* "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:22).
* "To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice" (Prov. 21:3).
* "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings" (Hos. 6:6).
* "Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Mic. 6:6-8).
* "But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Mt. 9:13).
* "But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless" (Mt. 12:7).
This is quite understandable! When one considers the agony God suffered when He saw His Son offered up as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind! Unfortunately, we do not obey Him, and even more unfortunate is the fact that all the sacrifices in the world can not adequately pay our sin debt! So, God offered the ultimate sacrifice; He gave us His Son as our Savior. So what does God want?
On one occasion, some men asked Jesus, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, 'This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him (Me, Jesus) whom He (God our Father) hath sent'" (Jn. 6:28-29; cp. Jn. 3:16). In the Book of Acts, a jailer asked, "'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' And they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...'" (Acts 16:30-31). The Apostle Paul wrote that salvation is a gift that one must believe in, in order to be received, or better yet, believe in the One offering the gift. His actual statement was: "For by grace (unmerited favor) are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:9). Paul also wrote speaking of salvation: "...the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23).
You really want to please Him? Accept Jesus as your risen Lord!
No comments:
Post a Comment