Foundation!

Foundation!

Romans 10:9-10 KJV

[9] that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. [10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Every passage that has been considered over the past few weeks has led to this. We have made reference to the greatest gift ever given to men, and what this gift was to achieve in the lives of all who receive Him. The gift was not given because God could absolutely guarantee that the whole world would accept His Son; He gave the gift regardless of what my response or reaction would be. As the Omniscient God, He knows all things, but for the sake of that one, maybe two, three or maybe a billion people across many generations that would accept the gift of His Son, God knew the sacrifice was worth it. The writer of this letter, Paul, is also a study on the power, reach and impact of this gift. If anyone was present at the stoning of Stephen to death, and how this young man was zealous for the Jewish customs and traditions, and you later heard him preach about Jesus, you would struggle to connect the dots. 

It was the same gift that was available to Simon Peter that was also available to Judas Iscariot. It was the same gift that available to the two thieves crucified beside Jesus. We know how the story ended for these four people, and the many others in the Bible who had access to the grace of God made flesh in Jesus Christ. The same gift; the same grace, but different outcomes. I do not intend to establish the exact reason why Judas failed and Peter didn't, and I would not say I know exactly why one thief responded to the free gift on offer, whilst the other rejected it to the end, but one thing can be established: God gives everyone of us the power to respond to His gift anyhow we choose. He does not force Himself on anyone, and He will not go against the exercise of my freewill. He also does not give room for being on the fence; in fact, there is no fence. You are either all in or all out. 

That is the thrust of the extract above.  Whether it was the thief on the cross, or Simon Peter at his worst, we all have to come to the point made above. The gift on offer is salvation from sin, and a translation into eternal life, but it will not happen by accident, or by osmosis. There is no room for being passive here, or just assuming that all will end well. I have to make a conscious decision to admit that I need help, and that only Jesus has the help that I need. I must then ask Him to come into my life to help me live above sin, and to make a commitment that I will always seek His help for all of life's decisions. My lips and my heart must work in sync; I cannot say one thing and mean the opposite. I cannot claim to submit to Jesus, whilst my daily routine promotes false independence. He has offered true life; He has given all of Himself. What would I give in return? What would I give up in order to take hold of eternal life? God's time of favour is here.