The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 23:43,
"Jesus answered him, 'Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.'"
As Jesus hung on his cross, one of the criminals who was crucified along with him expressed his faith, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
I am struck by the simple direct admission of this criminal into the kingdom of God. There was no application form to fill out and submit. There was no baptism that had to be administered. No confirmation classes had to be attended. He did not have to enter into a covenant with the rest of the fellowship. He did not have to be voted on and have his name entered into a membership roster. He didn't even have to recite the "sinner's prayer"! Additionally, although he was a criminal, he did not have to jump through a series of hoops to undo or redress what may have been a lifetime of criminal activity and sinfulness. He did not have to prove the sincerity or the conviction of his new-found direction in what would be a very short rest-of-his-life to anyone. There was no penance required. We read of no "Hail Mary" or Rosary that needed to be recited. He didn't even have to go to confession, Sunday school, prayer meeting or worship service!
I am not advocating the abolition of any of the above. What I am doing is observing that salvation is simple and direct, not cluttered with all the accouterments we attach to salvation today. It is direct and a simple result from embracing the Lord in faith. Paul puts it this way, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9.
We may have dug ourselves a huge hole that the Lord pulls us out of, we may have made a shambles of our lives (with the resulting consequences that follow), we may have done a lot of damage. And, while we may need to go back and make some things right later, the only thing the Lord requires of us to join his family, to have a place at his table, is to simply embrace him in faith. This is God's grace! None of us deserve a place in God's family, none of us earn a place there by righting all the wrongs we may have committed - we all enter into his family just as simply as that criminal did on the cross next to Jesus.
How tragic it would be to know anyone passed on God's wonderful offer simply because some do-gooder came along and clouded it all up promoting some kind of list of things. Paul spent much of his time opposing these types. Salvation is simple, salvation is direct and salvation is free! That's just how God's love rolls...
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
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