Disciples many times talk about doing something in Jesus’ name. This daily devotional begins looking at what that means.
Nuggets
- We can serve God in Jesus’ name because we have already gained salvation.
- God chose mankind as a whole to offer salvation, but He chooses us individually to serve Him.
Devotions in the In Jesus’ Name series
This is one of the sermons I stuck in the drafts folder. It really struck a chord at the time, but it would have meant chasing a huge rabbit then.
I wanted to wait and give it full focus. Now is the time.
What hit me then was that we are to do things in Jesus’ name. If we don’t do them in His name, we haven’t gotten down to the heart level.
Wilkinson gave an outline with associated verses. So, let’s see what he can tell us about focusing our efforts in the name of Jesus.
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Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
To Go to God through Him (Wilkinson)
“You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you” (Jn. 15: 3 CSB)
We can serve God in Jesus’ name because we have already gained salvation.
There are times when I, myself, feel like I am a broken record. It does seem to me that I say the same things over and over.
But, guys. We gain access to God through the salvation offered by Jesus Christ.
That isn’t going to change. Salvation only comes through ABCDing in Jesus’ name.
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.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- 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.
- 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.
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
Glossary
Another thing I am a broken record on is that salvation is just the beginning. It is a three-step process.
The initial step is God cleanses us so that we are changed from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
Next comes sanctification. Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration; gradually changes our nature and morals through the promptings of the Holy Spirit; and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- 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 to give us new character.
Glossary
Sanctification is going to be the hard part. It is where God is going to cleanse us by cutting all the sin out of us.
I know. I’ve said that a lot, but let’s unpack that to see if we can dig a little deeper into what that means.
We gain salvation by faith. Faith is a gift from God that enhances the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives and distinguishes us from others.
Our faith is in Jesus, causing Him to justify us. Justification is the act through the merits of Christ that makes us free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws. Jesus justifies us when we put our lives in His hand.
Glossary
It is only when we are justified through Christ can we go to God. The justification gives us access to God.
But we are still in fake-it-till-you-make-it mode. We have only been partially cleaned.
We won’t be totally cleaned until we receive our new bodies — the third step in the salvation process.
Getting there is going to take more faith and more grace. 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.
Yes, the cleaning process of sanctification is going to require more and more grace. We can’t clean ourselves.
Only God can clean us through His grace.
God is ready and willing to do that when we ask. But we have to ask.
The cool thing is that God already looks on us as if we are already totally sanctified. He sees us as we will be.
God’s Choice for Our Service
“You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you” (Jn. 15: 16 CSB)
God chose mankind as a whole to offer salvation, but He chooses us individually to serve Him.
We didn’t choose for God to make mankind. He made us anyway.
We didn’t choose for God to make us individually. He made us anyway.
We didn’t choose how we are going to serve God. He chose how.
God chose how we would serve Him, so we can bear fruit. Fruit is both the result of producing God’s character within use as well as bringing others to Christ.
Jesus said that we must bear fruit. “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing its fruit” (Mt. 21: 43 CSB).
Think about it. Disciples have to produce evidence of their salvation. We have to show that we are becoming more like Christ.
We sometimes scratch our heads when God chooses someone to do a specific service for Him. We question why that person was chosen.
We definitely wouldn’t have!
We sometimes question why God chooses us to do a specific service.
We definitely wouldn’t have! There are too many ways in which we see ourselves deficient.
We forget that God will equip us for the tasks He has for us. “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13: 20-21 ESV).
God isn’t going to just throw us to the wolves. He is going to prepare us for the work we are to be doing.
But did you catch what those verses had to say? “equip you with everything good that you may do his will …” (Heb. 13: 21 ESV).
God is going to equip us with holy, pure, and righteous behavior. He isn’t looking for a checklist so that we can knock off the different jobs we do for Him.
What we are to do is to plant seeds in another’s life so that they can make Christ their personal Savior.
Paul talked about the differences between work and fruit. He cautioned against the work of the flesh (Gal. 5: 19-21). Instead, we are to enjoy the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5: 22-23).
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
We can work and work and work. God doesn’t want that. He wants the fruit of our labors.
That means people are coming to know Jesus as their personal Savior.
We have to make sure that we focus on God’s marching orders. We don’t want to be serving Him outside of His Will.
Making the Connections
Why is God so concerned about the fruit? That is the only thing that is going to last.
This world and its bright, shiny temptations is going to pass away. All of the worldly pursuits are going to lead to nothing.
Only those things stored up in Heaven will remain. Statham wrote, “Religion is founded on the permanence of the moral nature.”
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Jesus said it this way. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt. 6: 19-21 ESV).
How Do We Apply This?
- Follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit so that we will be rewarded the fruit of the Spirit.
- Evaluate our walk to ensure we are not backsliding.
- Don’t compromise with the worldview.
- Resist temptation.
- Watch for Jesus’ return.
- Live our lives to be an influence for others by our fruit.
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Father God. We choose Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer. We choose to serve You in the ways You choose for us. Equip us to do Your Will. Amen.
What do you think?
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