Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Is it realistic to expect that we can overcome all sin? Can ordinary people become truly Christlike? Aren't we expected to continue being tempted and falling until Christ comes again? Who wants to be a monk or a nun living in an isolated desert cave to be holy?
Well, the "seventh angel" is right now blowing his trumpet, and "the mystery of God" is being finished, in this grand cosmic Day of Atonement (Rev. 10:1-6; 11:15-19). What has never before happened is to happen--a corporate "body" of God's people will indeed "follow the Lamb wherever He goes, ... for they are without fault before the throne of God" (Rev. 14:4, 5). And to accomplish this previously unheard-of feat comes "the third angel's message in verity"--a grasping of "the everlasting gospel" as Good News better than any previous generation has ever seen it to be (18:1-4).
Don't let yourself fall to the temptation to despise what God will accomplish!
The motivating power in that "everlasting gospel" is "the grace of God," not a paralyzing fear motivation, but a heart-appreciation of how magnificent is that "grace" of "the Lamb," the crucified Son of God. As present-day High Priest, He ministers that grace 24 hours a day. He "teaches us to say 'No!' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age [with all its alluring temptations]" (Titus 2:11, 12, NIV). Does it really work?
"Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left" (Isa. 30:21). That "grace" won't let you fall into sin unless you "resist" Him. The ball is in your court.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 2, 2001.
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