It works like this. God has extended His hand to us in Christ with an invitation to be restored to relationship with Him. There is nothing we can do to earn or deserve it. It is free. God did it of His own initiative despite the fact that mankind had rejected Him by sinning. As Romans 5:8 says, “But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” It is up to us to respond to His invitation. We must: Trust in Jesus’ death on the cross and subsequent resurrection as the sufficient means to make us holy and righteous before God. Romans 10:9-11 says, “That if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture said, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” Repent (turn from) our sins and turn toward Christ (declaring Him as our Savior and Lord). Acts 17:30-31 “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commanded all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” Ask God to forgive us of our sin which we readily acknowledge. Ephesians 1:7-10 says, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.” There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Ephesians 2:8-10 summarizes the work of salvation: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Grace doesn’t allow us to take credit or to boast, as if salvation is something we did, accomplished, or deserved because of some merit in and of ourselves. We could not gain God’s approval, but God reached out toward us in love with a free gift through Jesus Christ. Salvation is a free gift by grace through faith and due to the merits of Christ alone. We share in Christ’s righteousness only in that we receive by faith the righteousness that He accomplished on our behalf. Works are a result of salvation, not a means of it. Thanks be to God for His great and perfect mercy
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 15:01:52 +0000
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