[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (JAC) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]
๐๐ โ๐ผ๐๐ผโ
๐:๐
"Simeon
Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received the same
kind of faith as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus
Christ."
Some
people trust in their 'good' works for salvation.
Others
(especially the Catholics) trust that 'good' works + faith in Christ will save
them.
And
still, others believe that faith alone will save them, no matter how they live.
And
yet still some would say that a man shall live by 'his' faith.
What
does the Bible say about salvation? About faith? About good works? About our
lifestyle?
Well,
all the views offered above are misleading, some so heretical!
I
Peter 1:1 reminds us that it is not 'our' faith that saves us; it is the
received faith that saves us. We receive faith because God has made us born
again. And this faith we receive saves us.
Faith
is a gift. Grace is a gift. Salvation is a gift. Eternal life is a gift. Life
itself is a gift. Jesus is a gift.
Let's
not boast as if we have anything, or as if we can do anything, or as if we can
contribute anything for our salvation!
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ด ๐จ๐ธ๐พ, ๐๐ธ๐ป๐ญ, ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฝ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ! ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ด ๐จ๐ธ๐พ ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ถ๐ช๐ด๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ฒ๐ท ๐๐ฎ๐ผ๐พ๐ผ ๐๐ฑ๐ป๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ! ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ด ๐จ๐ธ๐พ ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ถ๐ช๐ด๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ท ๐๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ท ๐ธ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ ๐ช๐ป๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ธ๐พ๐ซ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐จ๐ธ๐พ. ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ท ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฌ๐ป๐ฎ๐ช๐ผ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ท ๐จ๐ธ๐พ, ๐๐ธ๐ป๐ญ, ๐ช๐ต๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ธ๐ป๐ฎ. ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ท!
๐๐ โ๐ผ๐๐ผโ
๐:๐
"And
in their ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ they will ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฅ you with false words, their judgment from long ago is
not idle, and their destruction is not asleep."
We
all need money to live in this world. Even Jesus needed it to pay taxes. We
have to earn money.
Hey,
we have to earn a lot, lots of money. But not for our self-pleasure, but to be
generous to those who are less privileged, less competent, less talented, etc.
Remember, it's God who is prospering our endeavor. The world is His.
สแดแดกแดแด แดส, ๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ is the unique characteristic of a false teacher
according to this verse. Christian ministry is a ministry of self-denial, a
ministry of grace (generosity), a ministry of humility.
While
it may be difficult to set up a parameter what falls into a category of greed and
what does not, false teachers will exploit us in their greed.
Greed
vs Generosity
๐๐ โ๐ผ๐๐ผโ
๐:๐๐
"but
grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be
the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."
๐พ๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ธโ๐ผ๐ธ๐
๐. ๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ of our Lord Jesus Christ: Sufficiency of His grace in
all trials and troubles of life.
๐. ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐ of our Lord Jesus Christ: Satisfaction in His Person
and His Lordship over my life.
๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ธ๐พ๐ต, ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ท๐ญ ๐ผ๐พ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ท๐ฌ๐ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐ผ๐ช๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ท ๐ฒ๐ท ๐๐ฒ๐ถ! ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ท!