Today we continue our series entitled, “Grace and Truth.” Let’s talk about salvation today. The point I am going to drive home is that if you have accepted Jesus as Lord and you are Born-Again, you are saved from sin and death. But you are not saved because of anything you did. You are only saved by the grace of God. All you did was believe and receive, by faith, what God already provided, by grace. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about this:
(Eph 2:1-10 ERV)
1 In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God.
2 Yes, in the past your lives were full of those sins. You lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God.
3 In the past all of us lived like that, trying to please our sinful selves. We did all the things our bodies and minds wanted. Like everyone else in the world, we deserved to suffer God’s anger just because of the way we were.
4 But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much.
5 We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. But he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.)
6 Yes, it is because we are a part of Christ Jesus that God raised us from death and seated us together with him in the heavenly places.
7 God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace.
8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God.
9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about.
10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Paul teaches us that every last human on the planet was born dead in our trespasses and sins. We were dead-men-walking. We were born with a sin nature, because of Adam. It was our nature to sin. We were born that way. The only way we could change is by being BORN AGAIN!
2. While we were born in sin, the Bible tells us that, our Father, was rich in mercy. Motivated solely by His love for us, while we were yet sinners, He sent His Son Jesus to die in our place. Jesus, thinking of us and not His own well being, took on a debt He did not owe and paid a price we could not pay. Jesus traded His righteousness for our sin, so that we could trade our sin for His righteousness.
3. After Jesus paid the ultimate price, all that was left for us to do was accept Him as Lord. The Father freely gave His only Son as a ransom for us. The Son freely gave His life as payment for our sin. When we receive Jesus as Lord the Holy Spirit freely takes up residence inside of us and we are Born-Again. Once we are Born-Again, we have a new nature. It’s no longer our nature to sin. It is our nature to live righteous. We are delivered from the power of sin and the sting of death.
4. God did all the work in salvation. All we must do is receive His free gift. Now, when we do, should we take credit for it? Accepting a gift is nothing to boast about. The fullness of the Godhead (Father, Son, and Spirit) earned our salvation, all we do is receive it. Paul said, “You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about.” (Eph 2:9). It was nothing you could or did achieve—it was God’s gift to you… so whatever you are now, you owe to the grace of God.”
5. If a man is drowning in the ocean and calls out for the help of a lifeguard, only to have the lifeguard run into the water and save him from imminent death, does the man have anything to boast about? Of course not. All he did was call-out. The lifeguard did all the work. All we did was call upon the name of the Lord, because Jesus had already paid it all. Salvation was already attained for us and offered to all men as a free gift. All we did was call out receive it by faith. So we have nothing to boast about.
6. Salvation is a free gift, paid for IN FULL by Jesus the Christ.
7. Everything we are, we owe to the hand of God upon our lives. Even after salvation, we have nothing to boast. We are who we are and what we are by the grace of God (1 Cor 15:10).
8. If it were not for the grace of God we would be undeniably lost and we would be lost forever. We could never save ourselves. Jesus did what we could not and He did it solely because He loves us. We are saved by God’s unearned and undeserved grace!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I will never cease to give You praise for Jesus. I may experience many earthly victories, You may open many supernatural doors for me that lead to success and accolades, but no matter how far I go and no matter how much You bless me to do in the earth, the single most important event of my life was the day I accepted Jesus as Lord. Every other day pales in comparison. I am eternally thankful and grateful that You saved me, covered me with the blood of Jesus, washed me from my sin, filled me with Your Spirit, called me according to Your work and purpose, and now use me daily for Your glory. Outside of You I am nothing. That is why I seek, every day and in every way, to give You the glory for my life and living! You are my God and I will serve You and honor You for the remainder of my days! I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
