REDEMPTION CORNER
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We can deduce from the experience of these persons that perished that anyone can come to God , but some will not sufficiently surrender to God for true change to occur in them
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He being convicted would declare " create in me a clean heart , oh God ; and renew a right spirit within me " ( Ps 51:10 ). Also consider Moses , who killed an Egyptian , and was a fugitive for years . He too humbles himself and later becomes God ' s agent of Justice . He also becomes the ' author ' of civil law for Israel . That ' s redemption !
In all these examples we see that conviction happens first , and conversion happens after . So a redeemed Paul could say , " for me to live is Christ ." ( Phl . 1:21 ) And a redeemed Peter would say " submit yourselves to the ordinances of men ..." ( 1 Ptr . 2:13 ), basically teaching others not to ‘ curse nor be violent ’. Amazing grace and sweet redemption in effect !
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He being convicted would declare " create in me a clean heart , oh God ; and renew a right spirit within me "”
( Ps 51:10 )
Redemption , simply put , is the Lord ’ s rescue + redirecting + reconciling + renewing of an individual . And it is in the conviction for sins , and then the surrender to the Saviour , that redemption is facilitated . Indeed surrender is fundamental to redemption . It ’ s like a drowning man that will relax ( surrender ), and cooperate with his rescuer , he gets rescued ; while the frenzied-fighting drowning man makes rescue much more difficult . In the Bible there are amazing cases of this process ; of people powerfully redeemed from destructive and ungodly lifestyles . Imagine the likes of Saul of Tarsus who plundered the Lord ' s church , causing good Christians to be killed or imprisoned . He later became the great Apostle Paul . There is also Peter , the bad-word cursing , aggressive , violent and obnoxious fisherman . He later became the Apostle Peter , a pillar for Christ in the Church .
The Old Testament also provides powerful examples of redemption . Behold the likes of David , the adulterous and on occasion corrupt guy . Ask Uriah about David . Yet , even David got changed as he submitted to God .
Now we cannot ignore the stories and experiences of others , like Judas Iscariot and the deceitful duo of Ananias and Sapphira , nor even Elymas ( in Acts 13:8 ). These New Testament era individuals had access to God ’ s grace , yet it seemed they were all judged by God . Old Testament era persons too , like Jannes and Jambres ( spoken of in 2 Tim . 3:8 ), also perished dramatically at the hand of God , even while on their way to the Promised Land .
We can deduce from the experience of these persons that perished that anyone can come to God , but some will not sufficiently surrender to God for true change to occur in them . It is apparent that some sins do have " cords " not easily broken ( Prov . 5:22 ). Some sinful habits can ‘ tie us down ’ stronger and tighter than some other sins would . Some offenses do require unique , genuine , continuous , wholehearted submission to God , for the process of redemption to take place . Habits such as participating in witchcraft , sexual perversions , and drug use , are of such . The challenge with overcoming those sins is not in God ' s ability or lack of ability , nor is it about His will ; rather the challenge is with those bound to the habit .
And so Paul warns against sexual immorality , Peter warns of insincerity , David warns of bad company , Moses warns of careless living ; they all know God is loving and kind and yet they warn . We know that the Bible says of God that “… He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness .” ( 1 Jn . 1 : 9 ). The person that comes to Him , with a contrite repentant heart , no matter their condition , He is willing to rescue , and to forgive . Yet , that verse begins with this awesome condition , “ If we confess our sins ” - “ IF ”. So the challenge for ‘ anyone ’ getting redeemed is not with God , but it is with US . For there are just some things we can get ourselves into that we don ' t , and won ' t easily let go off .
Ultimately , anyone can be redeemed , but not everyone will be .
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