“Saved
By His Life”
Romans
5: 8-11
8.
But God commendeth
his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9.
Much more then, being now justified by
his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10.
For if, when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life.
11.
And not only so, but we also joy in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
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n our current series, the question of
our position in God has been continually presented. We know that Man is quick
to answer, generally, using his personal opinion as his reference. The problem
with this is that opinions and feelings are not valid in salvation.
Once this question has been asked of
us, an answer must be given. Today’s
message indicates that we are “saved” by the life of Christ. To have
life in Him, we must be “put to death” through
Him by baptism into His death. Once
we have partaken of His death, we are raised to walk in “newness of life.” That
“newness” is found only in Jesus.
Everyone (from Adam on down) at some
point, has been in sin. This is the chief reason that “humans” struggle to be
saved and as long as we conduct ourselves as “humans,” we will continue to struggle—and
ultimately, fail.
We must
understand that the only way that it
is possible for us to be saved is to be saved from the flesh. As sin is part
of the nature of the flesh, one who conducts himself as a human being will sin, automatically.
When one sins, it is indicative of his refusal to allow God control over his
life. One who is involved in this type of struggle with the Lord will find
himself continually attempting to prove
himself—and will find himself in continual rebellion against Him.
Most often, we see our need to please
ourselves as nothing more than the operation of our “right” to
“self-expression.” Actually, our “loyalty” to ourselves shows that we are, in
effect, dismissing our responsibility
to God. Somehow, we seem to rationalize our failure by convincing ourselves
that all the responsibility lies with
God.
The reality of the sacrifice made by
our Savior is that He was willing to
give His life that we might be saved from a destructive life of sin in the
flesh. Since so many of us are unsuccessful in living this
life, we attempt to devise our own
plan.
Much about what Jesus has done, as well as the how and why are either
misunderstood or just not known, period. Not even all apostolic preachers seem
to know that He did not come to save us
in our “original” condition (i.e. flesh),
but rather, He came that we might be saved from
that condition.
Jesus’ sacrifice was based upon death. Now, if His death was required for our salvation, how can we not be
required to partake of the same? Doing so means that the old “you” must be put to death! If you are
looking for a “magic formula” to make this “easy,” you will find yourself
wasting a lot of time. For, you see, walking “in newness of life” is nothing
that can be done of oneself. Only
through following the life of Jesus does one receive the “template” (blueprint)
of the “new life.” Outside of taking on
His life, one will find oneself exhibiting the traits, characteristics and
habits of the old life.
Contrary to that which
most would like to believe, neither
baptism nor speaking in tongues, alone,
changes the “nature” of
Aside from the death of the flesh, Man
has no
hope of salvation. Man is born a creature consumed with himself. His existence revolves around what is done for him,
what he can extract from others—how he can best get his needs met. The change
that is required upon salvation is a change in who one is—not simply in what he does.
His life must become more than what
is done for him, what is said about
him or how he is treated. In short, one is “saved” when liberated from the things of the flesh.
Jesus gave His life knowing that we were not “like” Him and
that we would have the problems that we have becoming like Him. Nevertheless, He made the sacrifice that He did
in order that we might be given the privilege of seeing His face. And lest we
be under any delusions, we were not “worthy,” did not “deserve” it and never could have!
If we are to be “saved by His life,” we
are going to have to come to the place where we are willing to accept our
“place” in Him—both current and future. Our actions and reactions always
dictate our “current” place—how we “deal” with what comes to us. You see, tests
and trials are allowed to come our way that the Lord might give us irrefutable
evidence of where we live.
Being “like Jesus” means that what had
no effect upon Him should have no effect upon us. This aspect of our lives can never be “overlooked,” for we can be
used as witnesses only as God knows
that we will act in His best interest,
only! You see, we cannot be prone to
“losing it” and expect to represent Jesus.
It is the life of Jesus and that,
alone, which saves us. Salvation will not be found following a particular
doctrine, wearing one’s hair a certain way or, wearing only certain “types” and
styles of shoes. None of these things matter if one’s life is not patterned
after the life of Jesus.
Having a concern for one’s flesh will
stop nothing that is scheduled to
come its way. You see, we serve a God Who loves us enough to send us that
which will force us to submit to
Him—but only if we are sincere. Sincerity requires that one be willing to do whatever
is required by the One to Whom we profess our love. In that we have no hope
of spiritual life outside of Him, we must be willing to sacrifice ourselves
as He did. This means that in order to live, we must die, for Jesus’ death cannot be accepted while we
yet live? Why not? Because in order for there to be a “ghost” (Holy or otherwise),
there must be a dead body. Then and only then, will we be able to be “saved
by His life.”