christ series
To me, there is somewhat of a distinction between believers and non-believers. But then again, there isn’t in some things.
When we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we become God’s children. While we are all creations of God, it is not until we submit to His Will that we become His children.
Glossary
God rewards more those who obey, but He also loves non-believers. He shows this through His kindness to all.
Lance explained how this kindness is shown for all mankind. He said that it is shown through “… the incarnation of Christ, His life and miracles and mercies and divinest teaching; in His sacrificial death upon the cross, His resurrection and ascension …”
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Let’s take a look.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Let's Put It into Context #2
Confessing Christ is when we agree with the promise that Jesus is the Son of God, come to earth, to be the Savior of the world – just as He stated.
The Incarnation and Life of Christ
“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared” (Ti. 3: 4 ESV)
Jesus came to live on this earth for the sole purpose of paying the penalty of our sins to save us from eternal damnation only after we were recipients of God’s kindness.
God knew before we were even created that we would disobey Him. Because of this, He designed the Plan of Salvation to restore our relationships with Him.
The Plan was designed around one specific aspect: a sacrifice was needed. Enter Jesus.
Jesus came to earth and became disinterested. The disinterested means Jesus was willing to give up the trappings of His Deity.
Paul explained it this way. “Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being …” (Phil. 2: 7 NLT).
Pusey listed the attributes that Jesus gave up. The three he picked out were
- Eternal and Infinite
- Self-Sufficient/Self-Existent
- Wisdom
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That didn’t make Jesus less divine. He was still in the image of God. He still had the nature of God.
What Jesus did was take on the form of mankind. He paid the price for our sins that we would never be able to pay.
The Sacrifice and Accomplishment of His Ministry
“he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Ti. 3: 5-7 ESV)
Jesus saved us so that we could change from the sinful nature in which we were living to a spiritually clean nature like God’s
He saved us. Jesus provided salvation for us.
Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Sins are actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Virtues are standards of moral excellence.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart.
- Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
- Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
Glossary
We are not saved because of anything we do or don’t do. We cannot earn salvation. That’s what the “… not because of works done by us in righteousness …” (Ti. 3: 5 ESV) means.
Works of righteousness are the evidence of salvation.
The only way we were saved is Jesus came to earth, died, and rose again. We are saved “… by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Ti. 3: 5 ESV).
I like how Dykes described conversion. He wrote that it is “… a complete revolution in every department of [our lives].” It is “… the starting point for a changed life.”
We become new creations! That is what the regeneration is. Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal new birth and requickening that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Resource
Glossary
Our guilt is removed by the washing of regeneration.
Salvation is completed through God’s mercy and grace. God’s mercy is an act of sovereign will that produces an unexpected and undeserved response from God as He responds in love to our needs. Grace is a free and unmerited gift of love from the Heavenly Father, given through His Son, Jesus Christ, that enables salvation and spiritual healing to believers by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Wagstaff equated mercy with kindness. I see that.
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It is through God’s infinite kindness that He sent His Son to be our Savior.
Making the Connections
Lance wrote, “we have that manifestation of the kindness of God which is intended and calculated to lift us up out of our sins, and to bring us into His own most holy fellowship.”
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That power is what rose Jesus from the grave. It is through that act that our sins — when we ask — are forgiven.
How Do We Apply This?
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Father God. Thank You that You are so powerful that You rose Jesus from the grave. It is through His death on the cross that the penalty for our sins was paid. We admit that we are sinners and separated from you. We believe Jesus is the only way that separation can be fixed. We confess that You are Sovereign God. Amen.
What do you think?
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