“For it’s by God’s grace that you have been saved….”
“You receive it through faith. It was not our plan or our effort. It is God’s gift, pure and simple. You didn’t earn it, not one of us did, so don’t go around bragging that you must have done something amazing” (Ephesians 2:8-9 VOICE).
There are a lot of people who think God won’t accept them because they’re not good enough. They feel guilty because they know they can’t live up to the standard of goodness and holiness that they’ve been told God requires. They do bad things, say bad words, think bad thoughts and never think they could ever have a relationship with God because they’re “bad” people—sinners.
But that’s the very reason God sent Jesus—to save us from our sins (John 3:16). There’s nothing we can do in our own efforts to become righteous in God’s sight. Only a sinless, spotless sacrifice could make that happen, and Jesus became that sacrifice for us. There is no one on this planet that can stand before God clean, sanctified, holy, and righteous because of any works, good deeds, or self-sacrifices that they’ve done. There is only one sacrifice that could meet the requirements that sin demanded and pay the price in full to redeem us and make us righteous in God’s eyes. That sacrifice was Jesus Christ.
The beauty of the Gospel is that salvation is a free gift to anyone who will simply believe. You don’t get saved by working for it and earning enough “good deed” rewards points to get you into heaven. It’s God’s gift to anyone who will believe on Jesus Christ and receive it.
The Take Away:
Speaking of Jesus in Acts 4:12 (NIV), the Bible says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Salvation is only possible through Jesus Christ. In order to go to heaven when you die, you have to believe in Him and accept Him as your Lord and Savior. There’s no other way, no alternative path that can save you and get you into heaven.
The good news is that God made it so easy for us to be saved! All it requires is faith—simply believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sin and that God raised Him from the dead and confessing Him as Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10).
If you’ve never been saved, you can be right now. Pray this prayer out loud: “Jesus Christ, I believe that You died on the cross for my sin. I know that there is nothing I can do to earn my salvation, but You give it as a free gift. I accept Your gift of salvation and confess You, Jesus Christ, as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for forgiving me and saving me!”
