Stretching the Glue

Many may ask the question, "what is the purpose of salvation?" When asked this question, a room full of Christians would probably give many different answers. Some may say "we are saved for God's glory," others might say "to spread the Gospel," and still others would say "to preserve the truth of God's Word." As the body of Christ sometimes we can be so divided and unbalanced. I have no doubts in the unifying power of Jesus Christ as the glue that holds all believers together. However, as sinful humanity we often find ourselves trying to stretch that glue in our own direction to fit our own agenda, or as some would call it, our "passion."

So what is the answer to this timeless question? I believe it is found in the first chapter of Romans as Paul writes, "we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentile's for His name's sake." The truth is that we are saved by the grace of God for obedience in the faith. This may seem like a simple truth, but so many times it is passed over for our personal "passions" and so the glue-stretching begins.

The realization of being given grace for the purpose of our obedience is one that is all inclusive. Yes, living a life that brings glory to God is obedience, spreading the Gospel of our Lord is obedience, and preserving the truth of God's Word is obedience. What we sometimes fail to see through our passion filled eyes is that all of these work together. They are not mutually exclusive, nor should they be treated as such. I often wonder what the Body of Christ would be able to accomplish if instead of stretching the glue as far as we can with our own agenda/passion; we rested in the glue of Jesus Christ and moved as one unified Body toward obedience.