He Said I Could Come...

This is written with kindest of regards to Alastair Begg for his original sermon,

.  This devotion is based on 4 minutes of one of his sermons. Please visit the video to see it first-hand.  It is humorous, awe-inspiring, and profound all at the same time.  Please watch this very short video first. https://youtu.be/GDl8euKhd3U?si=ygPMHxAmLg21CNYI You may also copy and paste the link if it doesn’t open or you can just search for Alastair Begg “The Man on the Middle Cross.”  I’ll wait.

… I know, right?  Can salvation really be that simple?  It absolutely can.  I, as a Christian, have so often struggled to help people understand that salvation and good works go hand-in-hand but one is not a prerequisite for the other.  It’s as simple as the man on the middle cross saying you can come.  Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

No matter how many times we have read the story of the crucifixion, the thief, who asks the other condemned man, “…Do you not fear God, since you are under the same condemnation?” (Luke 23: 40) He is signifying that he (the thief) knows who Jesus is and understands the situation.  He then asks Jesus to remember him when He comes into his kingdom. (Luke 23:42) Then in verse 43 Jesus says to the thief, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”  Now, the thief doesn’t have time to complete any good works.  His time on earth is quickly coming to an end. None-the-less, he is assured he will be in Heaven with Jesus.  For those of us, who accept God’s gift of salvation freely, and are still on the earth, should have a desire to do good works because we want others to see God in us.  Not as a payment, not as a requirement, but simply because we want to share the love of God by demonstrating that love to others. Jesus showed grace, love, and mercy to the thief simply because the thief believed and had faith in those briefest of moments before his own bodily death.

Lord, may we all demonstrate our faith as boldly as the thief on the cross.  “The Man on the Middle Cross” said you could go to Heaven.  May we all repent and accept the free invitation to be with Jesus in his kingdom.