Open Heaven 7 September 2023 Topic: The Works Of Grace II
Memory Verse: Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. (Ezekiel 36:25)
Bible Reading: Isaiah 1:18 (WEB)
24 “‘“For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols.
26 I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
27 I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them.
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We identified the first work of grace to be God’s call to man for salvation. Once a person heeds this call and surrenders all to God, He moves on to the next work of grace – salvation.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1 John 1:7 Salvation is the point at which God blots out all your sins of the past and gives you a clean slate to start with. Many people find it hard to believe that God can cleanse their sins completely, but that is the exact truth.
It doesn’t matter how badly you have sinned, Jesus can make you a new creature in Him. That is why the salvation experience is referred to as being ‘born again’. The devil has no grounds to accuse you of any past sin.
When you become saved, the first thing you will notice is that you experience peace like a river. This is because sin is a weight on your heart. Matthew 11:28-30 says after Jesus draws you and you come to Him,
if you decide to take His yoke on yourself, He will take your burden and then you will have rest. The burden He takes from you is the burden of sin. Once that burden is lifted, your soul will be at peace.
This peace is difficult to describe but when you experience it, you will know. If you have never experienced it before, then you need Jesus to save you and cleanse you from all sins.
If you don’t have that peace anymore, you need to run back to your Saviour and rededicate your life to Him. The second thing that marks the salvation experience is joy — the joy of the Lord.
It will be impossible to hide this type of joy. The Monday after I gave my life to Christ, when I got to work, my Head of Department could practically see that I was radiating with joy.
He asked if I had attended a party during the weekend. I told him I hadn’t attended any party, but I got the invitation to a wedding where I am the bride and Jesus is the groom.
Once your sins are cleansed, your soul begins to rejoice. Anyone who backslides always notices that the joy they used to feel is gone.
That is why David said in Psalm 51:12 that God should restore unto him the joy of his salvation.