Thursday, October 27, 2005
Ephesians 2:8-9 By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works . . .
SAVED BY GRACE!
If we are not set right with God by our good works, how then are we?
BY GRACE
God's strong love - totally undeserved by us.
Dealing with our guilt by Christ's work in our place.
Bringing us to life through faith in His grace.
BY GRACE YOU ARE SAVED
It is wholly God's doing that we are rescued from Satan's power,
restored to God's own family
safe now . . . in life . . . and in death.
BY GRACE YOU ARE SAVED THROUGH FAITH
And faith is not something we produce in ourselves in order to be saved.
It is something the Spirit works in our hearts --
a living confidence in Christ our Lord.
Saving faith in God's saving work -- created by the saving grace of God.
Our salvation is 100% God's work -- from start to finish.
THE GIFT OF GOD: NOT OF WORKS
We were in no position even to beg for salvation.
There was no way we could ever atone for any of our sins.
So God the Father sent His Son to pay for the forgiveness, the righteousness we needed. And the Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son to give us the faith we needed, that we might receive the gift of forgiveness and life.
Faith is despair at our lack of righteousness and confidence in Christ's. It is a reliance on grace -- on God's love at Christ's expense -- rather than on our own worth, our own doing.
