By MICHAEL T. GJEFLE | Faith Independent Baptist Church, Ontario
1 Corinthians 6:20 — “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
This was written to believers in Jesus Christ in the city of Corinth of Greece more than 1,950 years ago. Corinth was a city of great learning and wealth, yet of ungodliness.
It is encouraging to be reminded of the words in Romans 5:6, “Christ died for the ungodly.” Who would that be, then and now? That would be mankind now, and we who are living today. Apart from God’s righteousness found only in Jesus Christ, we have no righteousness before God.
Read 1 Corinthians 6 for yourself and ponder the questions posed there to these Corinthians then and for us today. We are sinners, and in our sin, we cannot enter God’s eternal kingdom.
Yet payment for sin was provided for mankind by the atoning death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:18, 19 — “For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Do you know that your sins are redeemed, paid in full? We can know this truth, but only by believing in Him who, as he died on the cross, said those words, “It is finished” (John 19:30). He paid the price for our forgiveness.
We must choose to believe and trust in Him as our Savior. Have you? If not, do so today. If you have, then seek to live your life to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in all you do.
Also, as we pause to reflect on our nation’s heritage, the Fourth of July, consider the privileges we Americans enjoy in our country. The price paid for our liberties has been paid by the sacrifice of those before us. Consider those men who signed the Declaration of Independence in our nation’s beginning. They pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. May those same principles be manifested in our lives today to preserve and maintain those same liberties.
