A Vessel Unto Honor

The believer is simply a "jar of clay". It's the treasure within the vessel that gives the vessel its value.

2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

God has made us the way we are so that we can do the work He wants us to do. The important thing about a vessel is that it be clean, empty, and available for service.

Each of us must seek to become a vessel unto honor, sanctified (set apart), and meet for the Master's use. We are earthen vessels so that we might depend on God's power and not our own.

We must focus on the treasure and not the vessel. Sometimes the treasure spills out and blesses others.

Is The Gospel of Christ Hidden?

There's a world around us that has never heard the gospel. Without salvation they are hopelessly lost for eternity. Satan, the god of this world, strives to keep them that way.

2 Corinthians 4:3,4  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them whch believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 

The Light of Christ is powerful and special because it's the image of God. The Light of Christ is the Anointed One, The Messiah, The Savior and Redeemer, offering salvation to all who believe in Him.

Are we committed to allow the light of Christ to shine through us or will we keep it hidden?

As Surely As . . . .

As surely as the stars, planets, sun and moon declare the existence and power of God, nothing declares it more than a life redeemed by grace. Their walk, talk, act, and thoughts beam powerful testimonies to a dark world.

2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

To deny the power of God, one must rid the world of transformed lives and empty the pews and silence every testimony of grace.

Bill Gaither portrayed this grace in my favorite verse of his popular song Thanks To Calvary.

Then we went back to the house where we used to live

My little boy ran and hid behind the door

I said, "Son you don't have to be afraid.

Thanks to Calvary we don't live here anymore.

The Grace Of God And Redemptiion

Salvation is not merely changing your life to be like Jesus. First, God the Father must draw you to Jesus.

John 6:44 No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

God draws sinners to Jesus by opening their blinded eyes with the "Good News" of Christ dying for their sins and rising from the dead. As their hearts become covicted of sin, they either accept or reject the work of Jesus on the cross.

If you have been redeemed (saved) from the judgement of sin, it's because God in His grace, His mercy, and His love drew you to Jesus, and you believed in Him.

God doesn't force anyone to believe in Jesus. It's a personal decision that affects eternity-- Heaven or Hell. From start to finish, salvation is the work of the grace of God.

Ephesians 2:8,9 For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast.