Topic: joy of salvation

Jesus’ resurrection which we celebrate at Easter is the single most important event in all of history. The very definition of what it means to be a Christian is our belief in His resurrection. But just as importantly, Christians must understand that the reason Jesus was born into human flesh in the first place was to die on the cross in our place to take upon Himself God’s righteous judgment of death for our sins. Jesus’ resurrection demonstrates His power and victory over death and His invitation for us to join Him in resurrection out of death into eternal life together with Him through faith in His Gospel. Furthermore, Christians believe with eager anticipation Jesus’ promise to return one day to rule and reign eternally over all creation.

The full context of Philippians 4 tells us that Christ strengthens us not to accomplish our own goals, but to live out our Christian calling with joy even in the midst of difficult challenges. This is extremely important because the unsaved people in the world will observe how professed Christ followers deal with adversity to discern whether we truly can “do all things through Christ.”

As Christ followers we must honestly examine our motivations for our service to the Gospel. If we find we are not following the Lord for the right reasons, we must confess this sin before God, and seek His strength and guidance to bring us back into truly godly fellowship.