All God

Eph 2:8,9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." NKJV

 

For people who have been in the evangelical church awhile, this is a very familiar verse. In fact, it is so familiar that I think that we sometimes just quote it to prove a point and then move on without giving it much thought. Oh sure, we believe it and we rely upon it, but how much have we really dug into this verse. Well here goes.

 

For by grace. I have recently quoted what Strongs has written about the meaning of this word, but I think it is something that I need to look at again: "of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues." Whose grace is it? God's. Whose merciful kindness is it? God's. Who exerts His holy influence? God. Who turns us to Christ? God. Who keeps, strengthens and increases us in our faith, knowledge and character? God. The point about grace: It is all God. This is the grace of God. This is the unmerited favor of God. This is a total God-thing There is nothing that I do that gives me grace. It is all up to God.

 

You have been saved. Let's face it. We are a sorry bunch. We are a suffering bunch. We are a needy bunch. We are a lost bunch. We are a hurting bunch. We are a sick bunch. In short, we need to be rescued because we are on a road that will destroy us. We need to be rescued. We need to be delivered. We need to be saved. People think that we should not use the word "saved" when talking to those who do not share our faith. They joke: "You mean like saving money, ha…ha…ha." Wrong. This is a Biblical word. It must be used. It must be communicated because people know what it means to be saved from impending destruction…and those that have experienced the merciful kindness of God in turning to Christ have been rescued.

 

How? Through faith. I am going back to Strongs: "a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God". Where does this conviction come from? How do we get this belief? How do we know that it is how we obtain eternal salvation?

 

It is the gift of God. This is God's gift to us. It is something that only He can give. My wife and I have already begun our Christmas shopping. We have gotten some pretty cool things for our kids and Maddie. Now when I give a gift at Christmas, who gets the gift rolling? Who picks it out? Who buys it? I do. No one else exerts any effort…it is all up to me. This is how faith is. God got it rolling. He picked it out. He bought it. And He gives it. Any faith that I have is something that God has given to me. I do nothing to get it.

 

Not of works. I don't work for His grace. I don't work for this faith. It is all free and given by God. Now most of the religions of the world say that in order to go to heaven, or paradise, or wherever, you have to do something. You have to engage in good works. You have to practice the golden rule. You have to keep the law. You have to live faithfully to the tenants of the faith. You have to… No you don't…because if you do, you are saying that Jesus' death on the cross was not enough…we humans have to add to it. That is totally and completely false and is a teaching straight out of hell. It is a free gift given only by God.

 

Lest anyone should boast. If I can work my way into heaven, then I will get there and say: "Look what I did. I made it and this other guy didn't because I was better." "I said the Rosary so many times. I blew myself up because of my faith. I shaved my head and fasted." Let's be clear about one thing: There will be no boasting in heaven, only adoration to the One who died, who gave, who made it possible for anyone to be there.

 

My response: No boasting now…only thankfulness and adoration now. This does not have to wait. It should not wait. God's grace. God's faith. God's gift…all extended to me. Amazing.