Prayer and the Word Acts 6:4 “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word.” (NKJV) August 30, 2013 Barely Saved Scripture Reading of the Day: 1st Peter 4:12 – 19 Scripture Verse of the Day: 1st Peter 4:18 – “Now if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” In our passage today Peter is talking to Christians about suffering for the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is something Peter understood well because he has experienced it firsthand. Henry Blackaby says this about suffering as a Christian, “Suffering is common to all people. We have a choice of suffering as a result of our sin and rebellion, or suffering as a result of righteousness. The former is at the hand of God and the latter is in the hand of God.” Peter true to his nature talks to us directly to the church of Jesus Christ i.e. the people of God. In verse fifteen Peter wants Christians not to suffer as an evil doer. He gives us a list of things to consider, but the one I like the most is when he says, “…or as a busybody in other people’s matters.” In verse seventeen Peter talks about, “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God…” The house of God is not a building but the people of God. This brings us to verse eighteen. Peter says first in verse eighteen, “Now if the righteous one is scarcely saved…” I believe Peter is looking at the reality that none of us can ever do anything to present ourselves perfect before God. Paul says in Ephesians 2:8 & 9, “For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourselves; not of works least any man may boast.” 1st John 1:9 says, “If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” These men of God knew and understood several things about the human nature. The first was we need a savior. We cannot pull ourselves up by the bootstraps to make us acceptable to God. We can never be good enough before God. Jesus lives a perfect life and only He can present us before God holy. Jesus is our Savior. The second was we are sinners saved by grace. We need to work at being righteous once we have accepted Jesus as our own personal Lord and Savior. When we mess up, we need to ask for forgiveness to establish our continually fellowship with God the Father through Jesus the Son. Peter ends the verse with, “…where will the ungodly and the sinner appear.” Finally these men of God knew that without Jesus, humans would find themselves eternally lost. This became their life’s mission and ours today to tell people the good news of Jesus. Prayer: Lord guide us to know where we have come from in our lives, and help others see the good news of Jesus through us.
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 22:49:36 +0000
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