'salvation' Tagged Posts (Page 5)
Daily Devotions: August 6, 2020
August 6, 2020 Romans 10:5-11 … “For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” vs. 10 Paul contrasts the righteousness that comes from the law with the righteousness that comes from faith in his treatise to the Romans. For him it was an important distinction. He wanted the people to know that justification, being made right with God, was a gift, and not something that was earned through…
Daily Devotions: June 27, 2020
June 27, 2020 Romans 6:19-23 … “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” vs. 23 Paul’s language in this section of Romans can easily be read from a dualistic perspective. Two alternatives are offered: death or eternal life, and it’s implied that the choice is ours. If we continue in sin we will die, but if we stop sinning and submit to God we will have…
Daily Devotions: June 19, 2020
June 19, 2020 Romans 6:1b-11 … “Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” vss. 1b-2 At some point it became fashionable for Christians to speak of their personal relationship to Jesus and many have become comfortable with that kind of talk. They’ve learned to recount the story of their conversion and what it is like to have Jesus come into their…
Daily Devotions: May 15, 2020
May 15, 2020 1 Peter 3:18-22 … “in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.” vss. 19-20 Peter reminds us that in the early years of the Church, believers gravitated toward the image of the ark as a metaphor for…
Daily Devotions: December 23, 2019
December 23, 2019 For full passage click: Titus 2:11-14 … “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly…” vss. 11-12 There are some who don’t like the idea of universal salvation. They prefer a theological system that distinguishes between the lost and the saved, and that promises a fiery end for those who are unbelievers.…
Daily Devotions: November 11, 2019
November 11, 2019 For full passage click: Malachi 4:1-2a … “But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings…” vs. 2a Some prophets of Israel looked for the coming Day of the Lord, a final intervention by God in which the evil would punished and the good rewarded. There are still many who look for such a Day. Their hope is that the really bad people who are such a scourge…
Daily Devotions: October 31, 2019
October 31, 2019 For full passage click: Ephesians 1:11-14 … “In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;” vs. 13 In the ritual of Holy Baptism, after the baptism and the tracing of the cross on the forehead, these words are often said, “Child of God, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked…
Daily Devotions: September 13, 2019
September 13, 2019 For full passage click: 1 Timothy 1:15-17 … “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.” vs. 15 During his ministry, the Gospels report that Jesus had a passion for sinners, those people who had been systematically excluded from full participation in religious activities. He regularly ate with them and didn’t hesitate to offer them healing and hope. Sometimes he told…
Daily Devotions: June 7, 2019
June 7, 2019 For full passage click: Acts 2:14-21 …“Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” vs. 21 Peter was so excited that he could not contain himself. The Holy Spirit had exploded on the scene in spectacular fashion and he was convinced that the things that were happening were a fulfillment of what had been written by the prophet Joel many centuries before. This was the pouring of the Spirit upon all flesh,…
Daily Devotions: May 28, 2019
May 28, 2019 For full passage click: Acts 16:25-34 …“At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay.” vs. 33 When the Philippian jailer, in the aftermath of an earthquake, asked what he needed to do to be saved, Paul was quick with a response, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.” Some have used Paul’s answer…
Daily Devotions: April 15, 2019
April 15, 2019 For full passage click: Isaiah 42:1-9 …“Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it.” vs. 5 The prophet knew that the Creator of the Universe had given spirit to every breathing person on the planet. That spirit is our God-connection and is humanity’s common inheritance. It…
Daily Devotions: March 9, 2019
March 9, 2019 For full passage click: Romans 10:8b-13 …“For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” vs. 10 Everything that is necessary for universal salvation has already been done, and it’s all a gift from God. God’s love and forgiveness is by grace and it is for everyone–no exceptions. That does not mean however, that everyone is currently enjoying the good gifts of God. In fact, too…