No one is worthy of the salvation of Jesus Christ. This gift of God is unmerited and undeserved. May we always strive to make our lives pleasing to Him by loving Him above all and others as much as we do ourselves. We are blessed to be doers, not just hearers, of the Word made flesh.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. The New King James Version
2 Peter 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
The heavens and earth exist in God. They are held together by His word until the day of judgement comes. In eternity there is no time. The Savior is long suffering and the peace He gives us is beyond our understanding. God wants no one to perish and His desire is that all people accept His gift of salvation. The day of judgement is coming as a thief in the night when everything will change in the blink of an eye just as in the days of Noah. Knowing that all these things will happen we should live soberly, peaceful and quiet lives kept in the power of Holy Spirit. We look forward to the coming of the Lord and the renewing of His creation.
John 10:1 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Jesus is the only door to salvation and this gift of God is offered to all people but we have free will. We must choose to accept His gift.
Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Jesus Christ is the physical image of the invisible Godhead. All things were created by Him and for Him. They crucified the One who created them. He is from eternity past and is the head of the Body. Everything is held together by Him.
The prize refers to life in the age to come, especially the resurrection of the dead and the presence of Christ. This series of extended athletic metaphors is intended to communicate the discipline necessary for ministers of the gospel. This links back to 1 Corinthians 9:19, where Paul mentions his voluntary enslavement for the sake of his evangelistic efforts.
Paul is willing to do whatever it takes to proclaim the good news of Christ’s salvation.
Self-Control contrasts the perishable crown of celery leaves that athletes won in the Isthmian games. Paul sought an imperishable crown, which here serves as a metaphor for the reward: eternal life and the glory of sharing in Christ’s work.
Paul’s ministry efforts have a definite purpose. He exercised self-discipline to provide for himself and to endure the hardship associated with his ministry. I myself should become disqualified continues Paul’s sports metaphor and refers to one whose athletic preparation does not allow him or her to finish the competition or withstand the test. For Paul, this manifested as ineffective proclamation, resulting in people not coming to faith in Christ because of his preaching. Given his rigorous self-discipline, Paul considered such results to be unacceptable. Faithlife Study Bible
The Greek word for disqualified means “disapproved after testing.” Although some have cited this verse as evidence that Christians can lose their salvation, this clause most likely does not refer to salvation. A careful distinction should be made between the prize and the gift. The free gift of justification cannot be the result of good works. However the prize or crown is the reward for endurance and suffering for the cause of Christ. The NKJV Study Bible
2 Timothy 4:7–8 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Galatians 2:2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
1 Peter 5:4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
God is always speaking through His Word and His Spirit, who dwells within us as followers of Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-2; 1 John 5:6b; Hebrews 4:12). First5
I want to live deliberately.
I want to live and choose, from my true—unique, grounded and beloved—self.
And I believe you want to do the same. So. Again, let us pause, and hear this: Blessed are you who know deep in your bones—even in the broken—that you are beautiful. And beloved. And sacred. And worthy. And believed. And held. And capable of healing beyond your wildest imagination.
And we’ll give Richard Rohr the final word. “There is in every one of us the imago dei (the image of God)... Our unique divine DNA, an inner destiny as it were, an absolute core that knows the truth about you, a true believer tucked away in the cellar of your being, an imago Dei that begs to be allowed, to be fulfilled, and to show itself. This is your True Self or soul. Paradoxically, immense humility, not arrogance, characterizes the True Self. You simultaneously know you are a son or daughter of God, but you also know that you didn’t earn it and you are not worthy of it. You know it’s entirely a gift. All you can do is thank Somebody Else, occasionally weep with joy, and kneel without any hesitation. The single and true purpose of mature religion is to lead you to ever new experiences of your True Self. If religion does not do this, it is junk religion. Every sacrament, every Bible story, every church service, every sermon, every hymn, every bit of priesthood, ministry, or liturgy is for one purpose: to allow you to experience your True Self—who you are in God and who God is in you—and to live a generous and just life from that Infinite Source.” (Thank you Richard Rohr) Sabbath Moments
Prior to 1948 Jews were dispersed to more than seventy countries for more than twenty centuries. Yet since 1948 we have seen them return. For the first time since AD 135, there are more Jews living in Israel than any other place on earth. The Bible repeatedly presents the regathering of the Jewish people as a watershed event that must occur before other end times events take place.
We’ve always had wars, always had disasters, and deceptions. But now that the milestone moment has happened and Israel is restored, the other signs progressively signal the impending end. We have entered the last days. So, let us be looking, and let us be declaring: the end is near. Max Lucado
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