MAYS, MIGHTS and MAYBES

Wednesday 21 May

the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you MAY know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power… Ephesians 1:18-19

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye MIGHT be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Peter 1:4 (KJV)

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God MAY BE praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:11 (NKJV)

As always, when we read the Bible, we should take everything of Christ from the standpoint of positive assumption. After all, we are declaring the good news that everyone can be saved and receive eternal life. Notice after salvation however some things are not just a given or an automatic response.

The consideration is the fact that God will never tamper with anyone’s will. It is up to each one to make a choice to accept Christ which determines their experience: whether in Christ or outside Christ. For those who choose Christ there are more choices to be made along the way. It is in this light we proceed.

Ephesians 1:18 says ‘That you MAY KNOW.’ ‘Eido’ in Greek which means to perceive or to be aware. May know what?

The hope or expectation of His calling, His inheritance in the saints and the exceeding greatness of His power directed toward us who believe.

Think about this for a moment. Apostle Paul was addressing the saints in Ephesus. These were Christians who he was praying for. More than that, this was a prayer of the Spirit for this church. It seems clear that these Christians were not aware of these 3 important things even though they were born of the Spirit.

This is why Paul was praying for them to start to perceive and become aware of these realities that were theirs in salvation. Did you catch the fact that everything had the word ‘His’ in it meaning Christ?

What about 2 Peter 1:4 where it says ‘you MIGHT be partakers of the divine nature…

This means participators in the divine experience or associates of the God kind. Again the Greek word ‘ginomai’ means in essence ‘to become’ or to be brought to pass. All of this becoming or being brought to pass is still predicated on our willingness to decide to partake. This usually comes down to what we have been taught. Whether we accept or reject it.

Our last scripture in 1 Peter 4:11 is in context of ministry in the Body of Christ. Peter encourages us to speak the words or sayings of God. This tells us that not everyone who speaks on behalf of God is speaking God’s word(s). Then it talks about serving God implying that even our service to God can be done in our own strength and not His strength. As believers, we are to rest in His grace.

Any activity that is based on the law is just dead religion and ritualism. Keep away from that. The problem is when we stray from Christ centred-ness, we can go back into bondage which is why we are told to ‘stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage’ (Galatians 5:1)

Our salvation in Christ is complete and irreversible. Our level of participation in the divine experience however is not up to God; it’s up to us. How much grace are you willing to take? The choice will always be yours to make.

APPLICATION

Make up your mind that you will get rid of the mays, mights and maybes by being willing to know (Ephesians 1:18-19), partake (2 Peter 1:4) and give Him praise (1 Peter 4:11).