And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
TO PONDER
I know I have been on about this all week, but there is one word in this verse which really sticks out to me as I read it and words like it have been standing out to me in the other readings all week. So I apologise if today feels a bit like a repeat, but I think it is perhaps the most important part for us to take away from the idea of 'salvation'. The word that hit me is a simple one and it's probably not what you would expect. It's the word 'has'.
God 'has' given us eternal life. Do you see the significant difference this one little word makes to the way we understand salvation? Eternal life is not something God will give us when we die, rather it is something that he has already given us through Jesus. Isn't that good news!
However, it also 'ups the ante' when it comes to our witness and testimony to Jesus, particularly in light of the second half of this verse. It means, that these people in our lives who do not yet know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, are not only missing out on life after death, but they are missing out on real life now.
Maybe what I have just said is a revolutionary new thought for you, maybe it's not, but before you go making your plans for Saturday, can I just encourage you to ponder that reality. You are not just 'killing time' in this life, waiting to be invited to begin your eternal life in Christ, you are already living it. And if that's true, how does your eternal life look different from your old life? How will it change or influence how you go about your day today?
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I thank you that you have given me the gift of eternal life. Yet, in a finite world bound by time and space, it is not always easy to imagine the eternal life you offer as something that has already begun. Please help me to learn more each day, how to live my life in light of the eternal future you have already given me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
TO PONDER
As I met with the young people at LifeWay Newcastle last week for their Bible study, we found ourselves talking about the difference between 'conviction' and 'condemnation'.
It's an important distinction because sometimes the devil is in the detail, and I think he often uses the subtle difference between these two things to get us all confused about our standing with God and to question our salvation. And I think the best way to demonstrate this is with a courtroom analogy. (disclaimer: all of my understanding of courtroom proceedure comes from American television, I apologise in advance for any inaccuracies)
In a trial by jury, it is the task of the lawyers in the room to 'convince' the jury of either the defendants guilt or innocence. When the jury is suitably 'convinced' by both the evidence and the arguments, they reach a verdict. This verdict either 'convicts' the defendant of being guilty of the crime and worthy of judgement, or proclaims them innocent and free from any further prosecution. Conviction in this sense, is a proclamation of what is understood to be true. Now, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit does, at times, 'convict' us of our sin. In other words, he points out to us the truth about our heart and our actions and shows us how we have fallen short of living the way God's people are called to live.
Back to the courtroom. Condemnation, on the other hand is more like the judgement handed down by the judge after the verdict has been reached. This is where we often get mixed up. When the Holy Spirit confronts us and convicts us of our sin, he does so in order that we might recognise our need for God's mercy and grace and turn back to him. We get stuck sometimes when confronted or convicted of our sin, thinking that God could never love or forgive us for what we have done. We might find ourselves imagining all the punishments we deserve and even at times when we feel really guilty, take it upon ourselves to impose punishments on ourselves in a vain attempt to make ourselves feel better. This all only serves to make us question the validity of our salvation in Christ.
What a relief then, that here in John 3:17 we have these words of comfort and assurance - Jesus did not come to condemn us but to save us.
So, next time you find yourself replaying your guilt and wondering if God really does love you...think again. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you that in your great love and mercy you came into the world not to condemn us for our brokenness but to save us through your life, death, and resurrection. Please help me to be aware when my own thoughts condemn me and cause me to question my salvation. Help me to see where you are convicting me and leading me into a deeper and closer walk with you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
TO PONDER
Rebirth and renewal, these are two words we don't usually go to immediately when we think of salvation. We more commonly think of words like, freedom, forgiveness, grace, and mercy. Now there is nothing wrong with these words, they are all certainly a part of what salvation through faith in Christ Jesus brings. However, rebirth and renewal imply something profound that we often overlook... they mean something changes.
If something is reborn, or renewed, then it is somehow different than it was before. In fact, I'd say that if something is reborn then it has a fresh start and that if something is renewed it is being restored to a better state that it was found in. These are both parts of what salvation means for us, not only in the future but on a daily basis as we strive to live as followers of Jesus.
Being reborn, means that we can be free of the mistakes of our past. Every day we have the opportunity to rise to new life with Christ and leave the sins and mistakes of the previous day behind us. Now that's not to say that we might not need to make amends with someone we might have hurt or mistreated, but it means the guilt and shame of those things can be left behind and we can move forward towards restoration of relationships, mercy, forgiveness and love as we turn our eyes again to following Jesus.
Likewise, renewal is about becoming something different or better than before. This is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in us. In the church world, we call this the process of 'sanctification'. It's really just a long word to describe the process of becoming more like Jesus. Now denominational battle lines have been drawn throughout the history of the church concerning the role of sanctification in salvation. I would just remind us of the first part of this verse, "he saved us not because of righteous things we had done". Saving comes before righteousness or good works. However, I think it is fair to say that the longer we follow Jesus and the more the Holy Spirt does his renewing work in us, the deeper appreciation and understanding of our salvation we develop and it plays a role in our living more completely in this life, in light of our salvation.
So what would change if you saw today not as simply another day to wait for Jesus to come back and take you to heaven, but as another opportunity to be reborn and renewed?
PRAYER:Lord Jesus, Thank you that you have saved me and that every day I have another opportunity to be reborn and renewed as Holy Spirit continues to help me live in light of the salvation that you won for me on the cross. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
TO PONDER
For many people this is a Bible verse that sort of acts as a summary of Lutheran theology. In many ways they are right. Martin Luther was a big proponent of Justification by faith in Christ alone. However, others are somewhat critical of the Lutheran tradition for seeming to favour verses eight and nine like we have in today's reading but overlooking verse 10, which says, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Now, to be fair, Martin Luther was quite strong in his teaching about the 'new obedience' which we offer to God in response to his grace, but over time, it is probably true tat in some cases, in wanting to preserve 'justification by grace' some Lutherans have avoided talking about 'good works' all together.
This brings us back to the problem of salvation which is this weeks focus. Have you ever really stopped to consider what God has saved you for? We said earlier this week, that he has saved us from sin, death and the devil - these are things he has saved us from and we should be eternally grateful about that. However, usually when we save something, it' for one of two reasons. Either it holds some kind of sentemental or perceived value to us or we have a purpose or use in mind for it.
I think when it comes to God saving us, it's a little of both. It's clear that God loves us and values us, otherwise why would he pay the price of his own life on the cross in our place. The love of God is certainly part of the answer to what we are saved for, we are saved for God because he loves us and wants us for himself. However, Paul is also suggesting in Ephesians, that God has also saved us for a purpose that he planned even before we were born.
But here's the important thing in all of that, before we have a purpose, we have a saviour. Jesus saves us first, so that, in him, we can be restored to the purpose god had for us since the beginning of time. I think that's a great way to think about your salvation today!
PRAYER: Lord God, it is sometimes easy to forget in the busyness of life, that you have a plan for me. That you created me with the purpose of living in relationship with you as my God and King. Please help me to be more aware each day of the things you have planned in advance for me to do. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
TO PONDER
One of the things that I have always enjoyed about being a pastor is the wonderful variety of conversations and opinions one gets introduced to while visiting.
What becomes evident very quickly is that it doesn't matter what the problem is; global warming, rising cost of living, inflation, education, gender issues, it could be anything, the thing that is almost universally true is that everyone has someone to blame and someone who they think should be fixing it.
You hear it articulated on almost any television or print news media. It doesn't matter what political agenda they might be pushing, you hear it all the time - poor HSC results means teachers have let down our students. The RBA raises official interest rates and the government isn't doing enough to fight inflation. Whatever the issue, there is always someone to blame and someone else who is supposed to get us out of the mess.
What you don't often hear is people crying out to God for help. One of the things that our modern rationalised society has convinced us of is that there is a human answer to every problem. It sounds good, it would be nice if it were true, and human endeavour has certainly gone a long way to addressing many problems throughout human history. The challenge though is the one problem which lies beneath all the others is sin, and only Jesus is able to deal with that effectively.
When Jesus told his followers that he had come so they could have life, and life in all its fulness (John10:10), part of the freedom and fulness of life he was talking about was being freed from the burden of having to provide a solution for every one of life's problems.
Now please don't get me wrong, there is still a place for effort and striving for a better way. the Freedom we have in Jesus is a freedom to be a part of his solution to the problems of the world and there are many ways we can get involved in that, we'll probably look at some others during the rest of the week. However, in the mist of our effort is always the promise, "all those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved."
So before you go looking to the government for help, or expecting your teachers, parents, workmates or bosses to bail you out of the difficulties you may find yourself facing, wy not call out to Jesus first. His answer might just surprise you.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, than you that you have promised that those who call on your name will be saved. Help me to have confidence in that promise and to remember to turn first to you when things are hard. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
TO PONDER
There is an interesting dynamic that Paul presents here in his letter to the Romans. He certainly is clear to talk about being justified by faith..."for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified..." but what about the next bit..."It is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."?
Now a lot could be said, and has been argued by theological academics over the years about what Paul really means by this. However, I think that most of those debates have a consistent truth between them, there is something about our faith that should be publicly visible and audible.
I'm sure most of us have heard at some time or another the statement that 'the way we live is our witness to Jesus'. Now there is some truth to that, but faith that we are not prepared also to explain and talk about might only be missing something important. By the same token, I'm sure we all know people who can talk a big game when it comes to Jesus, theology and the Bible, but don't seem to reflect much of the manner of Jesus in the way they life or relate to others.
Now I'm not suggesting that salvation is in any way associated with how many people you 'talk' into faith. However, there is something that comes from being able to boldly and confidently proclaim what we believe. Not only freeing for us but also for those who have not heard the good news. So why not give it a go, just get out there and tell someone what you believe and see how freeing they experience actually can be.
PRAYER:Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of faith and the salvation we have in Jesus. Give me the courage to speak boldly of your love and the grace to reflect that love in the way I live. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Mathew on Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
TO PONDER
You perhaps don't experience quite so much of it these days since the Lutheran Church in Australia has become increasingly multi-ethnic compared to its predominantly German and Northern European beginnings, but from time to time, you still come across people who associate being Lutheran with their Germanic heritage. The have confidence that somehow their German ancestry guarantees their salvation and lifetime membership. This is not unlike the attitude that many of the Israelites had at the time of Jesus. In their minds, they alone were God's chosen people and they were the gatekeepers to salvation. You wanted to get right with God, they were the only ones who could help you out.
Which makes the story of Zacchaeus all the more interesting. Zacchaeus, by virtue of being a chief tax collector and working with the occupying Roman authorities, would have been 'cut off' from his local Jewish community. Jesus could have just come along, announced forgiveness of sin and salvation to Zacchaeus and then moved on, but Jesus did more than that. Jesus also restored him to his community with the words, 'for this man, too, is a Son of Abraham. With those words there could be no doubt that Salvation had come to Zacchaeus, even to those who had 'removed' him from the ancestral promise made to their forefather Abraham.
Our salvation cannot and does not depend on our heritage or ethnic background. It is not based on what we do for work or what political parties we might align ourselves with. Salvation came to Zacchaeus simply because Jesus had come to him. Jesus also comes to us to seek and save us. That's where the assurance of salvation can be found.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that our salvation rests not in who we are or what we have done, but in Jesus, who came to seek and save us. Help us to trust in his grace alone and share that same grace with others. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
TO PONDER
Isaiah 55 can be read as an invitation to everyone to accept the invitation to become members of the Heavenly Family. Anyway, I did read it that way. The first few verses stress that the cost to us is nothing, that is, we can bring nothing in any way to pay for the blessings God offers us. But then verse 7 says that it involves us surrendering everything we think is a treasure outside of the Heavenly Family.
It is a little like how we enter life on this earth – naked and completely helpless and owning nothing. We need to accept that when we join the Heavenly Family its exactly the same. We first die in our baptism and then are reborn as God’s children, naked and owning nothing. Whatever treasures we thought we had in our old life, we let go in our baptism. However, we are immediately clothed with Jesus’s perfection and made inheritors of all the treasures of Heaven.
When I say clothed with Jesus’s perfection, some of you may remember an older way of saying this – being clothed with Jesus’s righteousness. When Jesus lived on this earth with the same human body that we have, He lived in a perfect relationship with His Father. And He did this as a representative of all humanity. So that perfect life He lived now becomes ours as part of the new clothing we receive as Jesus’s brothers and sisters.
However, FOMO, the fear of missing out, is an ever‑present temptation that the treasures of this life, especially where we live selfishly for ourselves, are more meaningful than the life the Heavenly Family offers us.
God’s aim, as He works in our lives as our loving Heavenly Father, is to help us see the futility of trying to live independently of the Heavenly Family and to accept His arms open wide invitation to leave our old life behind with all its gilt, hurt, fear and find the peace, joy and love that life with the Heavenly Family offers us.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for that amazing love that pursues us with Your open invitation to let go of all we cling to for security and become Your children. Thank You that You have new clothing and new experiences for us to enable us to enjoy the life You give us as Your children. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
TO PONDER
I find the first two kings of Israel very interesting characters and the contrasts between them very telling.
King Saul was chosen by God when the Israelites demanded that God give them a king (1 Samuel 8‑10). He was a popular choice for the people. However, he did two things that were in contradiction to God’s directives (given through the prophet Samuel). In 1 Samuel 13 we read where King Saul lost faith in God’s promise and offered a sacrifice to God that he was not authorised to do. In 1 Samuel 15 we read where Saul was sent by God to completely destroy the Amalekites. Now the Amalekites had history with the Israelites many years before when the Amalekites attacked the Israelites on their exodus from Egypt. Instead of completely destroying the Amalekites as God had directed, King Saul and the Israelites saved the king and some of the animals. When challenged about his disobedience, in both cases, Saul made excuses, even blaming his soldiers.
When we come to King David, we find that he had a very close relationship with God and sought God’s guidance in important decisions he had to make. However, later in life he committed adultery and then murder to try to cover up the adultery. When challenged by God, through the prophet Nathan, David readily acknowledged his guilt and saw his actions as damaging his relationship with God.
Psalm 51 was written by King David in response to his guilt. David does not want to lose his close relationship with God and asks for God’s forgiveness and restoration.
I would like to make a comment on David’s request, “Do not … take your Holy Spirit from me.” When Saul was anointed as King, he was given Holy Spirit to be God’s presence with him. When God decided that Saul was no longer His appointed king, Holy Spirit departed from Saul and was given to David as God’s new appointed king. In David’s prayer, he does not want to lose the intimacy of God’s presence achieved through Holy Spirit living in him.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of Holy Spirit living in us to bring to us the intimacy of Your presence with us. Please help us to grow in being aware of the 24/7 presence of Holy Spirit in us in guiding us in living as Your children. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping