I am certain that I am not the only one to have observed the ironic contradiction of emotions one may feel when remembering soldiers who have fought for us. In one sense, one feels deeply saddened as one remembers the men who left their homes to defend their homes; who spilled out their blood, watched many of their friends and comrades die before their eyes, and experienced countless hardships that we have only heard in name: the soldier with a scarf around his head in the horrible heat of the desert, trying to keep the sandy dust out of his lungs; the soldier who trudged for hours in the snow, leaving blood in his foot prints because he had no shoes; the soldier lying wounded in a hospital, or captured by the enemy, or watching helplessly as some atrocity occurs before his eyes, and knowing that there was nothing he could do, or ever can do to reverse the event....
Yet even as one feels sad, there is a joy that comes as well, and even pride. Those who lived after the wars, and experienced trama or carried memories that will haunt them for ever after, carried those memories because they fought for us. Those who came back wounded, mutilated, incapacitated, sick - who sacrificed their lives in another sense - were so hurt for our sake. And finally, for those who died, they died to save us, that we might live in peace and security and freedom - all good things which ought to inspire joy, and not grief. I am sure that they would not wish us to mourn.
And so I end this post in the best manner that I know how:
Thank you to all of the soldiers out there who have fought, will fight, and are fighting now! "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." ~Numbers 6:24-26
11.11.2010
11.05.2010
Salvation
It is hard work being a Christian. I have to pray, go to Church, love my neighbour, and in general, be a good person if I am ever to achieve eternal life. Right? Wrong.
How dreadfully easy it is to think that being a Christian consists of simply being a good person, and how ironic that, in trying to simplify things by ignoring the gospel and just "doing good," we have actually made things a great deal harder! We are attempting to accomplish that which no man has ever accomplished, For "as it is written, 'none is righteous, no not one'" (Romans 1:10).
Does good works save a man? Then no man is saved. Does going to church, reading the Bible, loving our neighbour, and so on and so on save a man? Then again, no man is saved. "For...'none is righteous, no not one.'"
What then? Have we no hope? Will we perish in a wretched state of always trying harder and never winning our goal? Or will we even blindly pursue the world, knowing that it is utterly hopeless to ever attain salvation? By no means! If Christians do exist, and good works do not make a Christian who he is, then something else does.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17, emphasis mine).
Therefore, it is faith in the gospel that makes man a Christian. It is believing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a substitute for us by living the good life that no one else could and dying the death everyone deserved thereby imputing or giving his righteousness to us if we believe. And this is what saves us.
"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God." (Romans 5:6-9).
This is the gospel; man is sinful, God is holy, and the only way of reconciliation - the only bridge between the two - is Jesus Christ.
How dreadfully easy it is to think that being a Christian consists of simply being a good person, and how ironic that, in trying to simplify things by ignoring the gospel and just "doing good," we have actually made things a great deal harder! We are attempting to accomplish that which no man has ever accomplished, For "as it is written, 'none is righteous, no not one'" (Romans 1:10).
Does good works save a man? Then no man is saved. Does going to church, reading the Bible, loving our neighbour, and so on and so on save a man? Then again, no man is saved. "For...'none is righteous, no not one.'"
What then? Have we no hope? Will we perish in a wretched state of always trying harder and never winning our goal? Or will we even blindly pursue the world, knowing that it is utterly hopeless to ever attain salvation? By no means! If Christians do exist, and good works do not make a Christian who he is, then something else does.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17, emphasis mine).
Therefore, it is faith in the gospel that makes man a Christian. It is believing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a substitute for us by living the good life that no one else could and dying the death everyone deserved thereby imputing or giving his righteousness to us if we believe. And this is what saves us.
"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God." (Romans 5:6-9).
This is the gospel; man is sinful, God is holy, and the only way of reconciliation - the only bridge between the two - is Jesus Christ.
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