The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Three Temptations of Christ, #2

If thou be the son of God,... command this stone that it be made bread.

All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

. . . cast thyself down from hence.

These three invitations, these issues, were set before Christ throughout His ministry. He overcame them perfectly.

The same three temptations are set before each of us throughout our lifetime on earth. Through the virtue of Christ we too can emerge as more than a conqueror.

The redemption that is in Christ can be described in three major areas of Divine working. The three areas are not three unrelated experiences but three aspects of the one salvation.

We are naming the first area, salvation; the second area, sanctification; and the third area, conquest. Perhaps as you become acquainted with the three areas you will call them by names more helpful to you.

Our purpose in writing this description of the Divine redemption is that the reader may understand some of the things happening to him in his Christian life and may be better able to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as the Spirit leads him or her toward the fullness of Christ.

First we will give a definition of each of the three areas of redemption. Then we will discuss the three temptations of Christ and show how these temptations are related to the three areas of redemption.

Salvation; Sanctification; Conquest

Salvation: the first area of redemption. The call of the evangelist is that people may believe in Christ and be saved. To be saved is to possess God's guarantee that when the Day of Wrath comes the believer will not be cast into torment but will be brought forward to the new heaven and earth reign of Christ.

God is coming to the earth to judge the works of men and devils. The judgment just over the horizon is unimaginably terrible. Christ came to seek and save those who are lost in sin. If any person will receive Him by faith, repent, be baptized in water, and hold that faith throughout life, he or she will be saved in the Day of the Lord, the Day of Wrath.

He who endures to the end shall be saved. Some will be saved as by fire. Others will gain an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of Christ.

The next coming of Christ to the earth will be so frightful that no words of ours can portray what the world is about to face. The most horrible scenes ever to appear on the earth will seem like child's play when compared with the wrath of God that will be poured out under the administration of Christ and the saints.

The blood of Jesus is God's protection on us and our household when God passes over the land to judge the gods of the world.

Let us make as certain as we can that we and our loved ones will be under the protection of the Passover blood in the Day that is coming.

To be continued.