Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
As I have continued to read some materials by Martin Luther, I was impressed as I read this excerpt from his work The Freedom of a Christian reminding me that I am not saved by good works but rather that good works are the fruit, the result of having been made righteous by the work of God. It is God who calls me to righteousness [command] and it is God who works in me to fulfill the call [promise]. As it is written in Philippians 2:13 -
…for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Consider what Luther wrote –
A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all…The entire Scripture of God is divided into two parts: commandments and promises. The promises of God give what the commandments of God demand and fulfill what the law prescribes so that all things may be God’s alone, both the commandments and the fulfilling of the commandments. He alone commands, He alone fulfills…Surely we are named after Christ, not because He is absent from us, but because He dwells in us – that is, because we believe in Him and are Christ’s one to another and do to our neighbors as Christ does to us. But in our day we are taught by the doctrines of men to seek nothing but merits, rewards and the things that are ours. Of Christ we have made only a taskmaster far harsher than Moses.
We are free in Christ to give our lives to Christ so that He would live His life in us to the glory of the Father.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
The call of Christ demands our all – it takes our lives and yet it is the most delightful and restful work that can be engaged.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
May we all find our rest, our delight, our freedom, and our devoted service in Christ.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
As I have continued to read some materials by Martin Luther, I was impressed as I read this excerpt from his work The Freedom of a Christian reminding me that I am not saved by good works but rather that good works are the fruit, the result of having been made righteous by the work of God. It is God who calls me to righteousness [command] and it is God who works in me to fulfill the call [promise]. As it is written in Philippians 2:13 -
…for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Consider what Luther wrote –
A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all…The entire Scripture of God is divided into two parts: commandments and promises. The promises of God give what the commandments of God demand and fulfill what the law prescribes so that all things may be God’s alone, both the commandments and the fulfilling of the commandments. He alone commands, He alone fulfills…Surely we are named after Christ, not because He is absent from us, but because He dwells in us – that is, because we believe in Him and are Christ’s one to another and do to our neighbors as Christ does to us. But in our day we are taught by the doctrines of men to seek nothing but merits, rewards and the things that are ours. Of Christ we have made only a taskmaster far harsher than Moses.
We are free in Christ to give our lives to Christ so that He would live His life in us to the glory of the Father.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
The call of Christ demands our all – it takes our lives and yet it is the most delightful and restful work that can be engaged.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
May we all find our rest, our delight, our freedom, and our devoted service in Christ.
SDG,
Pastor Ed
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