For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–Ephesians 2:8

Do you like to receive gifts?  I do.  Most folks I know do.  But, occasionally I run across someone who has a hard time receiving a gift.  Often that happens when someone has to admit a need.  That’s part of the problem with receiving God’s gift of salvation—we have to admit we are needy.  There is something about human nature, something within us, that resists that notion for all we are worth.  Our self sufficient, earn-your-way, don’t-be-beholding to anyone nature believes we have to DO something.  I remember a man, in one church, where I was pastor, who was critical of anyone who testified to God’s work in their life.  As he put it, they “talked about how good they were.”   Now if your idea is that you are Christian because you do good works, that’s how sharing what God has done in your life appears to you.  If I understand the good news, I know that I cannot earn forgiveness or take credit for what ever I may become.

In fact, to understand grace, we must first realize the utter helplessness of our state–“dead in sin” as the Bible puts it.  Only when we know the domination of evil instincts (“desires of flesh”), false ideas (“desires of mind”), can we appreciate grace.  It is then that the message that it’s free is truly good news.

God offers you a great gift.  Take it.

Filed under: The Journey |