January 13 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

The theme of the month is spiritual war. Jesus won the battle not by might but by obedience. He is the source of salvation for all who obey him. When we have stood the test, we will share Christ's glory.

Bible Reading:

Hebrews 5:7–10

Bible Text:

He learned obedience from what he suffered and ... became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him (Heb. 5:8).

Devotional:

God made the church of Jesus Christ the guardian of the gospel of salvation. Throughout the centuries we have had to defend the gospel against two errors.

The first error is to think that we have to earn our salvation by being and doing good. To combat this widespread belief, the church must teach all people that we are not saved because we are good but because God is good—and because Christ has done all that is necessary to reconcile us to God. We must oppose salvation by works and teach salvation by grace.

The second error is "cheap grace." This is the assumption that since Jesus has paid for our sins, we can sin as much as we want. The greater the sin, the greater the grace.

The biblical teaching is that the eternal Son of God became human and paid the terrible price of our disobedience. He "learned obedience from what he suffered." This does not mean that Jesus had to learn how to obey. It means he experienced the full weight of obedience in his terrible suffering.

Christ's obedience saved us. But he also changes us. By his Spirit he changes us from disobedience to obedience. We aren't perfect yet, but we don't continue in sin either. For Christ is now the "source of eternal salvation for all who obey him."

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published in 1994. This edition is copyright by Faith Alive Christian Resources, from whom may be ordered Daylight, the predecessor of Twilight.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this edition of Twilight are from the New International Version

Be sure to read the "Preface" and the "Acknowledgments" by the author.