GOD’S GRACE AND LOVE REQUIRE A RESPONSE

I often grow weary over the labels we place on one another in the church of Jesus Christ.  Brethren refer to one another as belonging to either the ‘grace oriented’ or the ‘work oriented’ groups.  Could I not belong to both at the same time?  Do I have to join only one group?   After all, I truly desire to associate with all my brethren, if possible.  I sincerely long for and pray for faithfulness and peace among my brethren.  It seems that we are people of extremes.  It is either one way or the other.  It just could not be both at the same time.  Where is the balance that is sorely needed in a time of doubt, disbelief and disunity?

 I have no problem in understanding that we are saved by the grace of God for the Word of God clearly teaches such as is found in Ephesians 2:5.  Yet, in verse 8 of the same chapter, we learn that we are saved by grace through faith.  There is a sense in which I do not contribute anything to my salvation since it is a gift from God; nevertheless, if I do not manifest my faith by doing what God wants me to do, I will not benefit from the unmerited favor of the Lord in the matter of salvation from sin.   No, the works of the Law of Moses or the meritorious works of man’s devising cannot and will not save.  However, all the works ordained of God must be done by His children (Ephesians 2:10).

Consider also the very nature of God.  He is not self-contradicting.  Yes, His infinite grace saves us but we are also saved by His infinite love (Hebrews 2:9; John 3:16).  Jesus plainly taught that true love requires actions on the part of mankind in order to prove our love for Him.  He told his disciples, “If you love Me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).  Jesus stated it very plainly that we show our Love for Him when we do what he requires of us.  In John 14:21, He said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”  As you can clearly see, even the Father loves the person who loves His Son and keeps His commandments.

 Even Jesus obeyed His Father’s will and was loved by His Father, even as He loves those who keep His commandments (John 15:10).  When you think about it, keeping commandments is not so bad after all.  Even the Son of God complied with the directives of His Father.  The Lord said in John 14:31, “But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandments, so I do.  Arise let us go from here.”  Jesus proved beyond a shadow of doubt that He loved His Father by keeping all the commands that He received from Him.

 To be like Jesus, we must also obey the commands our Lord has given to us.  Otherwise, we show that we do not love Him as we should.  Jesus expressed it in this fashion as recorded in John 14:24, “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”    The apostle of love, John, wrote in I John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.  And His commandments are not burdensome.”  God does not require anything of us except it be for our ultimate good.  We should respond to His commandments out of a heart of love.  When love is the motive, His commandments are not grievous or overbearing.  We obey because we are heirs and not slaves.  The precious words of our Savior bring joy to the heart of a Christian as is found in John 15:14, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”  When we sing the hymn, “I’ll Be a Friend to Jesus”, it means that we will be submissive to His will for us to do.

Yet, my response to God’s grace and love by the works I do will not save me.  I cannot merit salvation on my goodness.  The words of Jesus as found in Luke 17:10 remind me of this truth, “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants.  We have done what was our duty to do.” 

We should be eternally grateful for God’s infinite grace and love. Our response should be, as Paul wrote in Galatians 5:6 that it is our “faith working through love.”

IF CHRIST BE NOT RAISED

One of the cardinal doctrines of the New Testament is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are 38 references to the resurrection of Jesus in the books of the New Testament. The resurrection of our Lord is mentioned at least 13 times in the book of Acts alone so it was the center of the preaching of the apostles and other inspired men. If a person believes in the resurrection of our Lord then all the other miracles listed in the Bible can be easily accepted as being true. Should a person deny the resurrection of Jesus then the other miracles would also be denied.

In the epistle to the “church of God which is at Corinth” the apostle Paul writes in detail concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The general resurrection at his second advent is predicated upon the fact that our Lord Himself was resurrected from the dead. To deny one is to deny both. In the time of Paul, the Greeks did not believe in the resurrection of the body. They felt like the spirit relieved of the body was actually a blessing and the human body would never be resurrected. Even among the Jews, there was a sect called the Sadducees that did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (Matthew 22:23). In the great resurrection chapter of I Corinthians 15, the apostle deals at length with this important subject.

Here are some fateful conclusions which must be accepted if Christ was not raised from the dead.

  1. “OUR PREACHING IS VAIN” (V.14). The central theme of the apostolic message was the resurrection of Jesus; that is, “that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he arose again the third day according to the scriptures”. The first gospel sermon that was preached by the 12 apostles dealt with the death and resurrection of Christ (Acts 2:24, 30, 31).

 2. “YOUR FAITH IS IN VAIN” (14, 17). Our faith in the deity of Christ rests largely upon His resurrection. If He had not risen, His words were false because He Himself predicted His resurrection. “Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews therefore said, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remember that he spake this; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said” (John 2:19-22; See also Luke 9:22; Matthew 12:40). IF Jesus was not raised from the dead he would have proven to be inferior to death and the grave. The redemptive work of God was accomplished through the resurrection of Jesus. It gave spiritual power to those who believed to live a life of holiness and to posses the belief in eternal life. Please observe that the term “vain” in verse 14 and in verse 17 are different. “Vain” in verse 14 means void and in verse 17 it means “devoid of force and truth.”

  3. “WE ARE FOUND FALSE WITNESS OF CHRIST” (V. 15). The apostles were told by Jesus that they were to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8). If Christ was not raised, the apostles were false witnesses in stating that they had seen him after his resurrection. Either one of the following two things would have to be true.  The apostles deceived themselves; or, they were some of the world’s greatest liars and imposters. To bear false witness against men is bad but to bear false witness concerning Christ is even worse.

  4. “YE ARE YET IN YOUR SINS” (V.17). A dead redeemer who has not been raised is no redeemer at all! It is true that Jesus died for our sins but Paul wrote in Romans 5:10: “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Also, Jesus “was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25). The resurrection of Jesus lies at the foundation of faith and forgiveness of sins, and without it a confession of faith in Jesus Christ is meaningless.

  5. “THEY ALSO THAT HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP IN CHRIST HAVE PERISHED” (V.18). Their loved ones who had obeyed Christ and lived for him who had died were lost if Christ was not raised. It isn’t that they were annihilated but rather they were before God the Father without an Advocate and Mediator. There was no one to help them. They were in God’s presence with their sins still upon them if Christ be not raised. If Christ was not raised from the dead then the term “asleep in Jesus” is nothing but a mocking rhetoric, a worthless expression denoting no comfort whatsoever. But Jesus said, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that they have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28, 29; See also I Thessalonians 4:13-17, Emphasis, Mine, RE).

  6. “IF WE HAVE ONLY HOPED IN CHRIST IN THIS LIFE, WE ARE OF ALL MEN MOST PITIABLE” (V.19). Believers in Christ are worse off than the unbeliever if Christ be not raised. Degrees of pitiableness are regulated by hope. Christians are most pitiable because of their willingness to suffer, to be mocked and to die because of their hope in Christ if he be not raised from the dead. The apostle Paul compared all his sufferings as “light afflictions” in comparison to that “eternal weight of glory” awaiting him in heaven (2 Corinthians 4:17, 18). But such sufferings would be in vain if Christ be not raised. However the Christian has this precious promise: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3;Emphasis, Mine, RE).

The apostle Paul writes of the resurrection of Jesus Christ as being an established fact in chapter 15:20-22. During the 40 days between the resurrection of Christ and his ascension back to heaven, he appeared 10 times to different ones beginning with his appearance to the women (“Mary Magdalene and the other Mary”, Matthew 18:1). In 1 Corinthians 15:5-9, Paul mentioned several of his appearances: “And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.”  The evidence therefore is overwhelming that Jesus Christ did in fact arise from the grave.

The lives of his apostles were changed after his resurrection. Christianity began to spread with great rapidity throughout the Roman World. Even after nearly 2,000 years the resurrection of Jesus Christ is having a tremendous impact on the lives of countless men and women who believe in Him as being the divine Son of God. Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome wrote the following: “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:17, 18). A “form” is a likeness and the “form” of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is found in Romans 6:1-4 when Paul wrote that the Christians had died to sin and were buried with their Lord in baptism and were raised to “walk in newness of life.”

The empty tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea is proof beyond any reasonable doubt that we serve a risen Savior.