Many people entertain the popular concept that
all have the right to serve God because all were
created by God. Let us study the scriptures to
know if the right to serve God is given to all
men or to a specific group of people.
30A.1
How does the Bible show
that service to God should be rendered only by
those who have acquired the right to do so?
In 2 Timothy
2:19, this is written:
Nevertheless the solid foundation of God
stands, having this seal: "The Lord
knows those who are His,'' and, "Let
everyone who names the name of Christ
depart from iniquity.'' (NKJV)
"God knows
who are His".
Out of the teeming population of the world,
there are people who are recognized by God
as His own.
30A.2
Who are these people? What
has been done to them by God?
In Psalms
4:3, this is written:
But know that the Lord has set apart
for Himself him who is godly; The
Lord will hear when I call to Him. (NKJV)
These are
godly people who has been set apart by God
for Himself. God will listen to them when
they call on Him.
30A.3
Who are these people who
has been set apart by God for Himself?
In John 17:6
& 9, Christ can tell us who they are:
6.
"I have manifested Your name to the men
whom You have given Me out of the
world. They were Yours, You gave them to
Me, and they have kept Your word.
9. "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You
have given Me, for they are Yours. (NKJV)
They are
those whom God has given Christ — from out
of the world, for they are of God and they
belong to God.
30A.4
Why is it necessary for a
man to be given to Christ so that he could
belong to God?
In Ephesians
2:4-5, Apostle Paul testifies:
4. But God, who is rich in mercy,
because of His great love with which He
loved us,
5. even when we were dead in
trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ (by grace you have been
saved),
The same
verse in another version of the Bible:
4.
However, God was rich in mercy,
because of His great love which He
had for us.
5. While we were dead in sins,
God made us alive with Christ.
(You have been saved by gracious
love.) (IEB)
God gives
man to Christ so he can be "made alive
together with Christ".
God's people are given to Christ so that
Christ could answer for their sins.
(Topic 30E)When
their sins are forgiven, God consider them "alive together
with Christ".
Why is it necessary
to be "made alive together with Christ"?
It is because a sinful man is considered
dead by God. The whole world is
counted dead in the sight of God, and has no
right to deify God. (Romans 3:19)
In 1 Timothy 5:6, this is written:
whereas she who is self-indulgent
is dead even while she lives. (
RSV)
Anyone
who is self-indulgent is "dead even
while she lives", dead
because of transgression, or sin.
30A.5
Why does God require that
those who belong to Him are to be "made alive
together with Christ"?
In Matthew
22:32, it is written:
`I am the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is
not the God of the dead, but of the
living.'' (NKJV)
Because
only the living can deify God, for God is
not God of the dead, but of the living.
___________________
"God
knows who are His". Out of the teeming
population of the world, there are people who
are recognized by God as His own.
-
These are godly people who has
been set apart by God for Himself.
-
They are those whom God has
given Christ.
-
God gives man to Christ so he
can be "made alive together with Christ".
-
God's people are given to Christ
so that Christ could answer for their sins. It is only through Christ
that their sins are forgiven by God. Once forgiven they will now be
considered "alive together with Christ"
-
God sets apart people to deify
Him, because a sinful man is considered dead and has no right to
deify Him. It is only the living can deify Him, for He is God of the
living, and not of the dead.
According to the Bible, the
right to serve the living God is not given to all men but to a specific group of
people set apart by God for Himself.
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