Someone made a comment recently that salvation is simple, easy. Although I do understand their reasoning, I disagree.
Christ suffered death.
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
At no time do I think of death as easy.
And considering HOW Christ died, and what He went through prior to his death, neither simple nor easy come to my mind.
Read along with me the following verse:
"And so Pilate, willing
to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus,
when he had scourged him, to be crucified." Mark 15:15
Scourged him... are you familiar with the term? To scourge is to whip, but this was no ordinary whip. Wikipedia gives a bit more thorough definition of scourge:
Scourge . Does that sound like an easy thing to endure??
They had only just begun:
"And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And
when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and
a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and
mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!" Matthew 27:28 & 29
Doesn't that sound nice? They placed upon his raw (likely down to the bone in many places) and bleeding back a robe. Imagine how it would sting- imagine also after a while how it would feel to have His clothes removed once the blood had begun to clot against them. ...
Let's consider that crown as well....
One
of the most vivid symbols of Christianity is the crown of thorns, which Jesus wore before his crucifixion. The
scripture text tells us that the soldiers "platted
a crown of thorns", that is, they braided long vines of
thorns together to form a crown. There are two types of thorn plants that grow
around the Holy Land, one called the Zizyphus Spina Christi and the
other qundaul. Both
have long, flexible twigs that can be woven into crowns, however, the qundaul has the harshest thorns of
the two. Considering the cruelty of the soldiers, most theologians believe that
the qundaul plant was
used, with its spikes of 1 to 1 ½ inch long. The Roman soldiers had to weave
this plant very carefully. If they were careless, they would be wounded just as
easily as they wounded Jesus. One must ask, “What purpose drove the Romans to
take that extra step of torture?” Such an undertaking to braid the thorns was certainly work and not pleasure.
This was not something easily accomplished in a few moments. It was not
something accomplished without risk to the soldiers. Weaving the thorns into the shape of a crown would have
been a toilsome task.
-Dan Southern
How about that crown-- it wasn't easy to wear and it wasn't easy to make.
The Bible tells us more of his crucifixion, I've only just touched at the beginning. I encourage you to read more of it for yourself.
Now, I must ask you. Does any of this sound easy? How about simple??
Let's look at the other side for a moment, the receiving end. This is where it gets simple right?
Now I'm just going to summarize what happened for me.
Acknowledging and repenting of my sin.
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 5:23
Ah... I don't know about you, but this is not a simple thing for me. I have realized it and Christ has forgiven my sins.. but easy... hmm....no.
Next consider that as a person I am to give up control of my life and turn over the reigns to God.
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" 1 Corinthians 6:19
My body not my own??? Excuse me?? Well... I'm a little bit stubborn and a wee bit mistrusting... and I am supposed to let someone else tell me what to do, rule my life, be my
Master??? Hey, I'm an American. I was born to be free. Right?
Thankfully in Christ is freedom.
TOTAL freedom.
REAL freedom.
And
REAL peace
And
REAL love.
No, I do not call salvation easy. I do not call it simple.
It is
Amazing
Awesome
Wonderful
It is beyond description.
and I am SO thankful that He offers it freely.
