What more is there to say to this other than "Amen"? So I guess there is a short blog post this week.
This is so simple and sweet. Our salvation, our being right before God is not based on us. It does not come from us. We have it, to be sure. But we have it for the sake of Jesus. We have it because of him. We have it because God is gracious. And he freely gives us this.
This is not a license to sin and do whatever seems good to us. What it means is that when we repent, we can know and be sure of how we stand before God. Because the forgiveness is not based on our merit or worthiness.
This is good news, because we tend to mess things up pretty good. I mean what else would you expect from a sinful human being. We like for things to be good and to depend on us. We like to be able to take credit for them. But the fact of the matter is, that we can't do this on our own. And so God, in his grace, does it for us. And in that we can live in freedom, confidence and hope.
This freedom, confidence and hope is in what God has done in Jesus and not in our own works, that is why there is no room for boasting. That is why we cannot deal with sin in other way than humble. Because that Grace of God is needed by and extended to everyone.
And then, out of this grace comes good works. Good works are necessary. They are not necessary for salvation. They do not earn us anything before God. They do not make him love us more or give us anything special. They are necessary simply because our neighbors need them.
This is a very simple and profoundly beautiful article. I pray that the truth it describes is a source of joy and hope and peace for you.
Sincerely,
Pastor CJ
2 comments:
This is the ultimate good news! Although we can never live up to God's expectation, we are justified by our faith in Christ. When God looks at us in our sinful state, he sees his sinless Son.
It's hard to understand how people accept other religions than Christianity when all of the others require the person to do something to impress God in order to be saved. How can a mere human do anything to impact their being saved?
Question, please. Some reformed churches (e.g. Baptist, Church of Christ) believe "once saved, always saved." Most traditional denominations (e.g Lutheran, Roman Catholic) believe that one can lose ones salvation through intentional acts.
At first blush, it appears that the reformed doctrine is very similar to Cheap Grace. Is this correct or am I missing something?
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