Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Coming Home...

Salvation is coming home to the truth that in Jesus Christ you already are (and always have been) home in Jesus Christ!
"It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us.

Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing."

Ephesians 2:1-10 The Message

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nobody renders Ephesians like Eugene Peterson. He just NAILS it. I loved your Erskine stuff above as well.

Hey...In your 'Jellyfish' post below, you say "If you need help developing a backbone give me a call or shoot me an email." Does that offer apply to neurotic pastors who live nowhere near you? :-) Boundaries are a challenge for me, and I could use some help. I'm also convinced the problem is at least as theological as it is psychological, and I feel like you would understand that.

Anyway, regardless, keep up the blogging. It's great stuff!

John
stonecypher@yahoo.com