God’s Grace Has Saved You
Because Of Your Faith In
Christ
You
were living in your sins and lawless ways. But in fact you were dead. You used
to live as sinners when you followed the ways of this world. You served the one
who rules over the spiritual forces of evil. He is the spirit who is now at
work in those who don't obey God.
At one time we all
lived among them. We tried to satisfy what our sinful nature wanted to do. We
followed its longings and thoughts. God was angry with us and everyone else
because of the kind of people we were.
But God loves us
deeply. He is full of mercy. So he gave
us new life because of what Christ has done. He gave us life even when we were
dead in sin. God's grace has saved you.
God raised us up with
Christ. He has seated us with him in his heavenly kingdom because we belong to
Christ Jesus. He has done it to show the riches of his grace for all time to
come. His grace can't be compared with anything else. He has shown it by being
kind to us because of what Christ Jesus has done.
God's grace has saved
you because of your faith in Christ. Your salvation doesn't come from anything
you do. It is God's gift. It is not based on anything you have done. No one can
brag about earning it.
God made us. He
created us to belong to Christ Jesus. Now we can do good things. Long ago God
prepared them for us to do.
Ephesians
2:1-10
Many people today
have the false hope that they can earn a place in heaven by working at being
good or by doing good things. God’s standard of perfection, however, requires a
totally sinless life. There is no way any of us can ever be “good enough.”
Don’t let Satan trick
you by giving you false hope that your good works will save you. It is only
through Jesus’ work on the cross that you can have real freedom.
We are
not saved by good works, but by God’s work.
Our Daily Bread –