For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
Watch Session Four: The Turning Point
In Acts 8, we find an Ethiopian eunuch reading a portion of Scripture found in the book of Isaiah. He is confused about who the Scripture is referring to, so God directs Philip, one of the seven deacons, to join the eunuch. Philip then explains the good news of Jesus with the eunuch. The eunuch is so moved and convicted by the gospel that he insists that Philip baptize him.
We know that we need a savior. Now what do we do? We believe.
In today’s Scripture reading, we see that salvation involves both confession and belief. We must believe the truth about Jesus, that he is the Son of God who descended to earth to die for our sins and that he rose from the dead.
Our world thinks of Jesus’s resurrection as a hoax, ridiculing and rejecting those who believe. But in today’s Scripture reading, God promises that everyone who believes in Jesus will not be put to shame. When we accept the truth about who Jesus is and believe in him for salvation, God accepts us.
Salvation is available to anyone who confesses Jesus as Lord and believes in him. Before Jesus came to earth, Israel enjoyed a special relationship with God that other nations (the Gentiles) did not. But when Jesus died, he provided access to God for anyone who will come to him. Neither our nationalities nor our ethnicities gain us special favor in God’s eyesight. We are accepted only because of Jesus.
The eunuch and Philip were from two different countries, one from Israel and the other from Ethiopia. When Philip shared the gospel with the eunuch, the Ethiopian believed and was not denied salvation. As our Scripture today insists, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
A virgin gave birth to a special boy. That boy grew into a man who claimed to be the Son of God. The Son of God died for your sins and was resurrected three days after his death. Now he offers salvation to all who will believe in him. Are these facts hard for you to believe? What thoughts keep playing on repeat mode in your mind? What would it take to make you believe Jesus’s claim as the Son of God?
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I praise Jesus for being my perfect sacrifice. How could I deny someone who was willing to suffer and die for me? That is something I didn’t deserve but yet was so freely given to me. And to then to know that he suffered death even death on a cross for the joy that was before Him and to realize I was that joy. Some days it is hard to believe that because of knowing who and what I was and that sometimes that creeps back into my life. Yet there is always forgiveness. Why do I sometimes find it hard to share about Him with others? That’s what bothers me.
Praying Boldness For You At Such A Time As This? Read about Ester in the Bible! She will inspire you
These facts are not hard for me to believe but that’s because Jesus has transformed my heart and I belong to Him. I know He is the Son of God without a doubt.
The thoughts that keep playing in my mind is “Wow. Thank you for choosing me even when I was not worthy.”
I feel like, in my position, and working with youth I deal with this a lot. the season of doubt. A lot of my youth are in the what if stages and it is hard to weather through. Keeping focused on where we see God and His work is one of the many ways we can refocus our times of doubt.
I have no problem believing that He is the Son of God, or that He is Lord of all…especially when it applies to Heaven and eternal life. I cerebrally believe that for my day-t0-day…but, it’s my constant default to land back on my own two feet that is the problem. It’s not a belief issue…it’s a practice issue.
I have never not believed that fact.