THE BELIEVER’S MOTIVATION "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead" (2 Corinthians 5:14). All ministers of Christ and all believers in the Lord Jesus are under the sweetest and strongest constraint to do what they do. They are motivated by "the love of Christ" – His love for them and their love for Him. It is not fear of hell, desire for reward, nor concern for acceptance that excites believers to their duty, but Christ’s eternal love, which led Him to redeem them by His life and death, and the love of God which is shed abroad in their hearts (John 21:17; 1 John 4:19). His love for us is the chief motive, for we know that if He died then we were all dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). If we had not been dead spiritually, He would not have had to die. Also, if He died for us, we died in Him – to the world, to the claims and curse of the law and to ourselves (Galatians 6:14). –Henry Mahan
"IT COMES WITH THE TICKET" A poor European family saved for years to buy tickets to sail on a cruise ship to America. Once at sea, they carefully rationed the cheese and bread they had brought for the journey. After three days, the son complained to his father, "I hate cheese sandwiches. If I don’t eat anything else before we get to America, I am going to die." Giving the boy his last nickel, the father told him to go to the ship’s galley and buy an ice-cream cone. When the boy returned a long time later with a wide smile, his worried dad asked, "Where were you?" "In the galley, eating three ice-cream cones and a steak dinner!" "All that for a nickel?" "Oh, no, the food is free," the boy replied. "It comes with the ticket."
The apostle Paul warned his readers about false teachers who were offering them "bread and cheese" instead of "steak." They were in danger of forgetting Christ’s sufficiency and relying on their own self-effort (Colossians 2:8, 20-23). We who have trusted Christ for salvation have been assured not only of safe passage to heaven, but also of everything we need to live for Him here and now (Colossians 1:13-14; 2:6-15). Christ is and has all we need. It comes with the "ticket." And another amazing truth of this salvation is that we did not even have to save to buy the "ticket." Christ is given to us by the Father and He gave Himself for us freely and unconditionally (Romans 3:24; 8:32). Salvation in Christ is ALL free, and all salvation comes to us from HIM and with HIM. –copied
"I HAVE PREACHED RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Psalm 40:9) By comparing the context of this passage with Hebrews 10:7-9, you will discover these are the words of David’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Savior was a preacher, and He declared "I have preached righteousness in the great congregation." The issue in salvation is this: how can sinful men be made righteous before a just and holy God? If any answer that sinners are made righteous by their works, their wills or their faith, they are guilty of setting forth a salvation conditioned upon sinners which puts them at odds with the Word of God that proclaims, "The salvation of the righteous is of the LORD" (Psalm 37:39). True preaching declares that the Son of God brought in everlasting righteousness for His people by His death and resurrection. The Savior’s work of redemption made it right for God to justify the ungodly ones in whose stead He laid down His life. By His substitutionary sacrifice, Christ met the demands of justice, honored the holy character of God, put away the sins of His people and secured their salvation. "For He (God the Father) hath made Him (God the Son) to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). –Pastor Jim Byrd
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