Roman 8:29-30(NLT)
“29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.”
A woman in her senior years heard that I’m an avid reader of the Bible. She said to me, “When you’re reading the Word, and you come across the statement, ‘Kingdom of Heaven’, ask God to make you worthy of reading His Word.” To some, this might sound like a very pious and humble practice. It was sincere no doubt, but sincerity is no guarantee for truth. Believers living in our era are blessed beyond measure because we have tremendous access to God’s Word. Our all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God did this deliberately. The revelation and understanding we have today exceeds anything that you and I could have ever imagined. Because of what God has done, we have liberty! Galatians 5:1(NLT) tells us, “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” Christ has freed us, and we must do all that we can to ensure we never go backwards when it comes to the liberty we have obtained in Christ.
If a person never reads this wonderful truth in Galatians 5:1 because they felt unworthy to do so, they might not ever be saved. That would indeed be tragic, and it’s not what God wants. Jesus Christ died on the cross for everyone, not just the saved and religious. 1Timothy 2:4(NLT) declares that God “wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”
The Bible is a spiritual book written to God’s spiritual people. Everyone that is living today doesn’t want to be considered as God’s spiritual people, so the Bible isn’t written to them. Many in the world today have never picked up a Bible or attempted to read it, but for those that are genuinely interested in learning more about our Lord and Savior, God has a plan for them. Romans 8:29 tells us that He chose us in advance to be brothers and sisters of Christ, and He gave us right standing with Him. He stamped us “worthy” through Jesus Christ, and then He gave us His glory! God is God all by Himself. He isn’t redundant in any way whatsoever. So, we can trust and believe that if He stamped us worthy through Christ once, He doesn’t have to do it again.
You and I didn’t choose God first, He chose us first, and our right standing in Him makes us worthy of reading His Word. Ephesians 1:3(NLT) declares, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.” When God says, “all”, He means “all”. Because of the finished work of Christ—the sacrifice and resurrection of our blessed Savior, God has given us ALL spiritual blessings. Not one spiritual blessing do we lack. This is the Gospel! It’s the Good News about Jesus Christ and what he has accomplished for our salvation and eternal life.
In the Old Testament, God’s people were under the covenant He made with Abraham, who is our father of believing because he was fully persuaded that what God promised, He was also able and willing to fulfill. Genesis 17:7(NLT) tells us that God told Abraham, “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” There is, and never was, anything more precious, wonderful, and life-giving than being God’s people. He loved them so much that He made a covenant with them, but God’s people did not keep this covenant. They refused to obey His Word.
God did not stop loving them, but He always had a plan for our salvation through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 8:6(NLT) says, “But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.” The heart of God was to dwell with His people and keep them safe, just as His desire is to be with us, but those living in Old Testament times would not obey His Word and remain holy. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ established the new covenant between us and God, and now through the new birth reality, God dwells IN us through His Holy Spirit. Hebrews 9:12 tells us that with his own blood, Jesus Christ entered the Most Holy Place once and for all and secured our redemption forever. Verse 15 tells us, “That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.”
This was God’s plan, not ours. He’s the One who chose us to be His children. Ephesians 2:10(NLT) tells us, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” The wealth of what God has planned for us in beyond our greatest dream and imagination, and He planned these good things for us even before we were in our mother’s womb. Romans 5:18(NLT) declares, “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.” We do not need to ask the Father to make us worthy when He sent Christ to do that over two thousand years ago. God is not redundant in any way. He’s perfection beyond perfection. He sent Christ on a mission, and he accomplished it perfectly.
Think about all that God wanted for us, all that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to accomplish for our redemption. Think about how he agonized and suffered on the cross before God rose him from dead. Why would God go through all this to make us righteous before Him, and then have us think we are unworthy to read His Word? The answer is that He alone has already made us worthy through Christ by giving us His Holy Spirit to dwell within. God alone has made us worthy of His love through Christ, and we are fully redeemed from the curse of the law. We are free to read and study His Word, to live for Him, and to bring Him glory in all that we do!■
English Standard Version (ESV), The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Worthy of God’s Love”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.