Benefit #3 - Hope
"...into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:2)
The third benefit of salvation made known in this passage is that of hope. Paul writes that we have peace with God through Jesus, who gives us access to God by His grace where we stand. Therefore, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Christians have hope. We have hope that we can believe what we have faith in - that is one day we will live forever with our Creator in Heaven, basking in His glory - not ours. Other religions do not have this hope. Muslims live in fear that they must "be good" in order to get to Heaven and that Allah will maybe have mercy on them. Mormons must also work their way to Heaven. Eastern religions' goal is to eventually come to a state of unexistance. The athiest has no hope except in this temporal life. Where is the hope in these beliefs? It is absent.
Only through Christ, our Creator and Sustainer can we rejoice in the hope that we will one day be able to do what we were created to do: worship God for eternity.
The third benefit of salvation made known in this passage is that of hope. Paul writes that we have peace with God through Jesus, who gives us access to God by His grace where we stand. Therefore, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Christians have hope. We have hope that we can believe what we have faith in - that is one day we will live forever with our Creator in Heaven, basking in His glory - not ours. Other religions do not have this hope. Muslims live in fear that they must "be good" in order to get to Heaven and that Allah will maybe have mercy on them. Mormons must also work their way to Heaven. Eastern religions' goal is to eventually come to a state of unexistance. The athiest has no hope except in this temporal life. Where is the hope in these beliefs? It is absent.
Only through Christ, our Creator and Sustainer can we rejoice in the hope that we will one day be able to do what we were created to do: worship God for eternity.
posted by Charlie Wallace at
7:58 PM
4 Comments:
How should that hope be reflected and manifested in our lives?
Good question.
I think that hope should mainly be reflected in our lives by the fact that we should live our lives like we are really glad and genuinely relieved that we have been saved. We should also quit thinking about ourselves so much and do what Christ commands, and love others. To do this takes humility and genuine defeat of pride, which so easily entangles us. This battle will be a lifelong one but Christ gives us hope and wants us to humble ourselves and share with everyone else the joy we have in our salvation. This He also commands.
Why is humbling ourselves so hard? Invariably, we have to humble ourselves to accept Christ do we not? Yet, humility remains a trait that is just not natural for us to do, which is why Christ commands it.
Amen to that!
Doug
A good answer.
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