Faith in Jesus: washing us clean daily.
Lately I’ve just started to read the Book of Romans in the New Testament.
The more I read it I seem to liken it to the story of the prodigal son all found in the Gospel.
For me to sum up the book of Romans it pretty much explains that Faith in Christ leads to eternal life. That you can’t work it off because our righteousness is no righteousness at all. Simply by nature we are wicked.
The good news is that by accepting God's free gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ and admitting our broken fallen state, Jesus fills us with his Holy Spirit. It’s this transformation and filling by God that he recreates us into his own image.
By this we start to behave like him and seek his will instead of our own. Because of the battle of our old natures and the spirit of God we are constantly reminded of our need for him to be King in our lives.
The works we now do come from bearing fruit of the revelation we are very so opened up to about regarding his glory and majesty.
We now start to do things that he would do because we are being drawn closer to him by his spirit and the word of God and others in the faith.
This new faith that opens up our lives to a holy form of goodness and righteousness springs to life from having real faith in Jesus Christ and his saving grace. The more we praise him and become like him the more we lay down our lives and start putting him and his Gospel of salvation before everything else. Because we know that when our lives are done that’s all that will count. And then we face the resurrection of all to give account.
Whether we have heard the good news or we have not all will face the lord to give account and receive their reward for all they have done and not done.
The story of the prodigal son is a well-known story in the Kingdom of God.
I will share the simple version and then make a point.
The Father of a farm has 2 sons. One wants to leave home early and take all his inheritance. So the father gives it and the son leaves and goes far away. He spends it all living a wicked life and comes to poverty. So returns home hoping to at least become a servant and eat good meals in the security of his father’s home.
So one day the father sees his long lost Son returning home from afar. Tears of emotion and joy start bubbling up inside him as he can’t believe his son strolling up the hill in rags.
He shouts to the whole house and all his servants and his other Son. “Look my long lost Son…he has returned. Quick go get a fat calf and kill it readying it for us to celebrate. And put my rig on his finger for he is my Son… Find him the finest linen and burn the rags”.
The whole house shouts for Joy however the other son who has been at his father’s side and never left for all those years is not rejoicing. Never has he seen the emotion in his father’s eyes for him as he seen for the other son.
All these years he worked hard…was loyal and did everything right. He never spent his inheritance.
The father looks at him and sees the pain and reassures him he loves him just as much but still wants to express his Joy.
In this story I think we can see ourselves in all 3 of the main Characters. Like the prodigal son we are forgiven and get to experience God's compassion and grace and celebration that we have returned to the Father.
Like the Father we celebrate when other people accept Jesus Christ and lord and saviour and want to lavish them with all of God’s love.
And finally like the loyal Son we know what it’s like to experience jealousy. The feeling of selfishness and self-righteousness. That our own deeds are to be more important that God's saving grace from our true wickedness.
We were all like the good son once…then we became the prodigal son and God brings us back to himself through Jesus Christ.
Like the Book of Romans we no longer have to work off our righteousness but we are made right with God through faith in Jesus.
As he puts the ring on your finger and fattens up the calf and puts on you the finest linen remember this. He loves you because you turned back to him. He even loved you when you didn’t love him by sending Jesus into the world to save all those who would believe in him even before they were born.
God’s love for us is unfathomable because we haven’t seen what he is saving us into yet.
Unlike the story of the prodigal son the party will be the beginning of our story as we move into eternity.
Blessings to you.
Chris Dobson
Lately I’ve just started to read the Book of Romans in the New Testament.
The more I read it I seem to liken it to the story of the prodigal son all found in the Gospel.
For me to sum up the book of Romans it pretty much explains that Faith in Christ leads to eternal life. That you can’t work it off because our righteousness is no righteousness at all. Simply by nature we are wicked.
The good news is that by accepting God's free gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ and admitting our broken fallen state, Jesus fills us with his Holy Spirit. It’s this transformation and filling by God that he recreates us into his own image.
By this we start to behave like him and seek his will instead of our own. Because of the battle of our old natures and the spirit of God we are constantly reminded of our need for him to be King in our lives.
The works we now do come from bearing fruit of the revelation we are very so opened up to about regarding his glory and majesty.
We now start to do things that he would do because we are being drawn closer to him by his spirit and the word of God and others in the faith.
This new faith that opens up our lives to a holy form of goodness and righteousness springs to life from having real faith in Jesus Christ and his saving grace. The more we praise him and become like him the more we lay down our lives and start putting him and his Gospel of salvation before everything else. Because we know that when our lives are done that’s all that will count. And then we face the resurrection of all to give account.
Whether we have heard the good news or we have not all will face the lord to give account and receive their reward for all they have done and not done.
The story of the prodigal son is a well-known story in the Kingdom of God.
I will share the simple version and then make a point.
The Father of a farm has 2 sons. One wants to leave home early and take all his inheritance. So the father gives it and the son leaves and goes far away. He spends it all living a wicked life and comes to poverty. So returns home hoping to at least become a servant and eat good meals in the security of his father’s home.
So one day the father sees his long lost Son returning home from afar. Tears of emotion and joy start bubbling up inside him as he can’t believe his son strolling up the hill in rags.
He shouts to the whole house and all his servants and his other Son. “Look my long lost Son…he has returned. Quick go get a fat calf and kill it readying it for us to celebrate. And put my rig on his finger for he is my Son… Find him the finest linen and burn the rags”.
The whole house shouts for Joy however the other son who has been at his father’s side and never left for all those years is not rejoicing. Never has he seen the emotion in his father’s eyes for him as he seen for the other son.
All these years he worked hard…was loyal and did everything right. He never spent his inheritance.
The father looks at him and sees the pain and reassures him he loves him just as much but still wants to express his Joy.
In this story I think we can see ourselves in all 3 of the main Characters. Like the prodigal son we are forgiven and get to experience God's compassion and grace and celebration that we have returned to the Father.
Like the Father we celebrate when other people accept Jesus Christ and lord and saviour and want to lavish them with all of God’s love.
And finally like the loyal Son we know what it’s like to experience jealousy. The feeling of selfishness and self-righteousness. That our own deeds are to be more important that God's saving grace from our true wickedness.
We were all like the good son once…then we became the prodigal son and God brings us back to himself through Jesus Christ.
Like the Book of Romans we no longer have to work off our righteousness but we are made right with God through faith in Jesus.
As he puts the ring on your finger and fattens up the calf and puts on you the finest linen remember this. He loves you because you turned back to him. He even loved you when you didn’t love him by sending Jesus into the world to save all those who would believe in him even before they were born.
God’s love for us is unfathomable because we haven’t seen what he is saving us into yet.
Unlike the story of the prodigal son the party will be the beginning of our story as we move into eternity.
Blessings to you.
Chris Dobson
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