Over the last two weeks I have been challenged and asked in the acts in which we go through that may cause salvation or more gifts. I think that we have misconstrued what the good word says. Over and over again we see that the Lord is not concerned with law but with the heart, with the relationship. It is good to desire the things of the Lord and the blessing in which he pours out, but because of our instant gratification kind of world, we might be mixing up good godly desires and sinful prideful wants. If we serve the Lord in an outwardly way wanting others to see what we do, we are sinning in this! A good example of this would be the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-23).
When we look at the rich young ruler we see that this man had it all, so he thought. He knew he abided by the law and yet he was not able to give up the one thing that he loved more than God – money. The rich young ruler is a perfect example of one who lives by the law and feels like he is an upstanding citizen and good in the Lord’s law. But as many of us know the Lord is not concerned with the law but with the heart.
So if the rich young ruler is what we have to be careful of becoming what are examples in the bible that may help us understand the Lord and His blessings. The greatest blessing that we have ever been given is Grace that leads to salvation. This is poured throughout Paul’s letters to the churches, but it is also seen (more importantly) by our Lord Jesus Christ.
One example is seen with a man, who was not a Jew, was possessed by many demons, it is recorded that he could not had been subdued and was once bound by shackles and chains but he also broke through those (Mark 5:1-20). The evil spirits that lived in this man knew that Jesus was Lord and asked not to be tormented by Him (Mark 5:7). Jesus allows the evil spirits to go into the thousands (that’s a lot of evil spirits!) of swine that were on the hill and all the swine ran into the sea, afterwards the man stood there in his right mind and praising God. As Jesus was about to leave the man begged and pleaded with Him to go with Him, the Lord says no. Why?
“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
Mark 5:19
The Lord doesn’t tell the man to go and get baptized, or to go and get an education, he tells him to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Now we are not told that this man was ultimately saved and is now in Heaven but we know that the Lord healed this man, for His glory and yet the man received a blessing. He didn’t have anything to offer, only his story.
Another example we can look at is in the Gospel of John chapter 4, where Jesus talks with the Samaritan woman (4:1-42). Once again this woman is not a Jew, she is living in sin at that moment because she is living with a man who is not her husband and she has had other relationships like this previously. Jesus offers her water, as she has come to get water from the well,
“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”
John 4:13-14
The woman is astonished! She desires the water and then Jesus tells her of her past and present; through this conviction and desire of this water she realizes that this is the Lord that stands before her. She goes and tells everyone in the town and shares the good news.
Once again we see someone that believes and desires to share the good news, but unlike the once demon possessed man she instantly goes and tells the people in the town in which she lives. Can you imagine the people who judged her for being a prostitute, a whore because of how many men she had lived and slept with and now she is sharing the gospel. The Lord truly can use anyone! We are once again stricken with the thought, is this women saved? She wasn’t baptized, she didn’t have great knowledge; all she had was an interaction with Jesus and she believed. She had a relationship with the Lord.
The last example is one that shows the Lord’s grace to its fullest. There were two men on the cross next to Jesus. One man asked to see works, he was no different from everyone else; they all wanted to see miraculous signs but never wanted to believe. The other man recognized that Jesus was the Lord and asked to be remembered. The Lord’s reply was simple yet beautiful.
“And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise .’”
Luke 23:43
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretched like me! This is so awesome! This man, who lived a life of sin, was receiving his just penalty, and yet the Lord knew his heart and promised him salvation.
I write these things to hopefully bring to light the legalistic views that we may have. The Lord is concerned with the heart not with the actions, he desires for you to dwell in paradise with you but so often we feel like there is more to it than recognizing who the Lord is. What do we learn from those in the story? The man with the pigs had to have had the Spirit enter into him so that the evil spirits would leave, and once this occurred he didn’t want to leave Jesus’ side. The women at the well had this relationship with Jesus because the Spirit that filled her cup with eternal life, and so she shared it with everyone. The man on the cross was given Christ guarantee that he would dwell with Him in paradise, imagine the testimony this had to those watching! The demon possessed man and woman could had been baptized latter but it wasn’t recorded. Baptism is a sign of faith that the Lord ask of us to show other that we are committing our life to God and that we want to be held accountable by our brothers and sisters.
If we look carefully at the text there will be action from receiving God’s grace, but there are not certain laws in which guarantee salvation. We want to be close to our Father, we want to dwell with Him, and we want to share the things that He has done for us. We do all this so that one day we will go to heaven and fall even more in love.
Prayer
Lord thank you for your saving Grace, Lord help me to reflect upon it more and to find your beauty in it all. Lord I recognize the sinful person that I am and that through your grace I am saved. May the reflection upon your love drive me to share the things that you show me – may the grace that you give me be poured out to others through me – may my life be an endless pursuit to know you more. May each day be a day that prepares me for the day that I meet you. Amen.
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