GOD'S CHILDREN ARE THANKFUL

Anyone who has heard the Gospel and believe Jesus died for his or her sin, that He was buried, and that the Father raised Him from the dead according to the Scriptures, is a child of God (Jn. 1:12; Rom. 1:16; 1 Jn. 3:2; etc.)!  Knowing that we belong to Almighty God by pure grace alone, literally forces us to be grateful, to be thankful (Eph. 2:4-9)!  Amen!

A word-study of "thanksgiving" in the Old and New Testaments clearly illustrates the difference between being under the Law, and living under Grace.  Under the Law, thanksgiving was legally required to be accompanied by a sacrifice (Lev. 7:12-15; Ps. 107:22; Amos 4:5; Jonah 2:9; etc.).  It was to start with the prayers of the priests (Neh. 11:17; 12:8).  But by the time of David, when the twelve tribes of Israel were less interested in having God as their King, thanksgiving had become defined as "public praise" (Ps. 26:7; 50:14; 69:30; 95:2; 100:4; 147:7; Isa. 51:3; Jer. 30:19).

In the New Testament, we are no longer under the Law.  Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, were the fulfillment of the Law; the word "fulfill" in its various forms, appears thirty-nine times in the Gospels.  Jesus, Himself, said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill" (Mt. 5:17).  Born again believers are no longer subject to the Law, but are filled and led by the very Spirit that breathed the Word of God into its writers (Rom. 6:14-15; Gal. 3:22-25; 5:18; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21; etc.)!

Our thanksgiving glorifies God - 2 Cor. 4:15 - "For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God."

Our salvation is cause for thanksgiving - Col. 2:6-7 - "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him:  rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving."

Our liberty leads to thanksgiving - 1 Tim. 4:1-5 - "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith . . . forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.  For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:  for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer."

This Thanksgiving, I am very thankful that I know Corey is in heaven!

For what are you thankful?