My Inheritance in the Saints

This from Milton Vincent in his book, "A Gospel Primer"

"The gospel is not just a message of reconciliation with God, but it also heralds the reconciliation of all believers to one another in Christ. Through the death of Christ, God has brought peace where there was once hostility, and He has broken down the racial, economic, and social barriers that once divided us outside of Christ. (Eph. 2:14-16, Col. 3:11, Gal. 3:28, Rev. 5:9)

Also, when God saved us, He made us members of His household (Eph. 2:19), and He gave us as gifts to one another (Eph. 1:18). Each brother and sister is a portion of my gospel inheritance from God and I am a portion of their inheritance as well. We are significant players in each other's gospel narrative, and it is in relationship with one another that we experience the fullness of God in Christ (Eph. 3:17-19).

Hence, the more I comprehend the full scope of the gospel, the more I value the church for which Christ died (Eph. 5:25), the more I value the role that I play in the lives of my fellow Christians, and the more I appreciate the role that they must be allowed to play in mine."

This reminds me of the importance of the local church in the life of a believer. I've talked many times about commitment to the local church with my students and the volunteers in the HSM here at Immanuel. The more I read and study the more convinced I become that our love for Christ should be expressed through commitment to and service in our local church. I'm so thankful to Milton Vincent (a pastor in Riverside) for writing this book. It's so helpful on many levels and as I read this section this morning I was encouraged by this and just wanted to pass it on.

As we conclude our "Commit 2 Connect" campaign, I thought it was a great devotional thought on the importance of our commitment to our local church.

Rob
<><