THE JOY OF SALVATION

THE JOY OF SALVATION: OUR REALITY NOW AND FOREVER

The man in Christ has been blessed with what no man can get outside Christmas. Part of what we received at salvation is the JOY of salvation. Kindly Click here to READ the last post on THE PROMISE OF GOD before you proceed. This post is a continuation of the last post. You can never enjoy the joy of salvation if you don't know the promise of God in Christ.   This joy is what nothing on earth can give.

What really is joy? Why are we told to rejoice always in Christ? Is our joy based on physical realities or eternal realities? The psalmist and the prophets has a unique way they spoke of joy in the scriptures.

Psalm 118

 14  The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

 15  The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.

 16  The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.

The house of the Righteous which you we are in Christ is full with the voice of rejoicing and salvation. This is a Psalm of David when he was in trouble. He was in hot pursuit by Saul . Despite this , He was still speaking of the joy of salvation. This joy is a product of salvation not any physical happening.

The book of Philippians is well known for its use of  joy and rejoicing. This book was written while apostle Paul was in prison, and at a time when he was troubled by the opposition of other Christian workers towards himself and was distressed by false teachings in the church of Philippi. Yet this letter breaths  joy and confidence that can only be explained in Christ.

Let’s examine some of the uses of joy and rejoicing in the book of Philippians.

Philippians

 16  Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

 17  Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. 

 18  For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me

Paul in the context of speaking about his sufferings for Christ sake in Philippians admonishes the believer there to maintain good conducts in humility and obedience even in his absence . He says in verse 17 that if he is offered as a sacrifice in serving the saints, He rejoices and have joy in it. This means that the joy is not a product of the physical sufferings. It is because of their salvation and eternal realities. In chapter 4 verse 1 , He calls them his Joy, his crown .

Philippians 4

 1  Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

Chapter 1

18  What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

Paul’s joy here is because Christ is preached whether in pretense or in truth. It was still related to salvation and the gospel. This is why it is called the joy of salvation or the joy of faith. Let’s see verse 24 to 26 of this same chapter.

 24  Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

 25  And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;

 26  That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

Paul chooses to stay in the flesh for the joy of their faith. To him to die is gain but to live is Christ . In the midst of great sufferings in the prison for the message of Jesus, Paul chooses to be alive for the joy of the gospel when he comes to the Philippian church. This also is because of eternal realities in Christ. The joy of salvation.

Looking at the use of the word joy in Acts, you will see that the disciples attribute joy to the gospel and our realities in Christ.

Acts 8

 5  Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

 6  And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

 7  For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

 8  And there was great joy in that city

Philip because  of persecution Jerusalem ran to Samaria. When he got there, he didn’t plan a coup to retaliate or start a kill them before they kill you service. He started  preaching and many got saved. People were free from demons and unclean spirit. This brought GREAT JOY in the city. So the joy was linked to the gospel and the power thereof.

Acts 13

50  But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.

 51  But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.

 52  And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

Paul and other believers were persecuted and expelled from a city. The response was verse 52. They were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. Their experiences didn’t affect their joy and rejoicing. Glory to God.

Acts 15

 3  And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren

The disciples were filled with great joy because the gentiles received the gospel.

Acts 5

 40  And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

 41  And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. 

 42  And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

The disciples were threatened and beaten . The response to this great persecution was joy and rejoicing for suffering for the name of Jesus. It is amazing that this joy cannot be deterred by sad experiences. It is the joy of salvation. It is what  the world cannot get. It is joy even amidst troubles. Notice after this incidence, they CEASE NOT TO PREACH AND TEACH CHRIST. They were not deterred by the persecution.

In all these scriptures what is consistent is that our joy is not from anything physical or earthly . This separates the man in Christ and others in the world. The joy and gladness we have at salvation is different from happiness. Happiness is because of circumstances. When good things happen to you, It is expected for you to be happy. But we have joy in us no matter what happens. This joy is because of our eternal realities.

 We rejoice because our sins are forgiven.

We rejoice because we have escaped from hell.

We rejoice because we got the Holy Ghost.

We rejoice because Jesus is coming for us.

We rejoice because we are forever accepted before God in Christ.

We rejoice because we have the life of God.

We rejoice because we are counted worthy to suffer and deny ourselves of certain pleasures because of Christ.

The list is endless. These realities give us joy. THIS IS CALLLED THE JOY OF SALVATION. It is not for a new car, new house or much wealth. All of these things are good and God wants you to have them. In fact, God is pleased when you have them. But, you will agree with me that these things are not EXCLUSIVE TO US IN CHRIST. One thing we have the world cannot get is CHRIST. We have Him so we got joy. This is highly supernatural. This is why in spite of all the troubles, we are still dancing.

Many times , we emphasize this joy of salvation for the new convert but we forget it is for everyone in Christ. Remember how you felt FULFILLED and joyful when you got saved. You should never ever loose that joy. Remember the same realities. It is when believers are not taught their realities in Christ that they soon forget this joy. Now it all becomes what you can do for God now that you are saved. Indeed you will do things for God, but remember what God did for you eternally. He died for your sins and gave you His life.

THE IMPORTANCE OF JOY AND REJOICING IN our daily lives as believers cannot be overemphasized. One major necessity of joy is that it STRENTHENS us and helps us enjoy our realities in Christ.

Isaiah 12

2  Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

 3  Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. 

 4  And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is

The Lord is our salvation. With Joy we draw from that salvation. Prophet Isaiah declared this. God is our song and salvation. We sing of this salvation and rejoice in it. So when issues stare us at our face, we must take out time to acknowledge our eternal realities first and rejoice. Put on your dancing shoes. You can sing and dance all by your self in the Holy Ghost. This doesn’t make sense to the natural man in any way. It is our thing. Joy and rejoicing. It’s not normal to rejoice always. Thank God we are not normal men. We are not mere men.

 Let me gist your about your abnormality dear believer. First, you believed a virgin conceived with all your knowledge of science.

You believed that one Jesus you never saw died for your sins.

Don’t you see how weird it sounds. It is too late to try to conform to what the world calls NORMAL. God’s  word defines what is normal to us. We have the joy of the Holy Ghost.  There is no fruit of the spirit called anger or sadness. But we have JOY as a fruit of the spirit. Hallelujah.

Romans 14

righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

The kingdom of God which is the leadership of God is in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. We have joy IN THE HOLY GHOST.  So joy is a product of the spirit not circumstances. Paul told us in His final admonitions in 1  Thessalonians to REJOICE EVER MORE (1 Thessalonians 5:16). This means we should rejoice always, every time . This is irrespective of the happenings around us.

In summary, as believers, we must never ever lose our joy no matter what happens. We should always acknowledge our eternal realities and rejoice in them. This will empower us to even deal with the situation with the power of God. We got God 🙌🙏 we got joy. We got the Holy Ghost.

By OBIAZIKWOR EMEKE MODESTY

          www.emekemodesty.com

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BY EMEKE MODESTY OBIAZIKWOR

www.emekemodesty.com

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