The Free Gift of Salvation Ephesians 2:8-10 “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT). There is a comfort in knowing that salvation is not a reward for what we do, but there is also a challenge in simply accepting such an enormous gift. We’re raised in a world that says nothing’s free; you have to work for everything. So accepting a gift as precious as salvation can be very difficult. We have trouble wrapping our minds around the fact that the gift of salvation requires nothing on our part but acceptance and belief; it’s totally free—no strings attached, no hoops to jump through. Salvation is the ultimate gift. There is no reciprocal gift that we can return to God to help earn it. The Bible clearly teaches that our good deeds and right actions do not somehow make us more eligible for salvation, yet our pride makes this very difficult to accept. But we must accept it if we are to be saved. I really like verse 10 because it gives us an explanation for God’s plan of salvation: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” What great news this is! God is renewing us through Christ to the glory He always planned for us. When God created us, He saw us in the perfection He planned for us; but sin took away that perfection, so the gift of Christ’s death and resurrection gives Him the power to return us to the perfection He planned for us long ago. I love the “long ago” part because that means that I have been a part of God’s plan from the beginning. I’m not an afterthought; I’m part of the long-term plan. And God’s gift of salvation makes it possible for me to eternally do the good things He planned for me long ago. What an awesome God we serve! ~Randy & Trena Reed
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 02:25:30 +0000
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