April 3: Believing His Salvation.
HIS SUFFICIENCY.
The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord..."you will deny me three times."--Luke 22:61
A couple of decades ago I used to belong to a vocal group called Opus 7, which was founded by a friend of mine, Dr. Ariel Quintana. One of the songs we sang and recorded kept repeating a phrase that is more than appropriate for today's topic: "His arms are long enough to save you...His heart is big enough to love you...His grace is more than sufficient." Is it really? Is His sacrifice sufficient for the worst of the worst among us? Murderers? Terrorists? Betrayers?
The juxtaposition of Peter and Judas has always caught my attention. The betrayals of Peter and Judas are narrated back-to-back, as in one breath (see Matthew 26:67-27:10; Luke 22:47-62). And yet, the end of each of their earthly stories is so different: Judas would hang himself, while Peter would become a powerful preacher of the gospel. When Judas saw that Jesus had been condemned, he felt remorse, returned the thirty pieces of silver, and exclaimed: "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood" (Matthew 27:4). Peter, when he remembered Jesus' prophecy about his own betrayal, "wept bitterly" (Matthew 26:75; Luke 22:62). Jesus extended grace to both of them, calling Judas "friend" (Matthew 26:50) and dealing tenderly with Peter (Luke 22:31-34, 61). Both Peter and Judas betrayed Jesus and both felt remorse; however, there was a huge difference between the two and where each of them ended up. The main difference between the two was that Peter chose to believe that God's grace was enough, and that Jesus' blood was sufficient to cover his sin; as far as we know, Judas did not. Do we believe that Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient for our sin? Yes, that sin that you are thinking about! Yes! His arms are long enough to reach us, and His blood is more than sufficient to cover us. Jesus has supplied more than a sufficient ransom for each human being, because the provision of forgiveness precedes repentance and draws the sinner to ask for what is already offered freely. Place your trust in His sufficiency and not in your insufficiency. When we accept His sacrifice, we know how our story ends.
My Response:___________________________________________________________
HIS SUFFICIENCY.
The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord..."you will deny me three times."--Luke 22:61
A couple of decades ago I used to belong to a vocal group called Opus 7, which was founded by a friend of mine, Dr. Ariel Quintana. One of the songs we sang and recorded kept repeating a phrase that is more than appropriate for today's topic: "His arms are long enough to save you...His heart is big enough to love you...His grace is more than sufficient." Is it really? Is His sacrifice sufficient for the worst of the worst among us? Murderers? Terrorists? Betrayers?
The juxtaposition of Peter and Judas has always caught my attention. The betrayals of Peter and Judas are narrated back-to-back, as in one breath (see Matthew 26:67-27:10; Luke 22:47-62). And yet, the end of each of their earthly stories is so different: Judas would hang himself, while Peter would become a powerful preacher of the gospel. When Judas saw that Jesus had been condemned, he felt remorse, returned the thirty pieces of silver, and exclaimed: "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood" (Matthew 27:4). Peter, when he remembered Jesus' prophecy about his own betrayal, "wept bitterly" (Matthew 26:75; Luke 22:62). Jesus extended grace to both of them, calling Judas "friend" (Matthew 26:50) and dealing tenderly with Peter (Luke 22:31-34, 61). Both Peter and Judas betrayed Jesus and both felt remorse; however, there was a huge difference between the two and where each of them ended up. The main difference between the two was that Peter chose to believe that God's grace was enough, and that Jesus' blood was sufficient to cover his sin; as far as we know, Judas did not. Do we believe that Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient for our sin? Yes, that sin that you are thinking about! Yes! His arms are long enough to reach us, and His blood is more than sufficient to cover us. Jesus has supplied more than a sufficient ransom for each human being, because the provision of forgiveness precedes repentance and draws the sinner to ask for what is already offered freely. Place your trust in His sufficiency and not in your insufficiency. When we accept His sacrifice, we know how our story ends.
My Response:___________________________________________________________
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