Yeshua was alive. While the disciples may not have realized it, the Kingdom of Heaven was truly at hand. With Yeshua’s resurrection from the dead, the only promises of God that remained to be fulfilled to them was for them to receive the Holy Spirit and to be resurrected themselves.
It might seem, then, that Yesha’s resurrection is where the story ends, but instead the story just begins. For saved by grace through faith in Yeshua, in whom he was, and in what he did, the disciples were now about to discover the true meaning of a life of faith dedicated to serving their Lord and Savior.
And what about us? Does the salvation story end with this Yeshua’s resurrection? In a way, the answer is yes, but in another way, the answer is, far more, no.
Certainly, Jesus’ birth as a man, perfect life, death, and resurrection are all that anyone needs to reach Heaven because through them Jesus fulfilled the law, paid the price for our sin, and secured our place in eternity. Belief in these things is faith, and by that faith, we know we can do nothing else to achieve our own salvation.
Yet, we also know that faith is a fragile thing, and God has provided for our strength in faith through action. While our God saved us by grace through faith in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, that salvation is preserved through the growth of our faith through the things God has placed in our lives for us to do.
The constant focus on faith caused by applying ourselves on God’s work for us preserves us by keeping our minds and our hearts in His Word and in His will. This application is the real and continuing execution of seeking first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. This application is what follows grace and faith and is our mission once we have received faith through the Word and the Sacraments.
This application is not some mysterious thing either. The things God wants us to do are apparent in our everyday church, families, friendships, jobs, and lives. These things are found in assisting our churches in their work through participation, action, and tithing. These things are found in keeping our families true to the faith by keeping them true to the Word. These things are found in sharing our lives with Christian friends, in working as if God employed us, and in making our lives a shining light of our faith.
Of course, this application includes our testimony to the Gospel and our faith as well, but this last application grows from our concerted effort to fulfill the others. If we constantly dedicate ourselves to God’s will and His Righteousness, our witness will become a natural part of our lives, sometimes spoken, sometimes shown only by example.
So, while the story of our salvation might end with our faith in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, the story of our sanctification begins with the end of that first story. We are saved, but we are not to remain idle waiting for Jesus to come again. There is a lot of work to do between now and then, work that is for our good and for the Kingdom.
Salvation, grace, faith, and works
