Words of Grace – Aug. 20, 2015

The Lord Jesus, when he came into the world, “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7).

We see Jesus taking the position of a servant in John 13 when he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of his disciples. He then asked them if they knew why he had done this, and he answered the question as follows:

“If I then, your Lord and Master have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (vs. 14, 15).

The apostle Peter, in his first epistle, writes about how Jesus suffered in our place, “leaving us an example, that we should follow his steps” (2:21). The next verse tells us what the example was that he gave us to follow: “Who did no sin.”

Oliver Greene has written, “The righteous, godly, sinless, blameless, and holy life of Jesus could never have saved us. It was not his sinless life, but his shed blood, that brought salvation.”

Greene goes on to write, “He did not come here to set an example or to live a good life. He came here to lay his life down that we might be saved.”