~ 5 Additional Great Advantages of the
Christian ~
Given Freedom ~ The slave will be set free. “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying
and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so
that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors
were opened and everyone's chains were loosed.
And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison
doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to
kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice,
saying, ‘Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.’ Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell
down trembling before Paul and Silas.
And he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be
saved?’ So they said, ‘Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him
and to all who were in his house. And he
took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately
he and all his family were baptized. Now
when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he
rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household” (Acts
16:25-34).
“For
if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also
shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man
was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we
should no longer be slaves of sin.
… But now having been set free
from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and
the end, everlasting life. For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”
(Romans 6:5-6, 22-23).
Given Complete Redemption ~ The cursed will be redeemed. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the
law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who
hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in
Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”
Given Undeserved
Exoneration ~ The condemned will be exonerated. “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having
forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements
that was against us, which was contrary to us.
And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He
made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians
2:13-15).
Given a Meaningful Future ~ The hopeless will be filled with hopeful
expectation. “For the grace of God
that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our
great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might
redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special
people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14). “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and
steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner
has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to
the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:19-20).
Adopted by The King of
Kings ~ The beggar will become a child of the king. “For you did not receive the spirit of
bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry
out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself
bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children,
then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with
Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Romans 8:15-17). “Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his
humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a
burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful
appearance perishes. So the rich man
also will fade away in his pursuits” (James 1:9-11).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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