What must I do to be saved?

Our Lord moaned, “It is finished” (John 19:30). With that last sad utterance, Jesus died. He was the Messiah, the “Redeemer of Israel.” He had been the One to walk on water, feed thousands physically and spiritually. He healed the sick and raised the dead. He taught and moved thousands to believe in Him. Now what?

Although He had predicted his own death, none of His followers anticipated it. All of His disciples fled at His arrest. Peter denied Him three times. His women friends wept. On the journey to Emmaus, Simon and Cleopas were deeply disappointed in the death of Jesus because they firmly believed that Jesus was going to redeem Israel (Luke 24:18). Perhaps it might be well for us to consider some possible reactions of those connected with the death of the Messiah.

The leaders were envious of Jesus and sought His death on numerous occasions (Matthew 27:18). Just as Elijah was accused, they considered Jesus a “troubler of Israel.” They must have rejoiced at His crucifixion. Afterwards, they were concerned that His influence might continue (Matthew 28:62-66). Were they now content that they had eliminated their enemy?

What about Barabbas? He was guilty of sedition and murder. He had been on death row. Yet, by some strange stroke of “luck,” he was freed to go on his merry way. What did he think of the death of the innocent man that had saved his life? Did that reprieve in any way change him?

Satan must be included in those who thought they were victorious. Did he rejoice? Satan, a “liar from the beginning,” had finally “defeated” God by orchestrating the death of God’s own Son. One cannot but surmise that he felt quite smug in his victory over his former Master, the God of all, which he wanted to be.

Finally, consider the Father’s angels. They had witnessed the creation, man’s fall, the continual sin of man throughout the ages, and finally, the earthly arrival of God’s own Son, Jesus. One of them had the honor of announcing His arrival and myriads sang at the good news.

Now, it appeared that one of God’s rebellious angels had been victorious in arranging the “final solution,” death to God’s own Son. Angels did not fully know God’s plan or his power. They had no idea that the Christ could defeat even death itself. There is nothing in the Word about them, but surely they were in despair.

Let’s make a life application. How does Christ’s birth, life, miracles, and horrific suffering and death affect you? Has there been any change in your behavior because God’s own Son had to die because of you and me? What is your attitude now that someone had to lose his life so that you might have eternal life? When we partake of the communion on the first day of the week, how tangible does that sacrifice become?

Perhaps a better question to proffer is this: does the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus our Lord make any changes in our everyday lives? Our love for the Master compels us to re-make our lives in His image. That means our habits, which may have formed over many years, our secret sins, our desire for ill to others, our innermost thoughts, and our concern for the soul of everyone around us is molded by Jesus! If the offering of Jesus Christ by the Father is to make any difference to a lost and dying world, it is only through each one of us individually communicating God’s love.

The story is told that when hearing a sermon on the death of Jesus, a little girl in the audience began to weep. Her mother reached over to reassure her and said, “Don’t let it affect you, honey.” Has that event so tragic and so wonderful ceased to affect us?

Have you ever spoken to someone about Jesus? Does your new life in Christ make any difference to your family, to your neighbor, to your work or school acquaintances, or to anyone?

Today, yes, today is the right time to stop and take stock of our spiritual lives. If we have not made a difference before, God allows us to begin anew through His grace. Will you?

-Ken Smith

Danylo Kovalenko was 22 years old when he swiped through a dating app and came across 19-year old Diana Haidukova. She messaged him first; his long blond hair and angular jaw reminded her of an anime character she liked. They met, went for a walk, went to dinner, and the whole relationship just took off.

The next six months went by like a blur because Danylo and Diana lived in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine and their country, which they loved dearly, was under attack. One of Diana’s friends stated that they were “drowning in each other.” One night, as the bombs from Russia fell, they took shelter in a basement and Danylo proposed.

It was less than 4 months since they met, but they were married in a government office. Some of their friends were concerned that they were moving too fast, but there was a war going on and they were determined to spend every moment they could together. This village was only about 20 miles from the front lines of the war.

Eventually, they got somewhat acclimated to the war going on around them. But just a few weeks ago, on the night of October 16th, Russia launched a series of strikes on their village. Several explosions happened close to their family’s apartment, shaking the ground, and they decided to move into the corridor. At the last moment, Diana turned back to grab a few belongings. Danylo ran after her and the two never returned to their family and friends.

In the article I read in The Washington Post, Diana’s sister commented: “I’m so sad we will never be able to see this couple grow old. They would have been the best couple in the world.”

Isn’t it at the heart of our existence of humans to have someone to love and someone to love us? Isn’t it at the heart of our existence that we want to experience the feeling of belonging?

FOR THOSE WHO DON’T FEEL A BELONGING:

1) Be realistic – No one will be loved and accepted by everyone. Even Jesus was not loved and accepted by everyone. And He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master” (Matt. 10:24).

2) Refuse to be offended. Do not take the opportunity to be offended. Paul writes: “Bear with one another, forgiving one another, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you” (Col. 3:13).

3) Get Involved. Sometimes we just need to force ourselves into a situation that causes us to “rub shoulders” with other people. Don’t blame the church for being “cliquish” if you never make an effort to be a part of any activity. If you are always standing back waiting for someone to come to you.

The Hebrew writer said this about the Christians to whom he was writing: “For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.  And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,  so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb. 6:10-12).

4) Pay attention to the Primary Love Language –  Love others in the way that they need to be loved. This is based on the book by Gary Chapman which teaches that each of us have a “primary” love language: words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, acts of service, or physical touch. How are we interacting with others in their “love language”?

To help others feel loved and feeling like they belong, let’s love them as Christ has loved us.

Paul Holland

A few years after I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town.
From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a
special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger… he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.
If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the
answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future!

He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me
cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn’t seem to mind.  Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet.  (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt
obligated to honour them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home – not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our long time visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears. My Dad didn’t permit the liberal use of alcohol but the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by
the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom
rebuked… And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has
blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents’ den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?….We just call him “TV.” – He has a wife now….we call her “Computer.”
Their first child is “Cell Phone.” and –Second child “I Pad ”

~ Author Unknown

For children of all ages, the waiting game in on as they anxiously await the coming of Ole St. Nick on December 25. On Christmas eve, preparations are made as cookies and milk are left out around the tree. Kids are excited as they bounce out of bed Christmas morning to see if “He” came.

As Christians, we too are involved in our own waiting game. Jesus said “I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself” (John 14:2-3). Jesus is coming back, but when?  We know the day Christmas arrives, but for Christ’s return He said, “Be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming” (Matt. 24:41). Jesus gave us only one warning, to “Be on the alert,” that His return will be on a day we do not expect him, and on an hour that we do not know (Matt. 24:50).

Do not be thinking that you will have time to prepare for Christ’s return like you do in getting your last-minute Christmas shopping done.  You will not. You must be faithful now, at the very moment of the Trumpet sound! The foolish virgins were not given time to go purchase oil, but rather the bridegroom came and “The door was shut” (Matt. 25:10). If Jesus came tonight, would you be ready?

-Dennis Doughty

Galileo, like many Renaissance artists, depended on the patronage of wealthy rulers to support his research. The problem was that his patrons often paid him in gifts rather than cash. In 1610, he came upon a new idea. When he discovered the moons of Jupiter, he decided to focus his attention on the Medici family. This was because the founder of the Medici dynasty, Cosimo I, had made Jupiter the symbol of power.

So Galileo dedicated his discovery of the moons of Jupiter to the Medicis. Then he commissioned an emblem which included Jupiter with symbols of the Medici family and presented it to Cosimo II. That year, Cosimo made Galileo his court philosopher and mathematician, complete with a salary.

Everyone has insecurities. If a boss is not a Christian, his insecurities may have a stronger influence over him and his choices than a boss who is a Christian. But for us employees who are Christians, Paul writes: “in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Colossians 3:22-24).

In another context, Paul writes: “Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor” (Romans 13:7). Be wise in how you interact with a boss who wants to appear more brilliant than others. They care about their name and their glory. Help them understand that your success in your job does not minimize the effort they have made or are making for the strength of the business.

On the other side of the coin – and this can apply to us who serve Christian bosses – don’t take their love and respect for granted. In late 16th century Japan, Emperor Hideyoshi had a favorite named Sen no Rikyu, an artist of the Japanese tea ceremony. Rikyu made the mistake of having a wooden statue made of himself and set up in the temple within the palace gates. Hideyoshi decided that Rikyu did not have any sense of decorum and had him sentenced to death. Rikyu ended up taking his own life.

None of us should take our positions for granted, regardless who our boss is. Nor should we allow favors to go to our head. Instead, gifts should motivate us to work even harder. That is the result of being thankful for what we have.

Paul Holland

Seventeen years. That’s how much time has passed since I preached my first “sermon.” I’ve still got a recording of it somewhere on a cassette tape. During my college years I preached for a rural congregation where a handful of Christians gathered and endured my undeveloped proclamations week in and week out. That lasted almost two years until I moved to Paris, now nearly ten years ago. In spite of my inexperience I developed some mantras that have remained in my preaching repertoire.

One of those mantras is, “At the center of Christianity is a cross.” This is a little play on the similarity in appearance of the English letter “T” and the Roman cross. But it’s so much more than that. It refers to one of the central teachings of Jesus Christ – one that American Christianity, at least in my experience, tends to overlook: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

While living on a Christian college campus I began hearing and seeing this phrase all over the place: “Do what makes you happy.” I wasn’t surprised to find society at large making happiness its chief goal. I was a bit surprised, and definitely concerned, however, to observe many of my peers – who grew up in Christian homes and attended a private Christian university – buying into this mindset. Simply put, pursuing happiness (even if it is in the Constitution) is neither biblical nor practical. It seems that the more people chase happiness, the more elusive it becomes. True happiness (perhaps we call that joy) doesn’t come from pleasure, fun, comfort, or complacency. According to Scripture, joy comes from contentment, and paradoxically, contentment comes from discomfort. That’s one of the key applications of Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Clay Leonard

Saul, the great persecutor of the early church, referred to the disciples of Jesus as “belonging to the Way” (Acts 9:1-2).  A few years later, while in Ephesus, the converted Paul, finds himself and other disciples, being spoken evil of and persecuted, for belonging to “the Way” (Acts19:9,23). Before governor Felix, Paul confessed that in “the Way, which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers,” and Felex himself said that he had “a more exact knowledge about the Way” (Acts 24:14,22).

Perhaps “the Way” came from a statement of Jesus in the upper room, “You know the way I am going,” Jesus told his apostles. Thomas questioned Jesus, “How do we know the way?” to which Jesus replied, “I am the way” and, “no man comes to the Father but by me” (John14:5-6).

While we do not speak of being of “the Way” in today’s world, the Christian life is very much about “the Way.”  Jesus is the way to God, the way to forgiveness, the way to eternal life. We follow the “way of the Lord” (Acts 18:18:25) in dealing with daily life, in raising our children, and serving our neighbor. Do you “belong to the Way,” serve God “in the Way,” and have “knowledge of the Way?” Be careful however, “for there is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Prov. 16:25). Are you on the right “Way?”

-Dennis Doughty

Pardeep Dahiya was driving his tractor-trailer rig from Sydney to Brisbane in Australia earlier this month.  It was well past midnight, and he decided to pull over and catch a short nap.  He awoke as daylight was dawning, and from his rear-view mirrors caught sight of a piece of cloth underneath the trailer.  Upon investigating, he found a man climbing out from metal grating on the bottom of the rig.

The 43-year-old stowaway had been out drinking the night before.  He decided to catch a free ride home and climb out when the truck came to a stop light.  Instead, he was lulled to sleep and found he had ridden more than 250 miles by the time he awoke.

Dahiya took pity on the man and allowed him to ride with him in the cab of the truck, but decided shortly afterward to call the police.  The police fined the man, and then drove him to a train station to catch a legitimate ride to his hometown.

The late preacher Ravi Zacharias has been quoted as saying this: “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”  That statement jumped into my mind as I read about this man catching a ride on the tractor trailer.

“Sin” is such a short word, but such a tragic fact of life.  According to the Bible, sin is anything that transgresses God’s laws.  1 John 3:4 defines it clearly: “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”  In revealing His word through inspired writers, God has shown us the right way to live.  Sin, however, rebels against God and goes off in another direction.

Are there consequences for sin?  Brace yourself before you read Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death …”  “Death” in this case is spiritual death.  Sin separates us from God, the source of our spiritual lives.  “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

Some believe they can go on a short “joy ride” with sin, and then jump off before any real harm is done.  Isaiah 64:6 dispels that notion: “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”  How much power does a dry leaf have against gusts of wind?  That’s how much power we may have in extracting ourselves from the consequences of sin.

As the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  Instead of giving in to sin, it’s wise to submit to Christ’s righteousness.  “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered, and having been set free from sin, you became slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:17,18).

If you’re riding with sin, you’re headed for destruction.  It’s time to climb out from underneath and allow the Lord to deliver you to the best destination of all.

Come to the light God offers!  Study His word, the Bible.  Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24).  Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.

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Copyright, 2023, Timothy D. Hall.