Reading from Joshua 23
Heads or tails… it’s the same coin with two sides. The same is true with truth of the Gospel.
Joshua has led the people for years now. They had watched as the Lord has done the miraculous. They has witnessed the strength of the Lord. They had been beneficiaries of Him fighting their battles for them. They understood what the Lord had brought them from. Joshua is now instructing them on how to walk out obedience to the Lord.
Here’s the thing: Consider how much they heard the Lord had done and personally experienced things He had done, and was continuing to do. Yet there was a question whether they would be obedient.
See, on one side of the Gospel we recognize the goodness and grace of the Lord. The Bible says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10
The other side is that we aren’t good. The Bible says, “As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;” Romans 3:10
Often we compare ourselves with others and think we are much more behaved than them. Our morals are better than the person beside us. A pastor once said, “there will be a lot of bad people in heaven and a lot of good people in hell.” It truly isn’t about how well we do life, the good Samaritan we may be, or the generous person we think we are. Our salvation is based upon the finished work of Christ on the cross. We shouldn’t compare ourselves with others, we should be comparing ourselves with Jesus; and when we do that we just don’t add up to His perfection.
The Gospel is like that coin with two sides. There is nothing good in us but the goodness of the Lord… the goodness of the Lord is so good. It’s actually freeing to know that it doesn’t depend on my works but His finished work. We can find rest in that truth. Even though I have witnessed the miraculous and personally experienced His goodness there are times just like Israel I choose not to follow Christ. Take comfort in Jesus, take refuge in Him. Submit your life to Him. When we do that that grace transforms us. It’s a beautiful thing.
- To Know Jesus. To Live on Mission.