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How
Can I
Live Forever?
Chapter
7
Rest For All
It
is from the backdrop of a satisfied law and a completed
work that Jesus invites us to come and to enter into His
rest. The invitation that he extends to every one of us
could read as follows:
Come
to Me, all you who are being wearied by your vain
single-handed efforts to satisfy the demands of the law,
come and accept the fact that I have satisfied the
demands of the law on your behalf. Come to Me all you
who are burdened with guilt, come just as you are and
find peace in the knowledge that I have borne your guilt
for you. Please come and accept the fact that I have
completed the work that was necessary in order to make
peace between you and My Father. I am your peace. Come,
and you will find rest for your souls. (Ref. Matthew
11:28,29)
Jesus
wants us to find rest - He want us to find peace in the
knowledge that the work is now complete, and that, even
though we are expected to work, we are not expected
to work in order to earn salvation. This is why Paul
tells us that . . .
`Anyone
who enters God's rest also rests from his own work.'
(Hebrews 4:10)
Yet
it is a sad fact that many cannot find this rest, for
they are convinced that it will only be found when their
lives accord with certain standards. As we mentioned
earlier, it is most certainly God's dream for every one of us that we
should obey His law, and that our lives will be adorned
with the fragrant fruits of righteousness, but He wants us to understand that
it is not our obedience, but His obedience, that saves
us. This is why . . .
`No-one
will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the
law.' (Romans 3:20)
And
this is why . . .
`A
man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith
in Jesus.' (Galatians 2:16, Romans 3:28)
We
will appreciate, therefore, that salvation `does not
depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.'
(Romans 9:16)
As
Paul points out, `It is . . . by grace [by God's
merciful and unmerited kindness] and not by achievement
that you are saved.' (Ephesians 2:5, Phillips)
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`We
can make no atonement for ourselves; but by faith we can accept the
atonement that has been made.' (1SM321/2) |
These
passages are not teaching what is known as universalism
- that the entire world will be saved. What they are
saying, however, is that Jesus has purchased the right
for the entire world to be saved.
In
the light of these glorious truths, therefore, we can do
none other than accept the fact
that . . .
`The
atonement for a lost world was . . .
full, abundant, and complete.' (DA565/6)
And
now, if this is the case, can we, by our own feeble
efforts, add anything to that atonement? No we
cannot!
We
must accept, therefore, that . . .
`If
righteousness could be gained through [obedience to the]
law, Christ died for nothing.' (Galatians 2:21)
This is why we have been told that . . .
`It
is when Christ is received as a personal Saviour that
salvation comes to the soul.' (DA556)
Now,
if salvation comes to the soul in the split-second that
we accept Jesus as a personal Saviour, then our own
works cannot possibly play a part in the saving
transaction. Even if our works did have some value, what
could we do, in one split-second, that could merit our
eternal salvation?
Salvation
comes to us because we are saved on the strength of our
trust in the fact that Jesus bore our penalty and that
His righteousness and death have fully satisfied the law
on our behalf. As such, whatever works we perform, will
be performed in response to His saving kindness - not in
an effort to earn His saving kindness. We will do works
of righteousness, not in the hope that we can make peace
with God, but only because . . .
`God
was in Christ making peace between the world and
Himself.' (2 Corinthians 5:19, NTBE)
And
the good news invites us to revel in this peace - not
because we have earned it, or because we deserve it, but
only because . . .
`The
punishment that brought our peace was upon Him.' (Isaiah
53:5)
This
is why . . .
`The
believer is not called upon to make his peace with God;
he never has nor ever can do this. He is to accept
Christ as his peace, for with Christ is God and peace.'
(1SM395)
We
must conclude, therefore, that . . .
`We
can make no atonement for ourselves; but by faith we can
accept the atonement that has been made.' (1SM321/2)
When
Jesus let out that pain-filled cry, when He uttered
through blood-stained lips, "It is finished,"
He announced that . . .
`The
great work of redemption had been accomplished
(completed).' (DA758)
And
our redemption is secure today only because it depends
on His completed work - not on our works. In fact,
until we realize and accept this fact, we simply are not
reconciled to God for . . .
`A
man is received by God just as soon as he realizes that
he has nothing in himself that will gain
salvation . . . When he loses all
confidence in anything he has done or can do to save
himself, when he gives himself up to be saved by Christ,
he shows that he appreciates the sacrifice made in his
behalf, that he has confidence to commit the keeping of
his soul to God.' (1SAT218.1)
Resting
in Jesus
To
confirm what has been presented in the foregoing
section, let us carefully examine the words of promise
that God once spoke to backslidden Israel:
`I
have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins
like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed
you.' (Isaiah 44:22)
Isaiah
was inspired to write these words in the light of the
covenant promise. Notice, however, that the Lord does
not invite Israel to return to Him so that He may sweep
away their offenses, but because He had swept away their
offenses.
Notice
too that they were not invited to return to God so that
He could redeem them, but because He had redeemed them.
They
had not even returned to God, and yet their offenses
were swept away and they were "redeemed." On
the strength of Jesus' promise and impending sacrifice,
and on this only, they were redeemed from the curse of
the law - and their own works had no part in the
redeeming transaction - how could their works have
counted for anything when, at that stage, they had not
even returned to the Lord?
Paul
confirms these soul-watering thoughts in His letter to
Timothy. Here he tells us that . . .
`God . . .
has saved us and called us to a holy life.' (2 Timothy
1:9,10).
Notice
here again that God has called us to live a holy life,
not in the hope that this can save us, but because He
"has saved us." In fact, God wants His saving
grace to be the factor that motivates us to live a holy
life. As such, the saving transaction does not take our
own works into account in the least degree. As Paul
confirms . . .
`He
has saved us, . . . not because of
anything we have done but because of His own purpose and
grace.' (2 Timothy 1:9,10).
In
a similar statement Paul again assures us
that . . .
`He
saved us, not because of righteous things we had done,
but because of His mercy.' (Titus 3:5)
All
of which means that we are saved by God's kindness
alone. Sure, our works do have their rightful place, but
we must ever remember that as far as merit for salvation
is concerned, they count for `far less than
nothingness.'
It
is on this basis, therefore, that we receive
salvation . . .
`Not
according to the amount of [our] labor, but according to
the generosity of His purpose.' (COL397)
Thus,
in summary, nothing we can do can alter the fact that
Jesus is a complete Saviour; that His life was
"enough;" and that the work is "now
complete." But we are expected to respond. As hope
and faith take root in our hearts, and as gratitude
wells up within us, acts of love will be the natural
outgrowth. Works of righteousness will become a part of
the character, not in the vain hope that these works can
win God's approval, but because God's loving and
undeserved kindness has won our hearts.
`May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you
trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the
power of the Holy Spirit.' (Romans 15:13)
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