The Real Exchange

I watched the Charlie Kirk memorial today, and I was so encouraged to hear the gospel presented and the Holy Spirit mentioned again and again!! It seems revival is making itself known, and the church seems poised to come alive again with the gospel message of salvation at the forefront. Religion itself is not the answer, but it at least gets people thinking about God, and thinking the "right" thing about this personal relationship is so vital. Paul wrote some huge truths to the church in Corinthians about the "true" exchange that gives us life. 2 Corinthians 3:⁷ The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. ⁸ Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? ⁹ If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! ¹⁰ In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. ¹¹ So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!

Jesus gave us a "new" way to be made right with God because the old way resulted in death, because it was not lasting, and required them to do certain religious things to be saved, and only for a short period of time. The weak way of being made right with God was exchanged for a real, lasting personal relationship with our heavenly Father. That religious way of being made right with God was something that did not make the people eternally right with God. Paul wrote how to be made right with God in Romans 10: ¹⁰ For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. ¹¹ As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” ¹² Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. ¹³ For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

God's generosity was so evident in the way He offered us salvation for eternity, and it was offered because of His Son dying to pay for our sins once and for all. Nothing cheap about this perfect way God reached out to man. There was nothing we could do to be made right because it was all about what Jesus did on the cross, and He offers us the result of what His sacrifice did, and we receive it by faith. The Real Exchange was made possible by Jesus dying to pay for my sin once and for all time, and offering this forgiveness to all who believe. This Real Exchange is all about what Jesus did, so it is not a religious act like some say, but an actual exchange, which is heaven for hell.

Charlie was living a radically changed life that was The Real Exchange, and it changed his whole purpose in life. Religion offered an exchange that in the end resulted in death, and a relationship through faith offers salvation for eternity, and it is the real exchange. Choose it only!!

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren