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      • 38. Reckoned Righteous by Works
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      • 40. One of the Greatest Need America
      • 41. Your Memorial Table
      • 42. George W. Bush Verses Saddam Hussein
      • 43. Learning to Listen
      • 44. The Problem with Gambling
      • 45. Memorial Day
      • 46. My Ecounter with an Orthhodox Jew
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      • 48. What My Auto Accident Taught Me
      • 49. The Decline in Family Living
      • 50. Give Me a Problem
      • 51. Decoding the Da Vinci Code
      • 52. Thanksgiving is not a Holiday
      • 53. What a Christmas Present!
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      • 54. What Do You Mean by that?
      • 55. What are Parents to Do?
      • 56. "The Passion of Christ"
      • 57. Martha Stewart's Greatest Lesson
      • 58. Same Sex Marriage
      • 59. A Tribute to a Servant
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      • 67. Tribute to My Mother
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      • 68. Real Spiritual Growth
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      • 74. How Two Different People Learned to Get Along
      • 75. "The God who Wasn't"
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      • 79. The Redemption of Tookie Willaims
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      • 80. Is Religion a Problem?
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      • 83. Judas: Betrayer or Best Friend?
      • 84. Weekend or Week--Beginning?
      • 85. A Tribute to My (Spiritual) Father
      • 86. Your Relationship to the Word of God
      • 87. What an Opportunity!
      • 88. America's Four Gods
      • 89. How to Deal with Your Enemies
      • 90. The Case for Systematic Exposition
      • 91. Don't Miss the Message
    • 2007 Articles 92-104 >
      • 92. I can Afford it!
      • 93. The Gospel according to Patricia
      • 94. The Functional Church
      • 95. Who wants to Deal with a Taxman?
      • 96. Vital Virtures
      • 97. Have You Grown up Yet?
      • 98. A July 4th Reminder
      • 99. The Volume of Silence
      • 100. Biblical Illiteracy
      • 101. A Modest Political Propospal
      • 102. How to Handle Credit Cards
      • 103. When it is Tough to be Thankful
      • 104. Romney's Religion
    • 2008 Articles 105-114 >
      • 105. Continue
      • 106. A Tribute to Jack
      • 107. Why Good Ftiday?
      • 108. Happy Birthday
      • 109. The Most Important Room in the House
      • 110. The 80-20 Rule
      • 111. Be Sensible
      • 112. To Be Like Christ
      • 113. Sweet Reasonableness
      • 114. The Other Benefit of Christmas
    • 2009 Articles 115-126 >
      • 115. What Determines who Obtains Eternal Life?
      • 116. The Healing Touch
      • 117. The Function of Dysfunction
      • 118. When Your World Falls Apart
      • 119. 24-7-365
      • 120. To Complain or not to Complain
      • 121. "Suggestions"
      • 122. Making a Mark
      • 123. God's Timing
      • 124. Jesus Wept
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    • 2010 Articles 127-138 >
      • 127. Don't Ask; Don't Tell
      • 128. A Forest Dark
      • 129. The Rule of Law
      • 130. The Hits and Miss of Grace
      • 131. People Need the Lord
      • 132. Examples Worthy of Notes
      • 133. A Hassle Reduction Strategy
      • 134. Gossip
      • 135. My Favorite Poem
      • 136. Let's Put the Cross in its Place
      • 137. "Don't Spare Me"
      • 138 The Unseen Message of Christmas
    • 2011 Articles 139-147 >
      • 139. What Parents Should Teach their Children
      • 140. How to Avoid Having to Serve
      • 141. What Happen to Mike?
      • 142. An Atheist Recommends God
      • 143. Surprise
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      • 146. Get in the Way
      • 147. "Let George do it."
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      • 148. Truth or Consequences
      • 149. Don't Leave Home without it
      • 150. Take a Break
      • 151. The Worth of an Individual
      • 152. A Tribute to Nana
      • 153. Jesus Crossed the Line
      • 154. Thomas Jefferson
      • 155. Taxes
      • 156. You Must be Present to Win
      • 157. A Grandfather's Wish
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      • 159. Is There a Santa Claus?
      • 160. A Tribute to Sumner Wemp
    • 2013 Articles 161-172 >
      • 161. How to Finish Well
      • 162. Rewards
      • 163. Spiritual Binging
      • 164. There is no way out of this one
      • 165. Half Empty or Half Full
      • 166. Nones
      • 167. Greet One Another with a Holy Kiss
      • 168. God's Answer to Atheism
      • 169. Obedience
      • 170. The Problem of Fellowship with God
      • 171. Character Development
      • 172. For Mercy's Sake
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      • 173. Lies
      • 174. Endure to the End
      • 175. Teaching Children How Money Grows
      • 176. The Principle of Delay
      • 177. By Their Fruit
      • 178. Sermons that Changed My Life
      • 179. If Paul Harvey were the Devil
      • 180. The Principle of Practice
    • 2015 Articles 181- >
      • 181. In Wrath Remember Mercy
      • 182. Choosing the Right Shepherd
      • 183. The Lord's Requirements
      • 184. Your Ear Lobe. Thumb, and Big Toe
      • More articles will be added as they are written
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The Gospel according to Patricia

My wife, Patricia, did not attend seminary, but she can think like a theologian. She does not use the vocabulary of a theologian; she explains spiritual truth in ordinary terms. Here is an example.

The Gospel according to Patricia is that salvation is like a wedding ring. It was purchased for a price. In many cases, it was bought at a sacrifice. To obtain it, the recipient simply reached out with an empty hand.

Not bad. Jesus sacrificed Himself. He died in our place to pay for our sins. Paul told the elders at Ephesus that the church was “purchased with His (Christ’s) own blood” (Acts 20:28) and he wrote that believers are the Lord’s “purchased possession” (Eph. 1:14). Furthermore, all we can do is reach out an empty hand, for salvation is without cost to us. Paul plainly says that we are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).

I interrupted Patricia. Like any theologian, she had more to say on the subject. She goes on to explain that having obtained it, the recipient should cherish it, honor it, and proudly display it. The proper care of it would include keeping it clean. She is right on again. Paul says, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20).

She is still not finished. Squeezing even more out of her analogy, she suggests that even if the recipient mistreated the ring, it would still be hers. Suppose she did not keep it as clean as she should. It still belongs to her! The price was still the same. The gift still belongs to her. The only difference was that she was not honoring it. Paul puts it like this, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29).

Patricia’s final point is that the relationship of the recipient to the giver is the motivation for properly caring for the ring. As she made this last point, several passages of Scripture came to my mind. John wrote, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (Jn. 14:15).

In the final analysis, it is a love relationship, isn’t it? Perhaps that is why Paul says that marriage is an illustration of our relationship to the Lord. Paul writes, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Eph. 5:25, italics added) and “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Eph. 5:22, italics added). Then, he adds, “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:32).

Every time you see a wedding ring, remember it illustrates a number of spiritual truths. Above all, it should remind all of us that salvation is primarily a relationship—a love relationship. It is not about being religious; it is about having a relationship with Jesus Christ by trusting Him to save.

                                    © G. Michael Cocoris, 2/25/2007
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