Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Life Saving Faith
Jocelyn Chacko
St. Thomas MTC, NY
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led
astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice
and envy, despicable, hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving
kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of any works of
righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water
of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
“Code Adam.” At my hospital, this code over the loudspeakers signifies that a child has been physically abducted; security and investigative protocols are then set into motion to help return the child to his/her parents. The Biblical analogy to this situation basically writes itself.
In the Garden of Eden, man was spiritually and then physically separated from God by the sin he committed. The Bible then talks of the journey towards reconciliation or “life-saving faith”. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve are not abducted physically, but they become abducted by “foolishness, disobedience, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures,” (Titus 3:3). Their disobedience is motivated by selfishness---turning their minds away from God’s desires and focusing instead on their own desires. Today, we are guilty of this same inward focus and letting it motivate selfish actions. God, though angry, is also devastated and begins figuratively declaring “Code Adam” to rescue his children—Adam and Eve and all of us who have been spiritually abducted and return us all back to the reach of his love.
A Jewish co-worker of mine asked me recently, “Do you believe God is loving?” Looking through the lens of the angry God she described in the Old Testament, I could see why she had this question about God’s disciplinary parental instincts. I gently asked myself, “Have I even been deserving of God’s love or his punishment?” Despite being convicted of constant disobedience (the Israelites then and us today), this passage declares the infinite mercy, love and kindness of God our Savior who is willing to selflessly send his son to be crucified for us.
This passage is taken from a letter of Paul to Titus, who is in Crete for the mission of organizing the budding church and appointing leaders in every town to do God’s work. (Titus 1:5). Paul reminds Titus that the credentials to do God’s work come from our redemption. By extension he reminds us today. We are all Gentiles, converted not by “any works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). We are therefore heirs to the hope of eternal life but also to the work of spreading his love and sharing with others the news of this “life-saving faith”.
“Code Adam.” At my hospital, this code over the loudspeakers signifies that a child has been physically abducted; security and investigative protocols are then set into motion to help return the child to his/her parents. The Biblical analogy to this situation basically writes itself.
In the Garden of Eden, man was spiritually and then physically separated from God by the sin he committed. The Bible then talks of the journey towards reconciliation or “life-saving faith”. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve are not abducted physically, but they become abducted by “foolishness, disobedience, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures,” (Titus 3:3). Their disobedience is motivated by selfishness---turning their minds away from God’s desires and focusing instead on their own desires. Today, we are guilty of this same inward focus and letting it motivate selfish actions. God, though angry, is also devastated and begins figuratively declaring “Code Adam” to rescue his children—Adam and Eve and all of us who have been spiritually abducted and return us all back to the reach of his love.
A Jewish co-worker of mine asked me recently, “Do you believe God is loving?” Looking through the lens of the angry God she described in the Old Testament, I could see why she had this question about God’s disciplinary parental instincts. I gently asked myself, “Have I even been deserving of God’s love or his punishment?” Despite being convicted of constant disobedience (the Israelites then and us today), this passage declares the infinite mercy, love and kindness of God our Savior who is willing to selflessly send his son to be crucified for us.
This passage is taken from a letter of Paul to Titus, who is in Crete for the mission of organizing the budding church and appointing leaders in every town to do God’s work. (Titus 1:5). Paul reminds Titus that the credentials to do God’s work come from our redemption. By extension he reminds us today. We are all Gentiles, converted not by “any works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). We are therefore heirs to the hope of eternal life but also to the work of spreading his love and sharing with others the news of this “life-saving faith”.
PRAYER
Dear God, Though we are
undeserving of your love, you have poured it out on us richly. Help us to live
reminded that we have experienced “life-saving faith” and reflect your love for
us to others. Amen
THOUGHT
FOR THE DAY:
As a redeemed people, we should be no longer be as we “once were”-- motivated by our own selfishness, but instead we should be reflective of the “goodness and loving kindness of God”. This is life-changing faith.
As a redeemed people, we should be no longer be as we “once were”-- motivated by our own selfishness, but instead we should be reflective of the “goodness and loving kindness of God”. This is life-changing faith.