Christ Died for Our Sins and...
by Pastor Kevin Sadler
William Sangster was a stalwart, Bible-believing minister “who helped guide Londoners through the horrors of the bombings of London in World War II. Sangster developed a disease that progressively paralyzed his body, and eventually his vocal chords. On the Easter morning just before he died, he managed to scribble a short note to his daughter. The note read: “How terrible to wake up on Easter and have no voice to shout, ‘He is Risen!’ However, it is far worse to have a voice and not want to shout, ‘He is Risen!’” 3
We rejoice in Christ’s resurrection and the life we have in Him. However, it is troubling to find that there are teachings out there that say that all you need to believe to be saved is that Christ died for your sins. Some say that faith in Christ’s resurrection isn’t necessary to be saved because our salvation is based solely on Christ’s payment for our sins at the Cross, and they’ll intentionally leave out the Resurrection. However, this is not Pauline. The gospel of the grace of God includes the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul stresses in his letters the importance of believing that Christ is risen from the dead. Note the following verses:
“And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness…But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Rom. 4:22,24).
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:9).
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3,4).
“And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:15).
“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him” (1 Thes. 4:14).
Unbelievers must trust that Christ is risen in order to be saved, so believers need to stress Christ’s death and resurrection when they share the gospel of grace. When Paul writes about our spiritual baptism with Christ, we are not only identified with His death, but also His burial and resurrection (Rom. 6:3,4). According to Colossians 2:10, we “are complete in Him,” because we have been identified with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (Col. 2:11,12) the moment we believed in His death, burial, and resurrection.
Christ died for our sins and… He rose again the third day. Don’t leave out the resurrection! It’s crucial to our faith and salvation. We have God’s Word on it. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:17, “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain [empty]; ye are yet in your sins.” But because “Christ is risen from the dead,” those “in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:20,22). That should cause us to want to shout for joy!
“Jesus our Lord…was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:24,25).
Today's Devotional Sponsor...
Who Did It?
80 years back, in a small town in the US lived a family
(Mr and Mrs Chris Miller with 7 children) on a farm. They had their outhouse (toilet of those days) by the creek.
One day Mr Miller was furious. He called and all the 7 children out and asked them to stand in line. He said, “Tell me, who pushed the outhouse into the creek?”
No one said a word. Then every one said – Not me, not me. Mr Miller preached. “Do you know that in this family we tell only the truth? Let me tell you the story of George Washington. One day his father gave him and axe. George wanted to test how sharp the axe is. So he cut the cherry tree in his court yard. The father called all the children to the backyard and asked who cut the cherry tree.. All the children were frightened because that cherry tree was the pride of the father and years of hard work. But George raised his hand and said, “I did it Dad.” The Dad was happy that the boy said the truth though he knew that he could be punished for his foolish act. So you must tell the truth irrespective of the consequences. Now tell me who pushed the outhouse into the creek?”
Little Ben raised his hand and said, “Dad I did it.”
Dad started to spank the son furiously.
Ben yelled, “Wait a minute. You said that George Washington's father was happy when George said the truth.”
Father, “That is true. But when little George cut the cherry tree down, his father was not sitting on the tree.”
- From PG Vargis
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