Effective Work of Christ

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

EFFECTIVE WORK OF CHRIST

Acts 26:9-18

9 "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them. 12 "On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'  15 "Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' "'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 16'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' 

NIV

The first thing we notice is that Paul had an obsession bent against Jesus and all those who followed him. Interestingly, this translation uses obsession and most of the others use what seems a better sense of the Greek: was exceeding mad at them, was enraged against them. This kind of personality would be defined as one with an obsession bent toward one point of view. Considering that after Paul's conversation we would say that he was obsessed with the truth about Jesus. That would make us think he had a classic type one aggressive personality, which had to come into play with how much he tried to persuade everyone he met that Jesus was the truth, the light, and the way. In his testimony before Festus, Paul recounts his encounter with Jesus. It is interesting that Jesus appeared before Paul in a bright light blazing around him. Jesus interrupted the life of Paul in a way that Paul could not deny it was Jesus, the one he gave voice against as a Pharisee. However, not only did Paul see this blazing bright light, but he heard Jesus speaking to him. Although this is about the conversion experience and we could focus on that, recalling our experience when Jesus interrupted our obsession with the attitudes of hatred against organized religion, especially the Christian church, there is one thing Jesus said to Paul that we feel needs exploring more. But first, we think we all have been called to open people's eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from living under the power of Satan to living for God. Still, what Jesus said about those who are sanctified by faith in him must be considered more. This Greek word hagiazo is interesting in that its first meaning is to make holy, to purify. To render or declare sacred or holy, to consecrate. The question which rattles around in our mind is this difference, many believe, between being sanctified and continual sanctification. We wonder if the sanctifying work of Christ was ineffective if we have to be in a state of continually being sanctified, which is believed to be our becoming more perfect like Christ. This is considered a process of being sanctified completely, or fully. This seems to us to be an exercise in futility because then we will never be made holy enough, at least, until we take our last breath. However, if Jesus said that he sanctified us, that God declared us holy and blameless in his sight, then how can we be more holy or more blameless based on our being more obedient to the word and our walk with the Lord. If that were the case, then our sanctification would rely on us rather than solely on the work of Christ. It would seem right to us to believe that when Jesus sanctified us, we were sanctified fully and completely. Does that mean we should not make an effort to live pure, holy, and right before the Lord? Not at all, we are to make every effort to live to please God rather than men. But again, we still believe the way to please God is to have faith in his Son, Jesus Christ so that we will have the right to be called children of God. What is done is done, and we have been sanctified by faith in the effective work of Christ.