Romans 10:13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
Come on down, all you big Monday players on this day of LOVE! It’s time to make a move, to rise and shine and get on with Christ’s work! The day is already well on its way, and we can’t let it get too far ahead of us, else we’ll miss a lot of opportunities to tell this troubled world about Christ who wants to save them and give them eternal life. And that’s our job, as ambassadors and agents, as disciples and true believers in the Son of God, who sacrificed His sinless life on the cross of Calvary to save sinners from eternal damnation.
Remember Jesus’ Great Commission to His followers? ‘Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:19-20)
And the simple fact is that people can’t be saved unless they know, unless they hear the gospel of Christ. As Bruh Paul explained to the church at Rome, using the words of the prophet Joel 2:32 in the first verse here ‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.’ (Rom. 10:13-15)
Wow! Bruh Paul was a true wordsmith; especially good at pulling words from other writers and adding them to his, like he did with that last sentence of verse 15, which comes from Nahum 1:15. And what was that all about? The scholars explain it thus: ‘10: 14-15. In presenting the universal application of the gospel, Paul presents the reasons why a universal proclamation is necessary:
First, because the call must be preceded by faith; second, because faith must be preceded by hearing. This shows that knowledge is essential to belief. Faith must have a valid content (c.f. 4:18 – which refers to Abraham being the father of many nations through faith); third, because hearing requires a preacher; fourth, because preaching requires being sent. The One who sends is God. Salvation is completely from God.’
And then we come to the big question, as declared in verse 13 above: What is this thing called salvation? And the scholars offer this explanation. ‘10:13. Salvation is the most common biblical expression used to identify the subjective changes in people’s lives, when by faith they have received the benefit of the Christ’s death and resurrection. The term implies deliverance, safety, preservation, healing, and soundness. It occurs in Scripture in three phases. First the Christian has been saved from the guilt and penalty of sin (Eph. 2: 5, 8).
Second, the Christian is being saved from the habit and dominion of sin in this life (Gal. 2:19-20). Finally, when the Lord returns, the Christian will be saved from ALL the physical results of sin and of God’s curse on the world (Rom. 8:18-23). Illustration: Although Jesus used the word only once (Luke 19:9). He used many other expressions to describe salvation. The dramatic change in Zaccheus was proof of his salvation. Application: The Christian today should also demonstrate a change in his life to confirm this “so great a salvation.”
And that phrase comes from Hebrews 3:2. Which says: ‘How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.’ Now that’s another good question to ask ourselves today. And I like how the article on the topic by John Piper, found on the desiringgod.org website explains it.
The author says: ‘The point of this paragraph of God’s Word is that there will be no escape for any of us who neglects our great salvation. Verse 3: “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” What’s the answer to that question? The answer is, There is no way we will escape if we neglect such a great salvation. Now this is a sobering word for the world and for the church, because most people do neglect the greatness of salvation.
How many people do you know who give serious, sustained attention to the salvation accomplished by Christ—who LOVE it, and think about it, and meditate on it, and marvel at it, and feel continual gratitude for it, and commend it to others as valuable, and weave it into all the lesser things of their lives, and set their hopes on it? Do you live this way? Is it not astonishing how neglectful even professing Christians are of their great salvation?’
Now that’s the awful truth! Not enough of us take salvation as seriously as we should. So please let this be wakeup call for us nuh, and let’s begin to take God’s awesome free and LOVING gift of salvation the way we ought to. And we can begin right now by going to Him in sincere prayer, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, asking for His divine help.
Altogether now: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise Your Holy Name and thank You this Monday morning for life and strong faith in Christ, despite the mass confusion in our world. We desperately need Your divine help, for You are the ONLY ONE with the power to solve our many problems.
Heavenly Father, we admit that we have all sinned and seriously disobeyed Your Word, but we know that You are a merciful, forgiving and gracious God, who has faithfully promised to hear and answer our prayers when we humble ourselves, pray, and sincerely seek Your face. That’s why we come to You now, with sincere repentance in our hearts, pleading with You to give us wise guidance and direction to alleviate our problems.
And Father, we pray that you will ease the pain of the many who are suffering from negative situations. Please show them Your awesome grace and mercy, and keep Your promise that You’ll hear our prayer, forgive us, and heal our land if we turn from our evil ways. Show this evil world that You are indeed Jehovah Rapha; the God who heals! We pray this in the holy and blessed name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen! And again, we say: Amen!’
It now behooves us to keep our promises, if we want the Lord to keep His. Much LOVE!
… it’s our bounden duty…to spread the LOVE of Jesus…every day…
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