DEVOTION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012
“Salvation”
BY
PASTOR BOB COY
The Lord is…not willing that any should perish but that
all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)
What is God's will for our lives? Over the next few days,
we'll be looking at some specific declarations about His will from His Word.
These are what we might call "givens." They tell us pointblank what
the Lord wants in and for our lives.
The first "given" centers on the subject of
salvation. Notice what 2 Peter 3:9 says: "The Lord is…not willing that any
should perish but that all should come to repentance."
In the context of this particular passage, Peter is
speaking about God's judgment towards man's sin. As it was in the days of Noah,
the human race is infected with a sinful condition that actually demands
punishment…punishment that will come as the Lord pronounces His just judgment.
Repentance, which literally means to turn in the other
direction, is our only hope of escaping this judgment. We repent when we
confess our sinfulness and look to Jesus, who sacrificially died on the
cross on our behalf, as our Savior. By doing so, we change course, we turn
toward God, and receive His gift of forgiveness and salvation. Those who repent
will be saved and experience eternal life and joy with God. Those who don't
will perish, which means they'll be eternally destroyed.
Now, how does God's will factor into all of this? Look
closely. It says He is "not willing that any should perish." In
other words, it is God's will for everyone to escape judgment and to experience
His salvation. He never looks at a person and says, "I just can't wait to
judge them for their sin!" It's just the opposite. His heart actually
breaks for the fact that people choose not to repent and
receive His gift of eternal life.
Without question or exception, God's will is for every man
and woman to be saved. But the question is whether or not we want His salvation
for ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment