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Posted At: 9:43am by AgentDelta
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"For it is by grace that we have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works so that no one can boast." -- Ephesians 2:8-9. (NIV).
This has always been one of my favorite Bible verses. Probably because it gives the assurance that salvation is not dependent on our physical and mental abilities.
I don't know about y'all, but sometimes, I worry about how well I do things. "Am I getting it clean enough?" "Am I doing this right?" "Did I get EVERY SINGLE ONE of the problems on my homework right?" etc.
But of the above-quoted verse tells us that we don't have to worry about our salvation. We don't have to worry "Do I believe enough?" "Have I done enough good deeds?" "Did I repent hard enough?" etc.
We know we are saved, because our salvation is something that God gives us, not something that we earn or create. Because of this, we don't have to worry about our faith being good enough. After all, God is perfect, and everything he does is perfect. Therefore, if salvation is a gift from God, then we know that it is perfect. And if we know that it is perfect, then we know that it is guaranteed to save us.
Another thing about God doing the salvation: Anybody can be saved. ANYBODY. Hitler could (might) have been saved, if he had repented and come to faith. Do I think he did? No. Is there the possibility? Yes. Wouldn't that be wierd, to get to heaven and find Adolph Hitler there?
Something I have observed is people are always looking to get something for nothing. They are also looking for the best bargain available. The exception I have noticed to this is when it comes to faith. While somebody may be willing to drive 400 miles to get a great deal on a car or a laptop, they won't let God give them faith. Instead, they insist on earning their way to heaven "the old-fashioned way," as my pastor always says.
Perhaps the reasoning for this comes from the old saying "if you want it done right, do it yourself." People don't want to trust God with something as important as their salvation. They want to make it themselves, mistakes and all! After all, God will surely understand if there are a few imperfections thrown in. He is merciful, isn't He?
WRONG! Yes God is merciful, but he demands absolute perfection. Absolute perfection cannot be achieved by sinful human beings. It like using a muddy rag to wash your car. The car won't get clean. This is where Jesus steps in. He fulfilled God's demand of absolute perfection. He did it all. He kept the law perfectly.
Now for the real kicker: He wants to transfer HIS perfection to us. The perfection that He alone has achieved, and He wants to give it to us, despite the fact that we hate Him. Despite the fact that we killed Him. Despite all this, He wants to give His perfection to us, and take the punishment for every single sinful thing we've even done and ever will do. He earned salvation for us. He took the punishment for our sins. He wants to give us that salvation. He wants to credit his perfection to us. And not just to you, but everybody. He wants to give salvation to Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and everybody else on this stinkin' planet. Why? Because He loves us. Despite all we've done to Him, He loves us, and wants to see us in heaven. How cool it that?
Sorry I started rambling and repeating a bunch of stuff y'all probably already know. 
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Posted On: April 03rd, 2006 at 9:04am by Dee |
"Sorry I started rambling and repeating a bunch of stuff y'all probably already know."
We need to be reminded of it sometimes. ;)
Good post! And wow, I don't think I've ever seen you type so much at once!
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Posted On: April 03rd, 2006 at 9:27am by AgentDelta |
"Sorry I started rambling and repeating a bunch of stuff y'all probably already know."
We need to be reminded of it sometimes. ;)
Good post! And wow, I don't think I've ever seen you type so much at once!
Thanks! I was a little surprised at how long this post turned out to be. :D
Agent Delta
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Posted On: April 04th, 2006 at 6:42am by Betania |
Yes, I agree, very nice post!
~Miss Goosey~
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