Throne Of All Thrones

Thank God for forgiveness. That we have right to come before a Throne, not of judgemnet, but of grace. That when we confess our sins, He, Christ, is faithful to forgive us. That mercy triumphs over judgement. Amen

Christ Is Coming In Glory. Christ Is Preparing Us For Glory.

We read in Titus 2:11,13 of Christ’s coming in grace- ‘the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all people’- and His coming in glory- ‘we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ’. From grace to glory - This is the journey from Christ’s first coming to His Second Coming. It is also the journey of our life of faith. We begin with the forgiveness of our sins. our final destination is glory, heavenly and eternal glory, the glory of God. We live by the grace of God. We look forward to the glory of God. God wants us to live as ‘a people of His own who are zealous for good deeds’(Titus 2:14). If we are to be ‘zealous for good deeds’, we must first be zealous for Jesus Christ. Do good - but never forget, ‘He saved us - not because of deeds done by us...’(Titus 3:8, 4-6).

We Must Answer The Call To Salvation Before We Can Answer The Call To Holiness.

We are to seek ‘the holiness without which no one will see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:14). This is not the ‘holiness’ of the Pharisee: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men...’ (Luke 18:11-12). It is the holiness that grows in the hearts and lives of those who have received ‘the grace of God’, those who have prayed, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner’ (Hebrews 12:5; Luke 18:13). We do not earn ‘the grace of God’ as a reward for our ‘holiness’. Salvation is ‘not our doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, so that no one can boast’. There is a call to holiness. We are saved ‘for good works’. Before we think about holiness, we must get first things first: ‘By grace you have been saved through faith... for good works’ (Ephesians 2:8-10). We must answer the call to salvation before we can answer the call to holiness.

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This is the thirty-fourth and final post in a series of comments on Ephesians 2.