Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
The Lord does not “balance” the Good News of His pure gospel with even a drop of legalism to poison it.
If you open to Ephesians, the pure unadulterated “truth of the gospel” (cf. Gal. 2:5, 14) will soon stare you in the face:
“By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (2:8, 9). Note:
(1) What Christ accomplished is not a mere “offer” as is so often said: it is a “GIFT.”
(2) “Grace” is kindness not “offered” but GIVEN to the sinful, fallen human race “in Christ.” “God so loved the world, that He gave ... “ (John 3:16).
(3) You may ungracefully resist and refuse the “gift” (let us pray that you don’t!) but in the final judgment you will see the stark evidence that the Lord did GIVE it to you and you scornfully refused it. (Again, a thousand times, may the Lord save us from doing that!)
(4) Even the “faith” that we need in order to appropriate and receive the “gift” is not of ourselves, but again is a “free gift.” God specializes in giving goodies, not just “offering” them.
(5) If that were not true, then the gospel would end up telling us how to save ourselves. If our salvation depends on us accepting an “offer,” then inevitably we would have a significant part in saving ourselves.
(6) Two steps are clearly demarcated: (a) We “have been saved,” past tense; Christ saved us. The “we” is not a little group of Calvinist “elect,” but is clearly everybody. If it is “by grace,” that must include all the undeserving people in the world. Otherwise it is not “by grace” but is clearly “by works.” (b) The receiving of the “gift” is also “through faith,” again, a “free gift.”
(7) And then, you end up in God’s kingdom forever singing His praise, for He saved you from A to Z, not yourself doing it. You let Him do it.
If you open your Bible to Romans, there again you will hear angels singing the same melody of grace:
“As through one man’s offence [Adam’s] judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life” (5:18).
Does that mean that people will be “saved by grace” while knowingly transgressing the holy law of God? As Paul says it, “God forbid!” The heart that says “Thank You!” for “the free gift” of justification is constrained forever by the love of Christ to live a life of glad obedience (2 Cor. 5:10-21).
On this, the world’s grand antitypical Day of Atonement, the world’s High Priest is ministering that salvation to all who will open the heart to receive the blessing.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" phone message is available via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.
