Curtain of Eternity – Part 3
(God) who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel [2 Timothy 1:9-10].
God saves us out of sin and He also calls us to a life of holiness. To do so we stop following the words of man and commence to following the Word of God. We then put shoe leather to the Word of God as He teaches it to us. The more we do so the more we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
When we put into practice what we learn, our spiritual muscles are exercised and we grow strong spiritually. The old sin nature lurking inside grows weaker and the new nature of the Spirit grows stronger. Then we are more consistent in our daily living, such that we and others see the Holy Spirit living the new life that is in us out to the world. Jesus walks the earth in human form still, only now He does so in His Body, the Church.
This is indeed a “calling”, and this calling is assuredly “holy”. The concept of “holy” contrasts with the concept of “sin”. God is holy and man is sinful. When we live for God in the power of the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God, then we are no longer living in sin. We are then living holy lives. We are fulfilling His “holy calling”, and this is His purpose in saving us.
That is the context for understanding the duality expressed between time and eternity in 2 Timothy 1, dear friends. God both saved us and called us with a holy calling. Yet He did so not on the basis of “our works”. In other words God didn’t decide who He will save and call based on man. We didn’t earn it by doing anything, i.e., “works”.
Nor did God save us and call us with a holy calling according to anything meriting that we deserve it. In other words not only was it not on the basis of anything we did, but it also was not on the basis of who we are. God did so according to His own purpose and grace. The concept of “grace” means that God’s salvation and calling are granted freely based upon Himself, not upon man. We receive it as a free gift, not as deserving it because of who we are.
The text continues in this vein by noting how God’s grace came to us in the Person of Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son. The way it came to us was by means of the cross and the empty tomb. The text expresses this by the words “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”. Jesus did so at the cross and empty tomb.
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus had no sin because He is God, therefore Jesus didn’t earn death as His wages. Notwithstanding this, Jesus did die on the cross. Since His death wasn’t as payment for His own sins, it was payment for the sins of the world. The cross is how Jesus abolished death. He died man’s death.
Praise the Lord Jesus! I sure am glad He died for me. I’m even gladder that He lives for me. I’m save because He died for me. I live a holy calling because He lives for me. Think I’ll spend a while musing on these notions.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
God saves us out of sin and He also calls us to a life of holiness. To do so we stop following the words of man and commence to following the Word of God. We then put shoe leather to the Word of God as He teaches it to us. The more we do so the more we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
When we put into practice what we learn, our spiritual muscles are exercised and we grow strong spiritually. The old sin nature lurking inside grows weaker and the new nature of the Spirit grows stronger. Then we are more consistent in our daily living, such that we and others see the Holy Spirit living the new life that is in us out to the world. Jesus walks the earth in human form still, only now He does so in His Body, the Church.
This is indeed a “calling”, and this calling is assuredly “holy”. The concept of “holy” contrasts with the concept of “sin”. God is holy and man is sinful. When we live for God in the power of the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God, then we are no longer living in sin. We are then living holy lives. We are fulfilling His “holy calling”, and this is His purpose in saving us.
That is the context for understanding the duality expressed between time and eternity in 2 Timothy 1, dear friends. God both saved us and called us with a holy calling. Yet He did so not on the basis of “our works”. In other words God didn’t decide who He will save and call based on man. We didn’t earn it by doing anything, i.e., “works”.
Nor did God save us and call us with a holy calling according to anything meriting that we deserve it. In other words not only was it not on the basis of anything we did, but it also was not on the basis of who we are. God did so according to His own purpose and grace. The concept of “grace” means that God’s salvation and calling are granted freely based upon Himself, not upon man. We receive it as a free gift, not as deserving it because of who we are.
The text continues in this vein by noting how God’s grace came to us in the Person of Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son. The way it came to us was by means of the cross and the empty tomb. The text expresses this by the words “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”. Jesus did so at the cross and empty tomb.
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus had no sin because He is God, therefore Jesus didn’t earn death as His wages. Notwithstanding this, Jesus did die on the cross. Since His death wasn’t as payment for His own sins, it was payment for the sins of the world. The cross is how Jesus abolished death. He died man’s death.
Praise the Lord Jesus! I sure am glad He died for me. I’m even gladder that He lives for me. I’m save because He died for me. I live a holy calling because He lives for me. Think I’ll spend a while musing on these notions.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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