Ephesians 2: 8 – 10 NLT
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 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 does it mean to be a Christian? If we were to ask that question to various people we would get several answers. Many would say Christians go to church at least twice a year – Christmas and Easter. Some would say it means you are basically a good person; you try your best to be helpful and kind. Others might say you need to keep many customs and follow rituals. On the news or in movies (or you may have been to one of these cathedrals), we see very exquisite architectural buildings with pastoral staff dressed in elaborate clothing. Certain prayers and rites are required of the congregation.
But, what does God tell us?
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” You became God’s child when you accepted his gift to you. Gotquestions.org has a great explanation of what a gift is.
“First, anyone who has ever received a gift understands that a gift is much different from a loan, which requires repayment or return by the recipient. The fact that grace is a gift means that nothing is owed in return.
Second, there is no cost to the person who receives a gift. A gift is free to the recipient, although it is not free to the giver, who bears the expense. The gift of salvation costs us sinners nothing. But the price of such an extravagant gift came at a great cost for our Lord Jesus, who died in our place.
Third, once a gift has been given, ownership of the gift has transferred and it is now ours to keep. There is a permanence in a gift that does not exist with loans or advances. When a gift changes hands, the giver permanently relinquishes all rights to renege or take back the gift in the future. God’s grace is ours forever.
Fourth, in the giving of a gift, the giver voluntarily forfeits something he owns, willingly losing what belongs to him so that the recipient will profit from it. The giver becomes poorer so the recipient can become richer. This generous and voluntary exchange from the giver to the recipient is visible in HYPERLINK “https://www.bibleref.com/2-Corinthians/8/2-Corinthians-8-9.html” \n _blank2 Corinthians 8:9: “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
Finally, the Bible teaches that grace is completely unmerited. The gift and the act of giving have nothing at all to do with our merit or innate quality (Rom. 4: 4; 11: 5 – 6; 2 Tim. 1: 9 – 10) In fact, the Bible says quite clearly that we don’t deserve God’s salvation. Romans 5: 8 – 10 says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. . . . While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son.”
Becoming a child of God is a gift. You did not have to do anything to receive that gift – just receive it by faith “God saved you by his grace when you believed.” Sometimes we receive gifts because we have a loving relationship with a person. Occasionally we receive gifts because our employer wants to thank us for work well done. But most of the time, we work for what we get. The belief that we have to put in work to be successful is ingrained in us. I suspect that’s the reason we often think we have to do something for God to accept us.
But God knows we are way too far from his perfection to be able to work at being good. Remember the beginning of yesterday’s devotions? “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.”
“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.” (v. 4 – 5) Each one of us can be so thankful for God’s gift. So thankful for his love for each one of us. All we have to do is ask for his forgiveness for all the wrong we’ve done. Just tell him we believe he has paid the price for our sin, and we become his child.
“We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus.”
If you have read this and wonder if you are really a Christian, a child of God, and would like someone to help you, please call Lakeshore St. Andrews and ask to talk with someone on staff.
(519-979-8082)
Our song for today is Because of Your Love by Paul Beloche