“My
soul followeth hard after Thee
Early in the morning
Will I rise up and seek Thee
And because Thou hast been my help
Under the shadow of Thy wing I will rejoice.”
- Psalm 63
Don Moen wrote this amazing
song taken from Psalm 63. It resonates in my soul and calls me to live a life
of worship to the One who is my help and who hides me under the shadow of His
wings (Psalm 36:7) until disaster passes by (Psalm 57:1).
God saves us, not because of
the righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our
sins, giving us a new birth and new life through His Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). Although we are guilty of many sins (1 John 1:9-10), and Adam's sin led to condemnation for all of
mankind, God's free gift leads to our right standing with our Heavenly Father (Romans 5:16).
God only has two requirements for us in our journey to Heaven. The first is
to believe that He loves us and died for us. The second is that we walk away
from our sinful nature and follow hard after Him. God separated our journey to
heaven into three stages:
Justification is an instantaneous event by which our spirit is Born Again.
This happens the moment we realize that we are sinners and ask for forgiveness.
Through justification, we are completely saved from our sin.
Glorification is also an instantaneous event, which occurs in our body.
When we see Jesus, we shall be glorified like Him. This stage completes our
Salvation in Body and Soul, which already started in our spirit in
Justification (1 John 3:2).
Sanctification, or holiness, comes in a gradual process throughout our lives. It takes place in our soul – our mind, will and emotions - as we submit to the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. This is a life-long journey.
We cannot sanctify our self any more than we can save our self or glorify our self (Galatians 3:1-3). Justification, Sanctification and Glorification are all the achievement of the Lord working in us by His Holy Spirit. Walking in holiness simply requires that we respond to the work of Jesus Christ in us by His Holy Spirit. We are dead and our life is now hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). It is no longer we that live; but Christ that lives His life in and through us (Galatians 2:20).
We have no need for dreams and goals of our own. He has a perfect will for
us that includes plans to prosper us and
not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah
29:11). The
only effort we exert in sanctification is to walk in obedience to His Spirit moment by moment throughout the day.
If we could sanctify our self, then we could boast in our own efforts, and
there would be no need for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross (Ephesians
2:9-10).
Paul actually reprimands the Galatians for trying to work out their own
salvation in their own power (Galatians
3:1-3).
Then, in Galatians 3:11 and Ephesians 2:8-10, Paul emphatically states that no
man is justified, sanctified or glorified by keeping the law in his own
strength, it is only by faith.
From Justification all the way through Sanctification to Glorification, God
does the work in us as we walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16 & 25). In the book of Philippians we read an apparent
contradiction to this! It tells us to work out our own salvation! The Bible
never contradicts itself, however. The very next verse continues on to say that
it is God who is at work in us, giving us both the will and the power to do His
good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13).
You may ask, “Why then do we have to do good works? One reason is because God
created us to do good works (Titus 2:15;
3:8). In
doing these good works, we cause others to glorify God (Peter 2:12). We also construct our wedding garment through our good works (Revelation 19:8). Finally, we earn our rewards in Heaven through our
good works (Hebrews 11:6).
Prayer:
Father God, if we do not do the works You created us to do, this does not affect our Salvation; but it definitely affects our rewards here on earth and then again in Heaven. It also causes You to find someone else to bless in our place. It does not make sense to disobey You, Lord. Thank You for giving us both the desire and the power to follow hard after You (Philippians 2:13; Psalm 63:8).
Thought for the Day:
It is a privilege to serve God with our lives.