Cruise is a genuine hero, something that we rarely see in the 21st Century. Many paratroopers never made it to the ground, for they were an easy target as they fell slowly to the ground. Many more landed miles from their intended targets and were captured or killed. The majority, like Cruise, joined in combat and were wounded. Countless were left dead on the battlefield.

Cruise tells NPR’S Morning Edition of such an incident. After parachuting into France, Cruise and his friend, Pvt. William Vargas, fought for 33 days straight to liberate French villages from the Nazis. Then, a shell exploded just beyond Vargas. Cruise tried to save him, but the best he could do was buy his friend a few more hours by slowing the flow of blood. Vargas died later that day.

Cruise told NPR about that Vargas: “His body was sacrificed for mine, simple as that, so that was a traumatic experience among others but that was probably the most moving. So I always think of that as my physical salvation.”

Cruise rightly calls his friend’s sacrifice his “physical salvation.” We, too, have been offered salvation, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who gave His life to pay the penalty of our sins. The sentence that accompanies our sins is death, but Jesus didn’t want to see us suffer spiritual death in hell. Instead, He died for us.

Now, we must choose to believe in Him and accept His substitution. Will you allow Him to be your salvation?

Source

In part one, we gave an overview of our beliefs. In part two, we proclaimed that we believe in one God in three persons of the Trinity. In part three, we spoke about our belief in the Divine inspiration of Scripture. In part 4, we covered our belief in the fallen nature of man and original sin. Yesterday, we declared that, in spite of popular belief, we still believe in eternal damnation for those who do not trust in Christ. Today, we will proclaim our belief that salvation is available to all who call on the name of the Lord, in an episode titled, Whosoever Will…

We begin with a look at the Sadducees and the Pharisees, two political parties in the 2nd Temple Period of Israel, one conservative and one liberal. The Sadducees were the conservative of the two, and by conservative, I mean that they wanted things the way they were in the days of Moses. They were against change. The Torah was the Law, and it was to be the ultimate authority, even if it no longer made sense. The Pharisees were the liberals. Though they recognized the Law, they also recognized oral tradition, and looked at enforcement of the law from the lens of what made sense in its modern context. At the time of Christ, the Sadducees were the party of the High Priest, and those loyal to Him, while the Pharisees were comprised of scholars, laymen, priests, and scribes (scribes being experts in the law because they had published it by hand for many years.  Finally, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, and the Pharisees did. To cast a broad net, both parties challenged the authority of Jesus. A few, though, a very few men of these parties, became disciples of Jesus.

It was while speaking to one of these Pharisees that we learn the most about who Jesus had come to save. We begin in the Gospel of John, chapter 3.  A Pharisee named Nicodemus comes to Jesus on the down low, not wanting anyone to see him conversing with the controversial rabbi named Jesus. Like most Bible authors, John adds no insight into the motives or thoughts of the characters whose stories he retells. Instead, he just writes what he knows: the bare facts and the words spoken. What I see when I read the story is a typical politician, who begins by trying to flatter Jesus. “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Whatever the motive, Christ seems to have ignored the opening words of Nicodemus. Instead, He says gives the Pharisee a riddle of sorts. He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus was puzzled. “How can a man be born when he is old?” I imagine there was a slight chuckle in his voice when he said, “Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Maybe he shouldn’t have sneaked in to see Jesus at night, he thought. The other Pharisees would have laughed at that.

Jesus didn’t. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” Now, Nicodemus rubbed his chin and began to pace. Water and Spirit? Spiritual rebirth? What did that mean? Kingdom of God? This man is as radical as they claim. He plans on overthrowing the Roman government! What had he gotten himself into! He cannot be seen with a revolutionary. I must find a way to bow out gracefully.

As he thought all these things, Jesus kept speaking. Some of it sunk in. It was beginning to make sense to the scholar. Nicodemus paused, and raised a hand as if to pause Jesus. He was going to make the rabbi back up and start over. Jesus, though, didn’t stop.

“We speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how, then, can you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?” Jesus turned his back and began to walk away. Nicodemus followed. The rabbi was right. Now, he wanted to hear more.

Jesus stopped and spun on his heal. Nose to nose, they stood. The rabbi’s eyes penetrated to the very soul of the Pharisee. “No one,” he said in a whisper, “has gone up into heaven except he who first descended from heaven: the Son of Man.”

Nicodemus had been told that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah. Now he knows it is true; the rabbi implies that he comes from heaven. Jesus said something that captured his attention. Then Jesus mentioned Moses, and an incident of which the Pharisee had rarely heard spoken, lifting up the image of a serpent made of copper. The rabbi understood, he thought. He is as wise as they claim, this Jesus. He knows it is not the snake that healed, but the fact that when Moses lifted it up into the air, one must look towards God.

What Jesus said next made the Pharisee’s heart melt. So must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in Him may have eternal life.

“Eternal life…” Nicodemus repeated under his breath. He was certain that there must be something more to this life, otherwise why would it be worth the struggle?

Jesus continued: For God so love the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life…

A tear welled in Nicodemus’s left eye.

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned…”

Jesus said much more, but Nicodemus’s heart paused on the fact that God did not condemn him. He deserved condemnation, that he knew. If God knew the things he had done… If anyone knew the things I have done… I am so sorry. 

He wiped tears from his eyes and looked up at the rabbi. “For God so loves the world?” the Pharisee asked. “All the world?”

Jesus nodded. “Yes. He knows. My Father knows the things you have done. And he loves you anyway.”

Jesus reached out and touched the Pharisee’s shoulder. Nicodemus collapsed into His arms. “You are the Son of God?”

“Do you believe it?” asked Jesus.

“Yes, I do,” said Nicodemus. “What do you mean that you must be lifted up?”

“Follow me, and you will learn much.”

Pharisee. Thief on the cross. Prostitute. Woman with many husbands. Rough and tough fishermen. Lepers. Outcasts. Rich. Poor. Even Murderers. The offer of salvation is made to one and all. No one is beyond the grip of God’s grace.

__________

__________

Holiness is, perhaps, the most misunderstood concept in Christianity. Anyone who has striven to follow the life of Christ can likely tell you that it is impossible to do. No one can match His love, His grace, or His compassion. For no one but Jesus is perfect. Once the believer is filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, though, he or she is filled to the brim with the love of Christ, and desires nothing more than to please God and follow in Christ’s steps. The love of sin is gone. In its place is a love and passion for others. That is Christian Holiness. This is Christian Holiness Daily.

Source

When my children were young I would often find extra work to supplement the income of my full-time job. One weekend, I agreed to clean leaves out of a yard, which led to a job the next weekend at the same location. I would be taking down a tree.

I had never cut down a tree by myself but I managed it pretty well. A few days later, the same people asked me to remove the tree stump. How hard could that be? I agreed.

I spent the next two or three weekends digging and cutting and chopping, until, at last, I was ready to tie the stump to a rope and pull it from the ground with my little Ford Courier pickup.

That did not go well. I tugged and pulled, smoking my tires, and straining my clutch, until something gave. It wasn’t the stump that I felt give. It was the rope snapping, the end of which whipped across the truck and shattered the back sliding window.

I never got that stump removed. Instead I cut it off at ground level. A few years later, shoots of green sporting fourth from that stump and began to grow. What the homeowners had thought dead was rooted so deep and so wide that it could not be removed, and it could not be killed.

Those who trust in God for their salvation are given a measure of faith that leads to discipline, compelling us to walk hand-in-hand with our Lord. Consequently, we are rooted in His love, built-up in His grace, and established in the faith. Once we understand that, we cannot help but give Him all thanks and all praise.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” – Colossians 2:6-7 ESV

___________

___________

Holiness is, perhaps, the most misunderstood concept in Christianity. Anyone who has striven to follow the life of Christ can likely tell you that it is impossible to do. No one can match His love, His grace, or His compassion. For no one but Jesus is perfect. Once the believer is filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, though, he or she is filled to the brim with the love of Christ, and desires nothing more than to please God and follow in Christ’s steps. The love of sin is gone. In its place is a love and passion for others. That is Christian Holiness. This is Christian Holiness Daily.

Source

We have looked, this week, at some incredibly difficult passages of scripture where we find people who have presented themselves to Christ only to hear words of warning from Jesus about the cost of following Him. From those passages, we have learned that salvation does not mean saying a certain prayer and then go on like nothing has changed. If we truly believe in Jesus, we will follow Him. Believing in Him means we give ourselves to Him even into the point of death, if it comes to that. Jesus tells us there is a cost to salvation beyond the price that He paid. Now we address the question, “Why would we want to offer our lives to Jesus?” Today on Christian Holiness Daily.

Why should anyone follow Christ? Because the alternative is eternal separation from His love. Because the alternative is eternal separation from all love. Because without Christ we will be eternally separated from all that is good, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is comforting.

I follow Christ because He loved me before He even set the earth spinning on its axis. Because He died for me even though I am a filthy sinner. I love God because He first loved me.

Before I gave myself to God, I lived a life of sin, but i believed I was a Christian. I had said the sinners prayer. I believed in Christian. I believed in Jesus. I knew He is God made flesh, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died, was resurrected, and ascended into heaven. I believed all that, but I still lived a life of filthy sin. I was on the path that C. S. Lewis called the “safest road to hell.” It is the gradual road, never too steep. It has no road signs that identify it. But the end of the road is eternal hellfire.

After I gave myself to Christ, if I strayed from the path I discovered all kinds of road signs; there was no doubt that I had strayed. God loves His children too much to allow them to wander too far before calling them back to His side.

A couple weeks ago, I talked about Hebrews 6 and said that so long as a Christian does not turn his or her back on God and stop believing, they cannot lose salvation. This is true. Now, today, I am saying that if one believes he or she will follow Christ with total surrender, counting everything else as loss. How, you may wonder do I justify that? How can both be true, you may wonder.

I think here is where we need to define what it means to believe. If one truly believes, one will follow Christ. If one then follows Christ, they get to know their Creator, walk with Him, talk with Him, then they cannot help but change. They cannot avoid being filled with His love. That doesn’t mean they cannot sin. That doesn’t mean they cannot turn back. It does mean that if they do sin, their sin is already forgiven. If they do turn back, the Holy Spirit will hunt them down and call them back home.

I willingly surrender my life to God no matter what the cost because He is a loving Father who wants to spend time with me, His son.

Monday we begin a conversation about how salvation changes our lives. Don’t miss The Best of Christian Holiness Daily tomorrow. And tune in to Christian Holiness Sunday for classic works of old time holiness preachers and writers.
__________

__________

Holiness is, perhaps, the most misunderstood concept in Christianity. Anyone who has striven to follow the life of Christ can likely tell you that it is impossible to do. No one can match His love, His grace, or His compassion. For no one but Jesus is perfect. Once the believer is filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, though, he or she is filled to the brim with the love of Christ, and desires nothing more than to please God and follow in Christ’s steps. The love of sin is gone. In its place is a love and passion for others. That is Christian Holiness. This is Christian Holiness Daily.

Source

“He’s only eleven years old,” Russell’s mother sobbed. She hid her face in her hands and cried.

Her husband squeezed her shoulder and said, “I’ll be back when I find him.” He tried to sound reassuring, but he didn’t believe that they would ever find him, not really.

Russell and his parents had been driving across the mountains when a blizzard struck the mountain pass. Dad had heard the forecast, but convinced himself that he could beat the weather. When they became stuck, they stayed with the car; that’s always best. After three days trapped in the car and no hope of being found soon, though, Dad decided to try to walk for help. A few days later, he returned with help.

He found his wife in the car where he left her, but his son had vanished. The boy had gotten out of the car to look for his dad, but never returned.

Mom had begged him to stay in the car and later frantically searched for him, but his tracks had been covered with fresh snow. He was nowhere to be found.

Now Dad joined a rescue team that would search the entire area. “I got to be honest with you,” said Captain Lourdes, in charge of the search party. The odds of finding your son alive are slim.”

“I have to try. I just can’t do nothing. He needs me.” Dad wept.

Lourdes nodded.

When they found him, Russell clung to an ice covered rock, perched on the side of the mountain. Hundreds of feet below him was a snow field that slanted into a deep mountain valley. How he made it through the past couple days and nights alive, no one knew.

“Daddy’s gotcha, Rusty.” Dad’s voice quivered as he watched the firemen hook his son to a secure line.

Once they had him off the side of the mountain and into their truck, Dad thanked Caitain Lourdes and turn embraced the boy. “I love you, Rusty.” The boy was too cold and too much in shock to speak.

“We’re only 14 miles up the mountain from the Ranger Station. It’s all downhill from here. There are lots of hills and curves and bumps in the road, but you’ll make it. The station is just across the river, but be careful,” said Lourdes, “crossing the river can be tricky, especially in the winter.” He tossed Rusty a book. “This book will answer all your questions. It’s a good book. You should read it every day. It will keep you safe. Once you cross the river, a chopper will pick you up and take you home.”

Rusty’s jaw dropped as the Captain pushed him out of the truck.

“I can’t wait until I catch that chopper someday,” said Dad as he climbed into the truck. “Don’t you worry, Rusty. Captain Lourdes and I will be waiting for you at the station. Now that you’re saved, you can follow the road with no problem.”

“Well, maybe a few problems,” said the captain.

“A few, agreed Dad. “But just read the book. You’ll know what to do.”

The men all piled into the truck and headed down the mountain.

Rusty, watched the truck drive away. Still in shock, still bitter cold, still starving, he pulled off his gloves and looked at the thin black book in his hand. “Gospel of John,” it read. Rusty read the first two chapters, stuck it in his pocket, and trudged down the road.

It began to snow again making it difficult to follow the path of the truck. Rusty never felt the little book fall from his pocket. Just after dark, he left the road for the shelter of some nearby trees. He wondered if he would ever make it to the Ranger Station.

“Found him,” Dad said to Mom when he returned to the station. “We put him on the right road. He’ll be home someday soon.”

“Oh, thank you,” Mom cried.

—–

Silly analogy, I know. Unfortunately, Rusty’s experience is very much the way that many Christians teach our walk with God: we wander far from home, Our Lord goes looking for us. We are saved. So far so good. But, here is where some Christian teaching goes wrong. Salvation doesn’t mean saying a prayer and then continuing on the same path you’ve been on. It doesn’t mean your are saved and then left to find your way through life alone. It doesn’t mean reading a few pages of the Bible and then magically conquering all of life’s challenges.

Salvation is the beginning of a journey home, hand in hand with God through the power of The Holy Spirit. The One Who rescues you, also guides you home. He is with us every step of the way. He will help us understand the guide book. He will help us discern between correct teaching and unsound teaching. He will teach us right from wrong. And He will speak to us when we need guidance or when we are afraid. He is with us when we feel all alone.

Aren’t you glad that when our Father saves us, He doesn’t leave us alone like Rusty?

Source