08/16/2021
"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed... How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation."
Joh 8:36 and Heb 2:3
By the promise of God, true spiritual liberation is available in Jesus Christ. "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." If this saving work of the Lord is neglected there is no rescue from the devastating consequences of sin and self. "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation." As we previously noted, this delivering grace of God is so great that it not only provides a rescue "from," but it also supplies a rescue "unto."
This great salvation, which is experienced by coming to Jesus in humble faith, includes a setting free from innate sin unto imputed righteousness. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2Co 5:21). This great salvation in Christ includes deliverance from the kingdom of darkness unto the kingdom of light. "Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love" (Col 1:12-13). This great salvation also includes liberation from enmity toward God unto friendship with God. "When we were enemies we were reconciled (turned from enemies into friends) through the death of His Son" (Col 1:21). This great salvation also includes deliverance from alienation from God unto union with Him. "And you, who once were alienated... For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection" (Col 1:21 and Rom 6:5). This great salvation also includes liberation from our own weakness unto God's mighty power. "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2Co 12:9-10). Lastly, this great salvation includes a rescuing from a self-produced life unto Christ living in us. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20).
My Creator, Lord God, thank You for providing a rescue from sin, darkness, enmity, alienation, earthly weakness, and self. Praise You for providing a rescue unto righteousness, light, friendship, union, heavenly strength, and Christ! What a great salvation is found in Christ Jesus! I do not want to neglect it through doubt, distraction, disobedience - - or anything else. Help me, Lord, to walk by faith, day by day, Amen.
"So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you."
Deuteronomy 31:6
The words of our verse for today are part of Moses' final instructions to the people of Israel. Joshua was slated to take over the leadership of the people after the death of Moses, and he would soon lead them across the Jordan River into the Promised Land in order to conquer and take possession of it.
Moses told the people that they should be strong and courageous. This is the message that all believers need to hear at the moment when we are about to enter into the kingdom calling that God has been preparing us for when we were in the wilderness. Instead of succumbing to fear and cowardice as the Israelites did for 40 years previously, we should "Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong" (1 Corinthians 16:13).
Second, Moses told the people not to be afraid and not to panic. Like the Israelites, we will have to face the enemies and obstacles that lie in wait in our own personal Promised Land. Every form of kingdom activity is a struggle against the entrenched forces of evil that possess the land and they must be overcome. These enemies and obstacles are very real, but we must not shrink back in fear of them.
Third, Moses told them that the reason why they should be strong, courageous, and fearless is that the Lord would personally go ahead of them. True kingdom activity is not done in the strength of our own power and might. The Lord Himself will be with us in order to strengthen us, help us, and protect us. As the Psalmist says, "A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you" (Psalm 91:7).
Finally, Moses told them that the Lord would not fail or abandon them. The Lord God will not lead us into the Promised Land only to abandon us there and leave us to our own devices. As the Apostle Paul says, "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
Take the words of Moses to heart, for they apply to you just as much as they did to the ancient Israelites.