Tell City Nazarene Church's Biblical Journey
With Pastor Charles Areson
Today's reading is James 4-5 & 1 Peter 1-2
As I look at 1 Peter 1:2 I see two wondrous concepts. First, God chooses us because of His foreknowledge. Second, we can only be obedient because of the saving power of Christ.
First, since God knew we would accept Jesus he chose us. This isn’t we were chosen and had no choice in the matter. God who lives outside of time, thus He chose us as a response to the fact that we choose him. Or to say it another way, it happened at the same moment for God, who is in every moment (if this is hard to comprehend just skip it).
Second is the idea that full and true obedience to Jesus can only happen if we are saved. Yes, we can do some good things which God may be glad we did, but honest obedience can only come from the heart. A heart changed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Think of it as asking two fighting children to apologize to each other. They may stop fighting and even say words of apology to each other, but until their attitude changes on the inside, their words and actions are not sincere. God wants sincere obedience not obedience only out of fear of punishment or because we are being forced. To say it another way, a police officer isn’t surprised when a car slows down to the speed limit when he is spotted, but he is pleased when the driver was going the correct speed when he doesn’t know he is being watched. The only way we can have a change of heart is through Jesus and then true obedience can follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment