Tag: Salvation

Press On!

On By BrianIn PASSION ReflectionsLeave a comment

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
(Romans 12:1-2 ESV)

In chapters 1-11 of Romans, Paul has labored to describe our great salvation, including God’s preserving love (ch8). Now therefore, in view of God’s amazing mercy, he tells us to live for God. With your body (v1) and mind (v2), follow Christ. You have been saved by Christ, now serve Him. You don’t serve Him to earn your salvation, but because of it. You are preserved by God (ch8), so now persevere in your faith and walk with Christ.

It is so important that we get the order right. If we think that we must persevere to be preserved, that we must serve to stay saved, then we will slave away on a treadmill of good works trying to earn our continued salvation. But it works other way around. We are saved to serve. We are preserved to persevere. We follow Christ out of love for the one who loves us so much that He will never let us go.

Look long upon Christ. Rest in God your Savior. Keep your gaze set upon Him. Believe in Jesus. And then go forth each day as His servant following Him.

Motivated by God’s salvation for you, press on in your faith and walk with Christ.

False Desires

On By BrianIn PASSION Reflections

In Christ, we become new creations, called and able to reject false desires. 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
(II Corinthians 5:17)

In Christ, God has made you new.  Your old sinful way of life is gone.  You have a new life in Christ, so you don’t have to follow false and deceptive desires.  His Holy Spirit enables you to reject fleshly desires (Galatians 5:16).  His grace trains you to reject worldly passions and live a self-controlled, upright, and godly life (Titus 2:11-12).  In Christ, you can overcome.

Indeed, He calls and enables all of us to reject deceptive desires like lust, coveting, greed, gluttony, and selfishness.  He calls and enables all of us to reject false feelings of hopelessness, despair, and worry.  He calls and enables all of us to reject wrong self-perceptions of superiority, self-righteousness, and worthlessness. 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
(Romans 12:2)

Instead of conforming to the false desires of our world, we are to renew our minds with God’s truth that we might discern what is good and follow that. 

Rejecting false desires isn’t easy.  God never said it would be.  Indeed He tells us that it is a war:

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
(I Peter 2:11)

These false desires are at war with you to destroy you.  We must fight.  But God not only calls us, but also enables us, to reject false desires.  May we live in His strength!

Sermon Songs: Hebrews 11:7-10

On By BrianIn Hebrews Hymns

God’s judgment for our sins is coming
Believe God’s warning, your sins confess
Look to the cross now for your saving
Become a true heir of righteousness

Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son

Believe God’s promise of a city
Live by that faith and His Word obey
Go where He leads though you cannot see
Look to your hope as you live each day
(Repeat Chorus)

© 2023 Brian J. Mikul

(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)

Sermon Songs: Hebrews 11:1-6

On By BrianIn Hebrews Hymns

Faith is assurance of things hoped for
The conviction of real unseen things
Live by faith in God’s promised reward
And in God’s unseen daily workings

Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son

We believe God made the world and us
Show it by how you treat each person
By faith we’re commended as righteous
Through the saving work of God’s own Son
(Repeat Chorus)

Faith is the means of walking with God
Draw near to Him and please Him each hour
There is reward for those who seek God
And hope in death through God’s greater power!
(Repeat Chorus)

© 2023 Brian J. Mikul

(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)

Sermon Songs: Hebrews 10:26-39

On By BrianIn Hebrews Hymns

Be careful that you don’t turn away
How could you treat Christ with such disdain?
Vengeance is the Lord’s, He will repay
Without Christ, only judgment remains

Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son

Now call to mind how far you have come
All the trials you had to endure
Don’t quit now for your reward will come
Look to your hope, glorious and sure
(Repeat Chorus)

© 2023 Brian J. Mikul

(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)

Remember

On By BrianIn PASSION Reflections

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are designed to picture and so remind us of Christ’s saving work for us.

Baptism pictures and reminds us of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, and how in Him we have spiritually died and been buried to our old sinful way of life and been raised to a new life with Him (Romans 6:3-4).  Baptism also pictures and reminds us that in Christ our sins are washed away (Acts 22:16).

The Lord’s Supper pictures the broken body and shed blood of our Savior, which we are specifically told to remember (I Corinthians 11:23-25).  The same passage also reminds us that the cup is the New Covenant in His blood – it pictures our new relationship with God made possible through Christ in which are sins are forgiven and His Word is written on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10-12). 

And so both baptism and the Lord’s Supper picture and remind us of Christ’s sacrifice, and how in Him our sins are forgiven and we are now able to follow Him. 

So let us remember and rejoice.  I tell people when I prepare them for baptism, that it is a celebration.

Sometimes we talk about celebrating Lord’s Supper, because it should be a celebration.  As we remember Christ’s saving work for us, how could we not celebrate?  As we consider forgiveness of sins and a new life in Christ, how could we not rejoice?  Remember and rejoice!

Let us also remember and rest.  And in two ways: rest in Christ’s love and rest in His finished work.

First, rest in Christ’s love that brought Him to the cross to die for your salvation.  Everyone is looking for love, and as Christians we have found an undying, unselfish, unending, amazing love.  No matter what others think of you, no matter how they may reject you or mistreat you or ignore you, the God of universe, your Creator and Savior, loves you and will not reject or mistreat or ignore you.  As we witness a baptism or gather for the Lord’s Supper, we remember His saving work for us and rest in His love.

Second, rest in Christ’s finished work.  Jesus died and rose again to cleanse you of all your sins.  In Christ, you are clean.  There is nothing you have to do but believe.  It is not of works, so no one can boast.  No penance, no earning, no striving – just rest in His finished work.  Again, He died and rose again to change you, to give you a new life – something you could not do on your own.  You cannot fix yourself.  He has already done it – just rest in His finished work.  As we witness a baptism or gather for Lord’s Supper, we remember His saving work for us.  It is finished, so we can rest.

As you witness a baptism or gather around Christ’s table, remember His saving work for you.  And as you remember, rejoice and rest.

Sermon Songs: Hebrews 10:19-25

On By BrianIn Hebrews Hymns

To God we have confident access
Through Christ our priest, His death made the way
So draw near, come into God’s presence
With true faith, fully cleansed, come today

Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son

Hold fast your hope without wavering
God’s promises never throw away
Commit to the church’s gathering
Stir up to love and good works today
(Repeat Chorus)

© 2023 Brian J. Mikul

(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)

Sermon Songs: Hebrews 10:1-18

On By BrianIn Hebrews Hymns

Behold Jesus came to do God’s will
Offered Himself to pay for our sins
A single sacrifice once for all
Our sin forgotten and forgiven

Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son

Old sacrifices could not make clean
Could not perfect though offered each day
Only His sacrifice makes us clean
Holy and perfect, sin washed away
(Repeat Chorus)

In His finished work now find your rest
Clean in His sight, come draw near to God
His new work in you now manifest
Follow Jesus – do the will of God
(Repeat Chorus)

© 2023 Brian J. Mikul

(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)

Sermon Songs: Hebrews 9:15-28

On By BrianIn Hebrews Hymns

Celebrate our joyful circumstance
Forever we have full forgiveness
Promised eternal inheritance
With God now, forever, through Jesus

Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son

Dying for our sins He did appear
In heaven now appears – so draw near!
Of death and judgment we need not fear
For with salvation He will appear
(Repeat Chorus)

Come with your sin and guilt, heed the call
Turn and believe before it’s too late
His promises, now enjoy them all
For His return, eagerly now wait
(Repeat Chorus)

© 2023 Brian J. Mikul

(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)

Share the Awe

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

For God to stay his hand of judgment, to forgive and redeem rebellious sinners like us, would have been, in and of itself, a remarkable display of divine love, but our Lord went even further and made us his children!  We dare not pass quickly over this point; we must ponder it until we share the awe and wonder of the apostle at this truth.
– Ray Van Neste in the ESV Expository Commentary, Volume 12