Reformatting A Hard Drive

I have been doing a lot of computer work lately. I just finsihed in fact reformatting a hard drive. The computer had received a virus that would not go away. So there was no choice but to erase the old drive and reinstall everything. So the first thing I did is I made sure that everything was in order for the reformat. I separated the good stuff from the bad. Then I erased to old partition that held the corrupted files. Next I loaded a pure and clean version. Then I installed the lastest safety updates. Finally, I reloaded the good files and deleted any icons that pointed to the old corrupt files that had been erased so that there would be no record of them.

This reminds me of my history. I was born and for a time existed in a state of innocence. Then I began to allow corrupt files in my life. Before long I could not perform any function properly. Jesus came along and presented Himself as my repair man. When the Bible says the old things pass away and all things become new this is what it is talking about. Jesus erased the old partition of my sinful llife and replaced it with a pure and clean version. He then begins to upload critical updates like bible_understanding 1.0, and prayer_desire 2.1, and holy_living_anti-sin_protection_extreme_version (aka His Holy Spirit), daily_degfragmentation_utility (grace), and many other useful and helpful updates that did not exist prior to His repair work. Then He begins to test all these programs and change settings to until they are running at top notch performance (sanctification). However, the best thing is according to Acts 3:19 He erased my sin so that there is no record of the old corruption in the database of Heaven. Now as long as I allow Him to be the only operator of my computer (life) I will always run corruption free and at optimum speed.

Has Jesus reformatted your Hard Drive?

Good Times?

I was on myspace this morning and saw a bulletin that read "Please, bail me out my fine is $***." I thought to myself I am sure that this is another list of wrong things but let me see anyways. Sure enough it was a list of sins, most of which were immoral and some illegal. So I went down the list and began to total my fine. Then the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said, "Remember what you preached last night about repentance? Remember how you said true repentance means that you turn so much from your sins that even the remembrance of them makes you ill? You do not look too ill as you are about to broadcast and brag about how sinful you have been." So I responded, "I will not repost the bulletin." He responds to this, "No I want you to repost it, without the list and the true cost." So here is what I posted.

Please, bail me out my fine is HELL

The survey says this is fun to do. Remember the sins from which you repented and see the cost associated. Now add them together and post as the above mentioned title with the amount at the end. Well I broke one of these moral laws and therefore, the cost is HELL. Once again I find myself with a decision to remember sin and laugh, and broadcast my former self for all to read, or declare that I am dead with Christ, yet I live, but only by the power of Christ living within me. I decided to declare Christ and not repost a list of sins we all should avoid today and try to forget if committed yesterday. It might have been fun for you but it cost Jesus every drop of His blood. Remember the outcry over The Passion Of The Christ by Mel Gibson? That was mild violence when compared to the actually history books recordings of scourging and crucifixions.

There is no such thing as free salvation?

Sunday morning I was greeting people in the parking lot. I offered Carl Ternullo a bulletin as he got out of the vehicle. He asked how much it cost and I cleverly replied that it was free like salvation. However, I awoke with this morning with my mind troubled and the realization that salvation is not free. We preachers often preach free salvation to all who will come, repent, and recognize the complete truth about the sacrifice of Christ. Indeed it is true that Christ offered the living water freely to all who thirsted. So why did I wake up with the compelling idea salvation is not free? The truth is we do not pay for our salvation but it is still not free.

Think about the approach of Christmas. My children will open freely gifts provided to them without cost to them. However, my wife (who does the budget far better than I ever could) will be crunching dollars and cents between now and then to ensure those gifts are purchased. They are not free as far as we are concerned. I pray I am teaching my children to appreciate that which they are given because they understand it cost their mother and me something to provide them. If they appreciate this then they will take care of the gifts and treat them as precious because of their regard for us their parents.

So now I finally come to the point of the title. Salvation cannot be free if we use phrases like "the sacrifice of Christ" or "redeemed" or even "born-again." Have you ever seen a lady right after giving birth? Angela was exhausted, in pain, and shivering when it was over and it took sometime for her to recover. The physical toil of the muscles left her very sore and the loss of blood left her weak and cold. Being born once cost our mothers physical health for nearly two months of recovery time. Salvation is not free. What did it cost?

It cost Jesus his lofty place in heaven as He was God manifested in flesh and come to His own but His own rejected Him. It cost Him a life of comfort and ease. Prior to His open ministry there was probably some dads who wanted Jesus to marry their daughters. After all He would make the perfect son-in-law. But this was not His path as He set His face towards Jerusalem and got about His Father's business. He became a man of sorrow and despised of people. Salvation cost Christ before the first blow was delivered. Then that fateful day when He bled in the garden while praying, was beaten with the hands of priests, drug all over Jerusalem from one trial to another, beaten with the whip and rod, and then nailed to a cross where every drop of blood drained from His body and His heart ruptured. Yes, it pleased God to bruise Him and by His stripes we are healed at no cost to us, but salvation was not free.

I pray we learn to appreciate the cost of our salvation and treat this gift from God through Jesus as precious. Do not do this because it is the greatest gift ever, do it because you really do have and hold a regard for Christ. A regard so great that great is too weak a word to really describe what you feel deep within you. May it be so great that only the Holy Spirit can pray your true love as you thank Jesus for paying for your free salvation.