KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Will
A MAN'S WILL cannot be in effect before he dies...
What does making a will require? It requires a testator, the man who makes it. There must be a gift or something to bestow. It requires conditions upon which the will is to be administered. There must be the death of the one who made the will. It requires probation. This takes place after the death of the maker and means the approval of or by the court. It requires executors (after probation it passes to administrators). It requires heirs or the beneficiaries.
The Hebrew writer presents the gospel as a will or testament. Christ is the testator. Salvation is the gift (Eph. 2:8-9). The commands of the gospel are the conditions. The death of Christ was necessary to put it into effect. The will was probated when Christ ascended to heaven to appear before the throne of God for us. In the courts of heaven the will was approved and sealed with heaven's authority. The twelve apostles were the executors, receiving power from on high to qualify them for their work ( Acts 1:8). All who obey the conditions of the new will become heirs of salvation and heaven's estates.
The thief on the cross lived and died before the New Testament, requiring baptism came into effect. The uniform law of salvation could not have been in force during the life of the great Testator. The New Testament/will requires the sinner to hear the word of God (Rom. 10:17), believe ( John 8:24), repent ( Acts 17:30,31), confess Christ (Rom. 10:9-10), and be baptized for the remission of sins (1 Pet. 3:21). Christ is not going to change the terms of his will which became effective after his death. No man on earth has the right to offer salvation for more or less than the conditions stipulated in the Lord's will. (James Meadows)
KneEmail: "For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth" (Heb. 9:16-17).