Tag: raised to life
Condemned, Crucified, Raised to Life!
Scripture reading for January 28th: Matthew 20, Psalm 20, Prov. 20
Key Scriptures: Matthew 20:17-19 “And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way He said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and He will be raised on the third day.”
Jesus was going to Jerusalem for the last time. He knew full well what lie ahead and told His disciples plainly what would happen to Him there. As we read this passage, we can note that it is a faith confession from Jesus. He stated what He knew was true, from His condemning, mocking, crucifixion to His resurrection from the dead on the third day! He did this to strengthen His own faith and that of His disciples and ultimately those who would also come to faith through their witness (us).
Faith’s confession: Jesus, I believe that You were condemned, mocked, crucified and laid in a tomb for three days. On the third day You rose from the dead! In Your sacrifice and resurrection I find my life! (Action step: Personally confess with Jesus the truth of His death and resurrection, renewing Your trust in His saving grace.)
Psalm 20:6 “Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.”
Alive to God under grace!
Scripture reading for June 21st: Romans 6
Key Scriptures for over-comers: Romans 6:11-14 “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”
As believers in Jesus Christ, we must count ourselves dead to sin through Christ’s death on the cross. We then recon ourselves alive to God through Christ’s resurrection from death after He paid the penalty for our sins. Faith in Christ’s sacrifice alone is the grace gift from God that brings us God’s eternal life. But after receiving the gift of eternal life by faith, we must then purposely present our body and its members to God to be used as instruments of righteousness. Sin is no longer our master, but Jesus Christ is our Lord! We are not under the Law, which can only reveal sin, but we are under grace which has dealt permanently with our sin!
Observations for over-comers: We over-come evil desires of the flesh through faith in the death of our Lord Jesus on the cross. We recon our mortal body as dead to sin through identification with Christ. We thank God for Christ’s resurrection to eternal life, for He is our new life through the Spirit! “So He said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Zechariah 4:6)
Godly counting!
Scripture reading for July 20th: Romans 6:1-23
Paul addressed the question about continuing in sin after salvation. The human mind is always looking for ways to justify rebellion and sin. These Romans were reasoning that since God’s grace was available without cost, why not allow God to show more of His grace by sinning? Paul put a quick end to that kind of thinking! “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:2-4) People who have died no longer sin! We died with Christ and were raised with Him to a new life. Water baptism is a re-enactment of this truth!
Christ’s death delivered Him from the possibility of sin, once for all time. His resurrection was in the newness of eternal life, lived totally for God. These facts should motivate each believer in Jesus to do some counting for themselves. (Romans 6:11) They should count themselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Sin should be done away with. One of the ways to do this is to quit offering parts of your body to sin. Remember to offer all your body and its parts to God for righteous purposes! We can do this because of God’s grace. We are no longer under the law. We have been freed from condemnation through Jesus’ death!
So back to the question: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which lead to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:15-16) We choose whom we will obey. If we obey sin, we reap the wages of death. If we obey Christ, we obtain through grace the free gift of eternal life! (Romans 6:23) It’s a pretty simple choice that should not take a genius to make! Why not count yourself dead to sin and alive in Christ today?