“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”
by Christ Jesus
God associates our eternal destiny entirely with the person of Christ. God consistently links our eternal future to Jesus Christ. It is ever “by” him. Also, God does everything for the believer “in Christ Jesus” (Romans 5:1,2,9,11).
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9).
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6).
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).
“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Romans 5:9-11).
“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).
PRINCIPLE:
Jesus is the only way to heaven.
APPLICATION:
We cannot get to heaven by believing in God. Everything God does is by Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the most divisive person who ever lived, as He should be if He claims to be who He is. The one thing that religionists and secularists hate to hear is that Jesus Christ is the only way, mutually exclusively the only way. They claim that it is narrow and bigoted. Christians proclaim this is Bible truth. Non-believers say this is intolerance; we say it is the gospel. God does nothing any other way other than by Jesus Christ.
If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Savior, there is no eternal hope for you. You must come face-to-face with God’s Son and fall at the foot of the cross for forgiveness for your sins. You will never face your sins again in either time or eternity if you do this. Jesus bought and paid for your sins. He eliminated, obliterated, and put them away forever. Will you come to trust the death of Christ to forgive your sins today?
Many of us think that if we gain enough religious brownie points with God, He will place us in heaven. No, this passage contradicts that—junk all your religion. This kind of salvation is not religious sticky stuff. Come to the cross.
