Finding His Rest

by **Sonshine** Fri Jan 27, 2012 10:14 pm

“You will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is
light" (Matthew 11:29-30).

I know of only one way to enter into this rest that Jesus is talking about. If
understood and appropriated, this truth will usher you into the most glorious
peace possible on this side of heaven and end all feelings of insecurity.

This foundational truth upon which all others are built is the doctrine of
justification by faith. It is the one doctrine you must understand if you hope
to enter into the rest that Jesus offers.

I can only touch on the highlights of the magnificent truth of being justified
by faith. Yet I believe God desires to lead His church further into this divine
truth—to give us a foundational strength that will hold us in the days to
come.

Sadly, when you mention the subject of doctrine, many Christians turn up their
noses. They say, “I don’t want to hear all that deep, heavy stuff. Just
give me Jesus!” Yet what they really mean is, “I don’t want to discipline
myself or spend the time to learn what Jesus did at the cross.”

Too many Christians become emotionally involved with the cross but never really
study it. I have heard many preachers deliver emotional appeals about Jesus and
the cross—about His beatings, the crown of thorns on His head, the spikes
driven into His hands. The preaching of the cross is about much more than that,
however. It is about the victory of the cross and what Jesus did for all of
humankind.

For those who desire to “learn of Him,” who want to understand Jesus’
wonderful work at Calvary, let me try to explain this concept of justification
by faith.

Two things are involved in our justification by the cross of Jesus Christ:

* First, we have pardon for all our sins. When Jesus went to the cross, His
blood pardoned us from all guilt.
* Second, we are accepted by God as righteous in Christ, through faith. This
means God accepts us on the merits of what Jesus did on the cross and not
because of our works or any good deeds.

“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies”
(Romans 8:33).

Read this devotion online: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/16752?src=devo-email