"Coming to [Christ] as to a living stone" (1 Pet. 2:4).

Jesus Christ is the source of every spiritual privilege.

Often Christians speak of salvation as "coming to Christ." That's an accurate, biblical description, for Jesus Himself said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28); "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst" (John 6:35); "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink" (John 7:37). Those are metaphors for salvation.

Coming to Christ initiates all your spiritual privileges because in Him God "granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1:3). Paul said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3).

The Greek word translated "coming" in 1 Peter 2:4 conveys more than initially turning to Christ for salvation. It implies remaining with Him. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament it was used of those who drew near to God for ongoing worship. It was also used of Gentile proselytes—those who chose to identify themselves with God's people.

When you came to Christ, a permanent relationship of intimate personal communion was established. Before that, you were rebellious toward God, without hope, and alienated from God's promises. Now you've been born again to a living hope, you abide in Him and in His Word, and you have wonderful spiritual privileges.

Indeed, you are a privileged person, and the greatest of those privileges is your personal relationship with Christ Himself. Continue to draw near to Him today through prayer and worship.

Suggestions for Prayer

Tell Jesus how much you love Him and how you want your relationship with Him to be all it should be.

For Further Study

Read Ephesians 2:1-22.

• How did Paul describe our spiritual condition before salvation?
• How are sinners reconciled to God?
• What analogy did Paul use to describe our relationship as Christians to Jesus Christ?

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

True believers will see the glory of Christ reflected in their lives when they examine the genuineness of their salvation.

Assurance of one’s salvation has been a key issue throughout the history of the church, especially the Reformers’ reaction to the Roman Catholic Church’s assertion that since salvation is a joint effort between man and God, the outcome is in doubt until the end. John Calvin, the leading sixteenth-century Reformer, taught that believers can and should be assured of their salvation. He made the grounds for assurance objective, urging believers to look to the promises in God’s Word to gain a sense of personal assurance.

Later Reformed theologians (including the seventeenth-century English Reformers known as Puritans), however, recognized that genuine Christians often lacked assurance. So they emphasized the need for practical evidences of salvation in a believer’s life. Thus they tended to emphasize a subjective means of establishing assurance, counseling people to examine their attitudes and actions for evidence of their election.

The question is: Should Christians derive assurance through the objective promises of Scripture or through subjective self-examination? The Bible teaches that both will lead to assurance. The objective basis for salvation is the finished work of Christ on our behalf, including the promises of Scripture (2 Cor. 1:20). The subjective support is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians, including His convicting and sanctifying ministries. Romans 15:4 refers to both aspects of assurance: “Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance [subjective] and the encouragement of the Scriptures [objective] we might have hope.”

The Holy Spirit applies both grounds of assurance to believers: He “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16). Are you sure of your salvation? Ask yourself the objective question: “Do I believe?” If you truly believe, you can be sure you are saved (John 3:16; Acts 16:31). The subjective question is: “Is my faith real?” That’s why Paul said, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” (2 Cor 13:5). Use the remaining days of this month as an opportunity to take the test.

Suggestions for Prayer

Ask God to reveal your true heart attitude toward Him. Make Psalm 139:23-24 your prayer.

For Further Study

Read 2 Corinthians 3:18.

• How might this be considered part of Paul’s test?
• What should true believers be looking for in their lives?

Reading for Today:

• 1 Chronicles 28:1–29:30
• Psalm 78:67-72
• Proverbs 20:6-7
• Acts 10:24-48

Notes:

1 Chronicles 28:2–8 For the assembly’s sake, David testified to the Davidic Covenant originally given by God to him in 2 Samuel 7 (17:7–27; 22:6–16). David makes it clear that Solomon was God’s choice (v. 5) as had been frequently intimated (2 Sam. 12:24, 25; 1 Kin. 1:13), just as the coming Christ will be God’s chosen Son to ultimately fulfill the kingdom promise.

1 Chronicles 28:19 in writing. David wrote down the plans under the Holy Spirit’s divine inspiration (non-canonical, written revelation). This divine privilege was much like that of Moses for the tabernacle (Ex. 25:9, 40; 27:8; Heb. 8:5).

1 Chronicles 28:20, 21 Solomon’s associates in the building project were God, the owner and general contractor (28:20), plus the human workforce (28:21).

Acts 10:28 unlawful. Literally, “breaking a taboo.” Peter followed the Jewish standards and traditions his whole life. His comments reveal his acceptance of a new standard in which Jews no longer were to consider Gentiles profane.

Acts 10:34 God shows no partiality. Taught in both the Old Testament (Deut. 10:17; 2 Chr. 19:7; Job 34:19) and the New Testament (Rom. 2:11; 3:29, 30; James 2:1). The reality of this truth was taking on new dimensions for Peter.

Acts 10:36 preaching peace. Christ, by paying the price of sin through His sacrificial death, established peace between man and God (Rom. 5:1–11). 

DAY 2: What does God desire in our giving? 

King David called for consecrated giving to the building of the temple, based on his personal example of generosity (1 Chr. 29:3, 4). David gave his personal fortune to the temple building, a fortune almost immeasurable. He says that “over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, my own special treasure of gold and silver: three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir.” Assuming a talent weighed about 75 pounds, this amounts to almost 112 tons of gold. This was held to be the purest and finest in the world (Job 22:24; 28:16; Is. 13:12). Plus the 7,000 talents of silver, which would be 260 tons, the total worth of such precious metals has been estimated in the billions of dollars.

As he addresses the people, David notes the phrase “with a willing mind” (vv. 6–9). Here is the key to all freewill giving, i.e., giving what one desires to give. Tithes were required for taxation, to fund the theocracy, similar to taxation today. The law required that to be paid. This, however, is the voluntary giving from the heart to the Lord. The New Testament speaks of this (Luke 6:38; 2 Cor. 9:1–8) and never demands that a tithe be given to God, but that taxes be paid to one’s government (Rom. 13:6, 7). Paying taxes and giving God whatever one is willing to give, based on devotion to Him and His glory, is biblical giving.

The people rejoiced in their offering to the temple which was “five thousand talents…of gold” (1 Chr. 29:7).This amounts to 187 tons of gold. Add to that 375 tons of silver, 675 tons of bronze, and 3,750 tons of iron. The sum of all this is staggering and has been estimated into the billions of dollars. David responds to the phenomenal offering expressing amazing sacrifices of wealth with praise in which he acknowledges that all things belong to and come from God (vv. 10–15). David says that opportunities for giving to God are tests of the character, “test the heart,” of a believer’s devotion to the Lord (v. 17). The king acknowledges that the attitude of one’s heart is significantly more important than the amount of offering in one’s hand.

“‘Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves’” (Matthew 7:15).

False prophets are most dangerous because of their deceptive nature. We can easily recognize and defend against an enemy that poses for what it is. But when that enemy appears as a friend, it is much harder to defend against.

Heretics and apostates make no claim to biblical truth and are recognizable. But deceivers disguise themselves as true shepherds. They give the appearance of orthodoxy and claim to teach the truth, but their intent is to deceive and destroy God’s people.

Paul explains this phenomenon: “Such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds” (2 Cor. 11:13–15; cf. 2 Tim. 3:13). Such false prophets are demonically deceived, convinced that their perverted, distorted views are correct. They are so steeped in falsehood that darkness seems to be light, blackness white, and error truth.

This calls for genuine discernment. But how is this best done? It’s by realizing that such men show themselves by what they do not say—they seldom affirm the great doctrines of the faith, but rather ignore them. In our day of confusion and indifference, we need to pray and vigilantly “test the spirits to see whether they are from God. . . . Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God” (1 John 4:1, 2).

Ask Yourself

What constitutes false teaching today? Why do such philosophies continue to find room to work in hearts and minds, even of believers? What can we do to keep them away from our churches?