4 September 2019
He Saves Them Anyway
Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.
What Jesus did is provide something that we all desperately need. There is no other way to be made right with God except through the forgiveness of his Son. Jesus didn’t save us because we might one day deserve to be saved. AND Jesus didn’t ever say, “Nah, not you” to the ones who would fall away and stop following him. He forgave their sins too. This is hard for us to wrap our brains around. Some people will even make a bold statement and declare that the one that falls away was never saved in the first place. Maybe. We know there are plenty of people who make insincere confessions of faith. But wouldn’t it be just like Jesus to save them anyway? That doesn’t mean they never had the free will to leave their faith in him, but it does mean they know what they’re missing when they walk away. And, better still, they will have something they miss and want to turn back to when they come to their senses.
Jesus tells a story about a guy who did just that. He rejected the salvation and belonging he had, missed it horribly and then returned. (See Luke 15:11-24) If he never belonged in the first place, what, from experience, would he know to return to?
That’s how kind Jesus is. Everyone who wants his salvation gets it. Everyone who wants to hold on to it gets to without adding any feats of personal strength or strict self denial to it. Everyone who wants to walk away can walk away. AND anyone who wants to return gets a hearty welcome back!
Dear God,
Your ways are way more gracious than ours. I like how you parent. I like how generous you are. I like knowing that the one that falls away has the option of remembering your goodness; you give them something to miss horribly and want back. Thank you for your open arms policy that affects every area of my life as I walk with you and even as I parent my own kids. You are amazing and great, and I love you very much, and I pray in your precious Son’s name, amen.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
He Saves Them Anyway
Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.
What Jesus did is provide something that we all desperately need. There is no other way to be made right with God except through the forgiveness of his Son. Jesus didn’t save us because we might one day deserve to be saved. AND Jesus didn’t ever say, “Nah, not you” to the ones who would fall away and stop following him. He forgave their sins too. This is hard for us to wrap our brains around. Some people will even make a bold statement and declare that the one that falls away was never saved in the first place. Maybe. We know there are plenty of people who make insincere confessions of faith. But wouldn’t it be just like Jesus to save them anyway? That doesn’t mean they never had the free will to leave their faith in him, but it does mean they know what they’re missing when they walk away. And, better still, they will have something they miss and want to turn back to when they come to their senses.
Jesus tells a story about a guy who did just that. He rejected the salvation and belonging he had, missed it horribly and then returned. (See Luke 15:11-24) If he never belonged in the first place, what, from experience, would he know to return to?
That’s how kind Jesus is. Everyone who wants his salvation gets it. Everyone who wants to hold on to it gets to without adding any feats of personal strength or strict self denial to it. Everyone who wants to walk away can walk away. AND anyone who wants to return gets a hearty welcome back!
Dear God,
Your ways are way more gracious than ours. I like how you parent. I like how generous you are. I like knowing that the one that falls away has the option of remembering your goodness; you give them something to miss horribly and want back. Thank you for your open arms policy that affects every area of my life as I walk with you and even as I parent my own kids. You are amazing and great, and I love you very much, and I pray in your precious Son’s name, amen.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
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