Andrew Womack's devotional for today is excellent!
JESUS, TEACHER AND SAVIOR
Mark 4:2 "And he taught them many things by parables,
and said unto them in his doctrine,"
The
Greek word used here for "doctrine" means "teaching" and
occurs a total of 30 times in the New Testament. The four gospels refer to
Jesus teaching 43 times and preaching 19 times, and six verses refer to Him
preaching and teaching in the same verse. This would indicate that Jesus spent
twice as much time teaching as He did preaching. Jesus' teaching is the basic
building block of making disciples and a stumbling block to the religious.
Why is it
that a person who is seeking so hard to please God can be rejected, while a
person who has not sought God at all can come into a righteous relationship
with Him? This is an important question and its answer is one of the most
profound doctrines in scripture. The answer is faith and its object.
The Jews were
zealous for the things of God, but their faith was in themselves. They were
trusting that they could earn God's favor by their acts of righteousness. On
the other hand, the Gentiles had no holiness to trust in. So, when they heard
the Gospel message that Jesus paid our debt for us, they readily accepted His
"gift" of salvation, while the religious Jews could not abandon their
trust in themselves for salvation.
The same
problem exists today. Millions of church people are trying to live holy lives,
but they do not have a true faith in Jesus as their Savior. If they were to
stand before God and He was to ask them what they had done to deserve
salvation, they would immediately start recounting all their acts of holiness
such as church attendance, giving receipts, etc. Regardless of how good our
actions are compared to others, they always come short of the perfect standard
of God. The only response to this kind of question that would grant us entrance
to heaven is to say, "my only claim to salvation is faith in Jesus as my
Savior." Let Him be the object of your faith today. He is all you need.
We have all encountered people who simply could not accept that there is NOTHING that they can ever do to earn salvation! We have also encountered those who speak of salvation by grace, through faith in JESUS, but then add restrictions, conditions and expectations, usually of others, to that wonderful free GIFT! I encourage you to share THIS with them! Here is Hillsong with "Grace To Grace":
Shalom in Him!
