“My salvation and my honor depend on God… And without
faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must
believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” –
Psalm 62:7, Hebrews 11:6 NIV
Once we have surrendered our lives and
devoted to God—our salvation and honor depend on Him, just like what Psalmist have
said. This is because the word of God declares: “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent,
nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13), and “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) For these reasons, we ought to
believe in God and do the will of God until the end of the age.
Without faith it
is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that
he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. And now, dear
children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and
unashamed before him at his coming. (Hebrews 11:6, 1 John 2:28)
The actual reason why we need to surrender our
lives and devoted to God to get true salvation and honor is because God is our
heavenly Father and Creator; we have been made into the image of God. (Genesis 1:27) Thus, Apostle Paul proclaims:
Yet for us there
is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and
there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through
whom we live. (1 Corinthians 8:6)
The Spirit himself
testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children,
then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in
his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:16-17)
Because we had been created in the Garden
of Eden (Genesis 1-2) and separated away from there
by Satan, the demonic angel of God (Genesis 3)—God has given us another chance
to enter our original home, which is at the Garden of Eden. This means that our
citizenship is already in there if we have believe and received Jesus Christ as
our Lord and Savior. Thus, the word of God declares,
For, as I have
often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies
of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their
stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly
things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything
under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like
his glorious body. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is
destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built
by human hands. (Philippians 3:18-21, 2 Corinthians 5:1)
Moreover, since we are sinners (Romans 3:23) because of the world (Romans 5:12)—God has poured His Spirit into
us to advocate us to do the will of God (John 14:15-17,26-27; Ezekiel 36:26-27) until the end of the age.
Thus, we could enter the kingdom of heaven. This is because Jesus Christ
proclaims, “Not everyone who says to me,
‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)
Hence, in order to get true salvation and
honor from God—we need to repent before Him (Matthew 3:2) and do the will of God until
the end of the age by abiding the Holy Spirit and obeying Him, even though it
is going to be hard. Thus, Jesus Christ says,
If any of you
wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your
cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But
if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit
if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than
your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his
Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. (Matthew 16:24-27)
For this reason, the word of God also
declares,
Do not love this
world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not
have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for
physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our
achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this
world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave.
But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. (1 John 2:15-17)
Although I know that I am a child of God, I
am not still sure that I have gotten true salvation and honor from the Lord. This
is because I believe I sometimes mix up by doing wordly deeds and godly one.
Thus, I have been not doing the will of God properly. For this reason, I need
to repent and concentrate only on the kingdom of heaven. This is because the
word of God declares,
Since, then, you
have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly
things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When
Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of
righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Colossians 3:1-4, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Romans 14:17)
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