Foundations of Faith
BLESSINGS OF SALVATION (III)
Michael’s dad bought him a very special gift, a basketball autographed by each member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team (known as the “Dream Team”). His dad spent “a pretty penny” for it. One day Michael’s mom saw him taking his Olympic ball outside to shoot baskets. “No way!” she told him sternly. “You use your old basketball outside. This one is very special and very valuable! (True story except for change of name.)
Because of the value of Michael’s basketball, it was to be set apart from his other possessions and play things. Just so, God places great value on each person who is saved. Therefore He has set us apart from the rest of the world and before Himself as trophies of His grace. We are His “jewels” or “special treasure” (Mal. 3:17). The biblical words for our being set apart like this are “sanctified” or “made holy.”
God has cleaned us up, cleansed us from our sins (Zech. 3:3-5; Rev. 1:5). He graciously views us as “sanctified” (1 Cor. 1:2,30; 6:11; 2 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 10:10), “saints” (Rom. 1:7; 12:13; 15:25, 26), and “holy” (Col. 3:12; Heb. 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:5,9). Now if we are honest with ourselves, we know that we still sin and behave in unholy ways (Rom. 7:14-25). But God’s purpose for us is that one day, when He takes us to heaven, we will be actually, totally delivered from all sin, uncleanness, and unholiness (Eph. 1:4; 5:27; Rev. 20:6; 21:2). This is why heaven will be such a happy place-because it is, first of all, a holy place with absolutely no sin (Rev. 21:27; 22:15). Furthermore, God graciously sees us right now, today, as being as fit for His holy presence in heaven as we possibly could be. This is because He sees us through the finished work of Christ. He has “made us accepted in the Beloved [Christ]” (Eph. 1:6). He has given us a new, Christ-like nature (2 Pet. 1:4), a nature that cannot sin (1 John 3:9; see Aug94). Christ is in us (Rom. 8:10; Gal. 2;20; Col. 1:27; 3:3,4). “As [Christ] is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).
The truth of our position in Christ as holy, sanctified, set apart ones provides us with a strong motivation to grow in the practice of holiness in our daily lives. This will be discussed further below in The Race.
Running the Race
POSSESSING OUR POSSESSION (I)
God promised to give to the children of Israel the land of Canaan as their own possession (Deut. 7:1-26). He led His people into the promised land and gave them great victories over the Canaanite armies (Joshua 3-12). But several years after all of this, the LORD said to Joshua, “There remains yet very much land to be possessed” (Josh. 13:1; 18:3).
God has given each believer in Christ a wonderful possession. This consists of the various blessings of salvation that we have been studying in FOUNDATIONS. While all of these blessings are ours by God’s grace, we often fail to possess them and get the good from them. Let us learn how we can possess the possessions we have in Christ.
When you, a believer in Christ, realize you have freshly sinned, do you immediately assume you have lost your salvation? If so, you have not possessed the blessings of forgiveness and justification. As noted in the Sep97 issue, all of our sins were still future when Jesus died for them. “God … [has] forgiven you all trespasses” (Col. 2:13)-past, present, and future. Also, God has justified us, that is, cleared us of every sin on our record. If we find ourselves plagued by the memory of past sins, we need to go back to the cross and see that Christ suffered and atoned for every one of those sins. This will give us peace of mind (Rom. 5:1) and we will possess the blessings of forgiveness and justification.
In addition to this, a clue that we are really possessing and enjoying the blessing of God’s forgiveness is that we are ready and willing to forgive others who sin against us (Eph. 4:32).
We who were once enemies of God and far away from Him are now reconciled and brought near to Him by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13; Col. 1:21). Do we enjoy being near to God? Do we enjoy reading about Him in His Word? Do we enjoy having such a Resource of wisdom and knowledge close at hand? Do we often turn to Him, seeking to know His will?
If we really appreciate the truth of our reconciliation with God, we will find ourselves making special efforts to be reconciled with people whom we have offended, or who have offended us (Matt. 5:24; 18:15; 1 Cor. 7:11).
God has not chosen us to be saved so we can sit back and relax until we go to heaven. We are “elect … through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience … of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2). God has chosen us that we might not only be obedient to Jesus Christ but obey as He obeyed. “I delight to do Thy will” was Christ’s constant attitude (Psa. 40:8).
There are a number of verses that encourage us in the daily practice of holiness. “As He who has called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of behavior” (1 Pet. 1:15,16). “Christ … loved the Church, and gave Himself for it that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word” (Eph. 5:25,26). We will possess the blessing of being sanctified to the extent that we live holy, sanctified lives daily.
NOTICE: Richard Unutaire (Warri, Nigeria, 1995) and Ojukoro C.U. Jonah (Enugu, Nigeria, 1996) have successfully completed the assignments for the indicated years.
Assignment 13: Write out a verse in 2 Corinthians 7 and one in 2 Timothy 2 that tell how we can be practically holy and sanctified.
Special Assignment from Oct97: I have asked many people the question, “What one thing has God done more than anything else to show us that He loves us?” The majority response is, “God has awakened me this morning, has kept me alive for another day.” Dear friend, God has done something far greater for you than that: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16; see also 1 John 4:9,10). Having the assurance of eternal life “present with the Lord” is far, far better than living another day “absent from the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:6-8; Phil. 1:23).