Strengthened by the Grace

[Christsfreeservant]

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” (2 Timothy 2:1-7 ESV)​

Now Paul spoke these words to Timothy, but there is nothing in here that cannot also be applied to all of us who are servants of the Lord Jesus, as his followers. For we should all be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And what is that grace? That grace, which is bringing us salvation, instructs (trains) us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (see Titus 2:11-14).

That grace sent Jesus Christ to the cross to be crucified for our sins so that in his death he put our sins to death with him so that we might now die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, and so that we might now live for him and no longer for ourselves. For Jesus shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of slavery to sin so that we will now honor God with our bodies. Therefore we are not to let sin reign anymore in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it leads to righteousness, and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with Christ our Lord.

1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23

And since we are to make disciples of Christ of people of all nations, teaching them to obey our Lord’s commands, and since we are commanded of God that we should all instruct, encourage, exhort, and urge one another toward walks of holiness and obedience to our Lord, and away from habitual and deliberate sin, then it is no stretch to apply this also to our lives. For we are to be people of God who share with others the gospel of our salvation and who encourage each other in the Lord to obey our Lord, so we should also be people of God who are discipling other believers in Christ, not only to follow Jesus with their lives, but to also be those who disciple others.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]

Now, as followers of Christ, we are his soldiers in his spiritual army. When a person signs on with the military, the military now owns him. And it is the same with us when we trust Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives. Now we are God’s possession, and he is our Lord (Owner-Master), and now we are to serve him with our lives in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). Our lives are no longer our own to be lived however we want, for we were bought with the price of Christ’s blood and we’re his “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10; cf. Titus 2:11-14).

So, just like the military owns its soldiers, we are under God’s ownership, and thus he is to be the one directing our paths, not us. And so we are to share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. For if we are following Jesus and not our flesh, we will be hated, rejected, persecuted, abandoned, cast aside as unwanted, falsely accused and mistreated for Jesus’ sake. And another aspect of this is that we are not to get entangled in worldly pursuits, but we are to live to please our Lord and Master. For he called us to be his holy people, and to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are becoming like Jesus Christ in heart and character.

And since we are going to have enemies, we are going to face opposition. And there are going to be plenty of enemy forces out there in positions of pastors and elders in “church” congregations, and on the radio and TV and on the internet who are going to teach you lies, and who are going to try to convince you to believe a false gospel of salvation which requires no submission to Christ as Lord, no obedience to his commands, no forsaking of our sins, and no works of God which he prepared in advance that we should walk in them. And they will tell you that all you have to do is “believe” and God does it all so you can live how you want and still go to heaven.

But the Scriptures make it quite clear that we have to “compete according to the rules,” i.e. we have to run this race that God marked out for us to run according to the leading of the Holy Spirit and according to the gospel message taught by Jesus and by his NT apostles (taught in context) and according to the commandments of our Lord under the New Covenant. So it isn’t the one who merely makes a profession of faith in Jesus Christ who has eternal life with God, but it is the one who dies to sin and lives to righteousness, who obeys the Lord’s commandments and who walks in the ways of holiness, moral purity, honesty, and faithfulness.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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