SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/22/2018
11:18 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The Human Perspective”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ephesians
1:12a, 13a
Message of the
verses: “to the end that we who were
first to hope in Christ…In Him, you also, after listening to the message of
truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed.”
In the United States of America today we celebrate “Thanksgiving
Day,” a day that was designed to give thanks to the Lord that actually dates
back to when the pilgrims landed on our shore and found themselves in trouble
until some friendly American Indians helped them survive by helping them to
grow food. As the harvest came the new settlers
along with the Indians were thankful, and they gave thanks to the Lord.
As we have been looking at both the Divine and Human
perspectives on our salvation I can think of nothing better to do on this
Thanksgiving Day than to praise the Lord for the wonderful gift of salvation
that He has offered to us. We now
continue to look at the human perspective in today’s SD.
In the first part of our verses today, that is verse 12a
we see the word hope, and that word actually comes after the word faith in the
chronological and the theological way we are saved, but Paul is actually using
this word hope as a synonym of faith in this passage. The first to hope in Christ were the first to
believe in Him.
Now
we move on to verse 13a where Paul continues “In Him, you also, after listening
to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed.” The Apostle Paul explains in his letter to
the Romans “faith comes from hearing, and
hearing by the word of Christ.”
MacArthur writes “Faith comes from a positive response to the message of
truth, the gospel, the good news that God has provided a way of salvation
through the atoning work of His Son. To ‘as many as received Him, to them He
gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name’
(John 1:12). Man-made systems of
religion, which rely on ritual or works or both, not only do not lead to God
but can become great barriers to finding Him.
The only way to come is through His Son, ‘10 for with the
heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he
confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES
IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’ ‘Having also believed not only stresses the
means by which salvation is appropriated but also the uniformity of such means
by the use of ‘also.’”
In
conclusion to this section we can say that faith is man’s response to God’s
elective purpose. God chooses men
through election, and then man’s choice of God is faith. In election God gives His promises, and by
faith men receive those promises.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I want to wish all a very happy Thanksgiving
Day in the truest sense of the meaning of this wonderful holiday. I am so very thankful for the salvation that
God has given to me and my prayer is that all who read this SD will also have
that wonderful hope that all true believers have.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust that the Lord will continue to unlock
the great truths that are found in this great book of Ephesians.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Christ.”
Today’s Bible question: “What did Elisha do for the Shunammite woman’s
son?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/22/2018 11:45 AM
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