2016-11-18
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I have been led to pick up our discussion on the subject of deliverance, now that we know who the saints actually are and who they were during Christ’s earthly incarnation. Remember, the Greek word, hagios, means saint. In this context a saint is one who is Christ-like, one who is set apart as holy and who inherits God’s light through his faith. We also looked at RO 1: 6-7; 1 COR 1: 2, 26-31.
Now we need to examine this deliverance to which I referred. COL 1: 13-14, “For He [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins.” In the face of presumed danger or destruction, we have been drawn or “snatched up” from this evil. That is the definition of being rescued, which in Greek is the word, errusato [Strong’s no. 4506 pronounced “rhoo-om-hee”]. Another word used in this passage in the KJV is one meaning transferred or translated, which in the Greek is metestesen [Stong’s no. 3179, pronounced “meth-is’-tay-mee”]. The meaning is “being moved out of its place or transferred. In its verbal form it is to change. While they take some thought, these word studies really help us to understand the meaning originally intended by God here.
One other word that we need to know is the one for redemption. In Greek as used here, it is apolutrosin [Strong’s no. 629, pronounced “ap-ol-oo’-tro-sis”]. This is a release from evil by payment of ransom, a buying back of freedom (from slavery to sin). This puts the person at a safe distance from what enslaved him. It also includes the forgiveness of past sins.
It will be helpful to look at some of the cross-references for this crucial passage. AC 26: 17-18, [Paul’s confession before Herod Agrippa using Christ’s words], “I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” EPH 2: 1-10 also helps us better understand the enormity of Christ’s redemptive work in our lives. This passage opens with a description of our pre-faith lives. We were spiritually dead due to disobedience and sin. We were worldly and ruled by our human fleshly desires, led by the evil forces of this world. We did whatever suited our minds and bodies. We were destined to suffer eternally from God’s wrath. However, His love for us is so great that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for us, giving us the chance to have eternal life. It was only through God’s grace, and not anything else we did, that this opportunity for salvation has come to mankind. Through faith and confession of sins, we are raised to rule in heaven with Jesus. By God’s grace we are saved by faith when we are in union with Christ. He created us for a life of good deeds, which God has already prepared for us to do. This passage makes clear the fact that nothing we did, other than confess sins and come to faith in Christ, saved us. Our salvation is by God’s grace. This is a crucial understanding that we must have in order to truly appreciate what God and His Son have done for us.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before You in awe and reverence. Over our lifetimes on while on earth, it is Your desire that we give serious consideration to the ramifications of Your Son’s Atonement for our lives. This great sacrifice of His physical life—the suffering and humiliation He endured prior and while on the cross—has a huge impact on those who will listen to the truth of the Gospel and believe in Him. It reaches every aspect of our lives, and we are grateful to You. We acknowledge Your superiority, supremacy, and sovereignty over our lives. We offer You praise and thanks for this great and wholly undeserved grace given us. JN 6: 38-39, EPH 1: 4-5, and JN 3: 16 are some examples of verses/passages that not only have great lessons for us, but also reveal the love [agape in Greek] in Your heart for us. Your unmerited favor shown to us has totally changed our lives for the better. You give us purposes that are directly tied to Kingdom-building. You enable us to be justified [RO 4:3], sanctified [PS 94: 12-15], and eventually glorified (when You deem us ready) [HE 11: 19-23]. You have opened the way for us to have eternal forgiveness for our sins [1 JN 1: 9] through obedient faith in Christ. It is with humble praise and thanks that we utter this prayer in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: It is the fruit that we produce as believers in Jesus Christ that leads to the establishment of His royal Kingdom. As His human covenant partners, we share that goal with Him. Next week, we will continue the discussion we are having about what enables a person to become a saint and gain eternal life in heaven. We need to recap the relationship between Paul’s prayer [COL 1: 3-14] and concerns that came up right as the “Colossian heresy” gained popularity. You’ll remember from the introduction to this “Knowing God” series of messages that this heresy was about ceremonialism, asceticism, deprecation of Christ, angel worship, secret knowledge, and reliance on human wisdom and tradition. I’ve already described Gnosticism, one of the outgrowths of the Colossian heresy, and that leads us into the subject of false teaching. As I look back on what has transpired in my own life, I can’t stress enough how powerful our God is. He took me from not believing He exists and personal rebellion against authority figures in my early life, to the life of service in ministry that I have today. I have become very aware of His continuing presence. I’m His child, adopted into His family, who has been given extraordinary and fully undeserved grace. I hope and pray you feel this way too. If not, I will pray that God moves each of you forward in your spiritual maturity. And while I’m at it, let me offer Him all the praise and thanks I have, as a Jewish person, to give for giving me a chance to share the reasons for my faith in His Son with you. Our God deserves this and all the love of Christ we can show Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2016. All Rights Reserved.
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