Eastertide Devotion – May 5

You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 1 Peter 1:18-19

These glorious words of St Peter have brought comfort to countless Christians throughout the centuries.  Living in a time of warped morality where evil is called good and good is called evil, it is easy to become confused. If salvation and redemption were to rest upon our own actions, we never could know whether we had made the right choices and decisions. But these words are a powerful reminder that our salvation depends not on what we do but on what God has done for us in Christ.

Martin Luther was convinced of the importance of these words when he included them in his explanation of the second article of the Apostles’ Creed:

I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your only-begotten Son into the world to redeem me a lost and condemned sinner.  Grant that my faith in Christ will never be weakened from the constant barrage of worldly thinking that surrounds me every day. Amen.

Martin Luther 

(1533) 

by Lucas Cranach the Elder

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lucas_Cranach_d.%C3%84._-_Martin_Luther,_1528_(Veste_Coburg).jpg

God’s richest blessings in Christ,

Pastor Philip Quardokus