Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 351

December 17;      2 Timothy 1:9;       196/260(III);        ‘A Holy Calling’

2 Timothy 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,

This verse is full of anointed information for us as believers.  The Lord Jesus, in obedience to His Father, saved us by His sacrificial work on the cross.  We could not save ourselves by our works.  Salvation by works is a religious lie.  There is no other way to say this.  It is incredibly dangerous for a person to believe in salvation by works, since eternity is at stake.  I think a vitally important point in this verse is that the Lord’s calling on each of our lives is holy.  We are all called in the general sense of doing the work of the ministry, but the Lord has a specific purpose for the life of each of us.  That calling is holy because as we diligently seek His will and then do it, our lives and the lives of others, will be greatly blessed, now and eternally.  One of the things I love about the Lord is we are never compared to anyone else.  God the Father and the Lord Jesus have a specific calling for each of us.  Once I know this and care enough to find out what He has for me, my life will be so exciting and rewarding that I will have no time to be jealous of anyone else’s calling.  Before time began, the Lord knew us, and had a purpose for our lives to be truly fulfilling (Jeremiah 1:5).  Notice the calling of the Lord is not only according to His purpose, but He gives us grace to do what He calls us to do.  Grace is the ability of the Lord to do what we cannot do without His help. We were always on His mind. I call this holy calling, ‘adventures in Jesus.’ Nothing better.