The Bible reveals that “God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet 5:5b). In this passage, Peter is writing to believers, but the principle is true for everyone, saved or unsaved. Throughout Scripture, God is consistently presented as displaying grace (Ex 34:6; Psa 103:8; John 1:14). While God’s common grace shines on the just and unjust alike (Matt 5:45; Acts 14:16-17), He gives special grace to the humble (Jam 4:6).
Tag: Jesus Christ
Faith from Beginning to End
The Christian life begins with faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, recognizing that He alone has the power to save and grant eternal life. It continues as believers trust in God’s Word for spiritual growth, walking by faith through trials and challenges, knowing that their perseverance will be rewarded both in this life and in eternity.
Eternal Life Is the Greatest Gift of All!
The article highlights the profound gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, underscoring that salvation is granted by grace, not works. It emphasizes the significance of Christ's sacrifice and encourages believers to live righteously, while warning against a lifestyle of sin, which can lead to divine discipline.
What Jesus Suffered in the Hours Prior to His Crucifixion
Jesus loved the Father (John 14:31) and submitted Himself to do the Father’s will (Matt 26:39-44; cf. Rom 5:19; Phil 2:5-8), which included enduring the illegal trials of His accusers, as well as the eventual mockings, beatings, and crucifixion. All that Jesus suffered was prophesied in Scripture (Gen 3:15; Psa 22:16-18; Isa 50:4-7; 52:14; 53:3-12; Matt 26:67-68; Mark 10:32-34). God the Father was in complete control of the circumstances surrounding the trials and crucifixion of Jesus (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28). Though unjustly attacked, Jesus knew He was doing the Father’s will (John 6:38; 10:14-18; 12:27; 18:11) and did not retaliate against His attackers (1 Pet 2:21-23).
Jesus’ Return for His Saints
The eschatological subject of the Rapture of the church can be related the study of Soteriology because it is regarded as a form of deliverance. When Messiah returns at the end of the church age, He will deliver His church from an evil world and a coming judgment that will last for seven years (Read Revelation chapters 6-18). A distinction is here drawn between Jesus coming for His saints at the Rapture, and Jesus coming with His saints at His Second Coming (Dan 7:13-14; Matt 19:28; 25:31; Rev 19:11-21). Jesus is now in heaven preparing a place for believers to be with Him there (John 14:1-3). Paul revealed Jesus will return for His church and that all Christians will be “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air (1 Th 4:13-18).
Jesus’ Ascension and Session
After Jesus’ resurrection, he appeared to many on several occasions. His final appearance was to His apostles. Luke wrote, “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:50-51). And in Acts we’re told, “He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). It’s important to note that Jesus ascended bodily into heaven, and that He will return the same way. Jesus’ ascension into heaven was the beginning of His session at the right hand of God.
Theological Implications of Jesus’ Resurrection for Salvation
Jesus’ resurrection is an essential element in soteriology. In fact, every writer of the NT assumes that Jesus was resurrected from the grave and treat it as an event that took place in time and space. Paul wrote that Jesus “was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:4), that He was “the first fruits of those who are asleep” (1 Cor 15:20), and that “having been raised from the dead, is never to die again” (Rom 6:9).
Jesus’ Substitutionary Atonement in Salvation
Jesus’ atonement for sins is the basis for reconciliation, because God has judged our sins in the Person of Christ who died on the cross in our place. The death of Christ has forever satisfied God’s righteous demands for our sin and it is on this basis that He can accept sinners into heaven. The blood of Christ is the only coin in the heavenly realm that God accepts as payment for our sin-debt, and Christ paid our sin debt in full.
The Purposeful Suffering of Christ: A Look at Isaiah 53
It is in the understanding of the suffering and death of Christ that the sinner appreciates God’s great love and the price that was paid for our salvation. Christ suffered in our place, bearing the penalty that rightfully belongs to us. Scripture tells us that “Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3:18a). Perhaps no section of Scripture in the Old Testament bears greater testimony to this truth than Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12, in which the prophet reveals the Messiah as the Suffering Servant.
The God-Man: Understanding the Deity and Humanity of Jesus
At a point in time, the eternal Son of God added humanity to Himself, simultaneously becoming God and man, Creator and creature, the unique theanthropic person (John 1:1, 14, 18; 8:58; 10:33; 20:28; Col 2:9; Heb 1:8). Jesus is the God-man and exists in hypostatic union, as a single Person with a divine and human nature (John 1:1, 14; 1 John 4:2-3), both natures being distinct and preserved, not mixed or confused, fully God and fully man.
The Role of God the Father in Salvation
God the Father is seen as the initiator, planner, and orchestrator of the salvation of mankind. God the Father is loving, merciful, and kind, and “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4), and is “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9).
Trusting God’s Provision: Resting in His Promises
As Christians, we can depend on the Lord to provide for our daily needs. Abraham knew this to be true and said of Yahweh, “The LORD Will Provide” (Gen 22:14). And Paul wrote, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” (2 Cor 9:8), and “God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).
Atonement for Sins
Jesus’ death on the cross was a satisfactory sacrifice to God which completely paid the price for our sin. We owed a debt to God that we could never pay, and Jesus paid that debt in full when He died on the cross and bore the punishment that rightfully belonged to us.