1 Cor 15: 1Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
How beautiful and simple the Gospel is. Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, He was buried, He was raised on the third day, again in accordance with the Scriptures.
Notice only what He done was mentioned, not what we do. What day we worship, what church we attend, what clothes we wear, what food we eat, none of this attains salvation. Only what Christ did. He was our sacrificial Lamb, He alone was worthy. (Rev 5:12
…“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”)
We do nothing to save ourselves. He does it ALL.
BUT! I hear you say. There is always a but! BUT If we love Him, we keep His commandments. Yes indeed, Firstly though, note the order. If we love Him. That means He loved us first. Love proceeds from God first, He IS love. We love Him, because He loved us. (1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.)
Secondly, HIS commandments. Jesus gave us over 1000 commandments in the NT. These included proclaiming the Gospel, loving God, loving humanity, caring for the needy, loving each other. Nowhere did He command us, His followers, to “keep” a day holy. Nowhere did He say you must wear special clothes or eat special food to prove you love Me. In fact He said the sign of loving Him was LOVE. (John 13: 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”)
So…Jesus is the source of our salvation, He is the source of our love. He wants us to love God and others.
It is a Gospel of grace. We are saved by grace, through faith. We are not saved by works. Once we are saved, we do HIS works, not ours. We keep HIS commandments of love. We do not keep the commandments given to others, for example we do not build an ark, or leave Ur (Noah and Moses), and we do not keep the ten commandments given as the words of the covenant given to the children of Israel.
Hang on! Does that mean we can murder, commit adultery, steal??
NO!! If you love God and love humanity, you want the best for them, don’t you. You look after them, you provide for them. YOU DO NOT HURT THEM IN ANY WAY!
Matt 22: 34But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”37And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
And
John 13: 34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
If you love your neighbour as Christ loved you, you will die for them, not hurt them.
Jesus was humble. He is a King, yet He became a servant. He is a King, yet He became our Sacrifice.
What humility. What love.
If you are humble, you cannot be selfrighteous. You do not boast of your works, and say how they save you, you do His. Gratefully, happily.
Be humble and love as Christ loved you.
Light of Christ 