Hello!
Today I’m discussing a topic that is obvious to non-denominational Christians but not necessarily to those who follow man made religions.
I grew up in a religion that taught that you are saved if you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins AND you do works of charity. They are still teaching this at the school my daughter attends. In fact, one of my daughter’s religion teachers admitted to me several years ago, that she wasn’t sure she was going to heaven because she didn’t know if she brought enough souls to Christ yet! Oh my gosh, a woman who not only believes in Jesus and all He has done for us, but a religion teacher who is not sure she is “good enough” to go to heaven!
This is so sad! God is not up in heaven evaluating every “good work” we do and deciding if its enough to spend eternity with Him or to suffer terribly in hell! God died a sinners death for all of us, PERIOD. All we need to do is believe that! How could the thief on the cross beside Jesus do good works to get to heaven? Jesus told him that he would be in paradise with Him because he knew who Jesus was and believed in him.
Luke 23:39-43 (NASB)
39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”
If that doesn’t sum it up for you I don’t know what to say.
Good works are discussed in the Bible but in the context that if you are a true believer you will be in awe of everything the Lord has done for us. Once our eyes are opened to the Lord’s glorious ways, a person can’t help but want to bring others to God through kindness and good works. Its akin to knowing something extremely important and wanting to share it with a friend, relative and others on your path.
If you open your Bible and start reading with a sincere desire to learn, knowing that God gives us all the ability to read and understand His Word if our hearts are truly desiring of such; you will learn, you will understand and you will be in awe of the teachings of Jesus.
Ephesians 2:8-9
“For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith- and it is not from yourselves it is the gift of God. Not by works, so that no one can boast
Romans 3:28
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
1 Corinthians 1:29
so that no one may boast in His presence.
2 Timothy 1:9
He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not because of our own works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time eternal.
Titus 3:5
He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Let’s take this down into everyday terms…
Say you are a parent of an adult son. You of course love your child immensely, so you desire to show your immense love through some act. Since you are semi-retired and have the time and ability – you decide to take the landscape plan that your son drew up, buy the plant material, outdoor kitchen equipment etc. and make the backyard of your son’s home exactly the way he wanted it. You accomplished the task while your son was away on a business trip. When your son returned from his trip, he saw the beautiful backyard and loved it! Your son was in awe of what you did for him, so much so, that he wouldn’t let you go home without paying you for it. The argument lasted into the night where the son just wouldn’t accept your gift of love, so he finally decided to use the exact amount of money and buy you something of equal value.
You felt defeated. You did this act out of love- but your son wouldn’t accept it.
In the same way, the Lord offers us a free gift of salvation. We have no need to earn it, we only need to accept it.
Simply believing in the Lord is enough. God’s grace, which is a fancy word for his undeserved favor, is a gift- plain and simple. Please accept it. And once you realize that a beautiful, sinless man loves you and wants you to spend eternity with Him- not by how good you are, but simply by your faith in Him- your eyes will be further opened to His ways. You will start to understand what a perfect world He created and you will want to share the goodness of God with others.
At this point, you put yourself in a position to open your life up to helping others, which spreads God’s love in this world.
Romans 11:6
And if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.
Romans 4:6
just as David proclaims the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works
If we work, we are due wages. Do you consider your paycheck a gift that you don’t deserve? I know I don’t. My paycheck is payment for work I have done. So if we are paid for our work it’s not a gift. In the same way, if we must do “good works” for God, our salvation (a fancy word for going to heaven) is not a gift- it is dependent on us. Look at this verse:
Romans 4:4
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
Don’t think you have to earn salvation -it’s there for all believers. Use your thankfulness and go out and spread God’s love in the world because you are so happy to have a wonderful heavenly Father who loves all of us despite our “mess ups!”
God’s Promise:
John 3:16 International Standard Version (ISV)
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his uniquely existing Son so that everyone who believes in Him would not be lost but have eternal life.”
Music For Your Soul:
I’m stepping out of the Christian genre for this song, but here’s why- the lyric I love says:
“I spent a lot of years running from believing, looking for another way to save my soul, the longer I live the more I see it, there is only one way home..”
BTW, not coincidentally, this song was #1 on the music charts!
“John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” by Keith Urban.
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