I love God’s Word.  It’s beautiful to me how God reveals Himself so clearly through scripture, using scripture to explain scripture.  I wanted to encourage you today with what it means for Christ to be the rock of our salvation, the cornerstone of a righteous, redeemed son/daughter of God.  I also want to encourage you to break open your Bibles however, and to know that the Old and New Testament are not at odds with one another.  I want to encourage you not to merely take one or two verses to build your beliefs upon, but dig deep into the whole counsel of God’s Word.  May His Word be refreshment to you, and you rejoice in the One who came and became our salvation.

Psalm 118:19-23 – “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD.  This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.  I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.  The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.  This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

Matthew 7:13-14 – “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Acts 4:11-12 – “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

1 Peter 2:1-8 – “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture:  “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”  So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”  They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”

Jesus did not die to make us “savable”; Jesus actually saved us on the cross.  Even the faith we have to believe was not our own, but was given to us by God, and was only available to us because of the blood of Christ.  This is the cornerstone of our salvation, that not in ourselves, but only in Christ do we have hope.  Therefore, as you have been redeemed by Him, continue to read the apostles of the New Testament, the Prophets of the Old Testament – dig deep to know the God of your salvation, and He will build you into His image.

Grace and Peace,

Adam