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It is clear, then, that God's promise to give the whole earth to
Abraham and his descendants was not because Abraham obeyed God's laws but
because he trusted God to keep his promise. So if you still claim that
God's blessings go to those who are "good enough," then you are saying that
God's promises to those who have faith are meaningless, and faith is foolish.
But the fact of the matter is this: when we try to gain God's blessing
and salvation by keeping his laws we always end up under his anger, for we
always fail to keep them. The only way we can keep from breaking laws is
not to have any to break! So God's blessings are given to us by faith, as
a free gift.
- Romans 4:13-16 TLB
When I first saw these verses in the Bible, I underlined them and put
stars all around them. Do you ever feel like you don't deserve God's gift
of salvation? If you do, I know how you feel. These verses are for you as
much as for me. They tell us that we don't have to earn salvation or God's
love. We couldn't even if we wanted to. The truth is, we could never be
"good enough" to save ourselves. That's exactly why God sent us a Savior.
In fact, the Bible reveals that even our best efforts wouldn't measure up.
Isaiah 64:6 says, "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags." But while
we can't model perfection, we can model spiritual growth. Out of gratitude
for God's gracious gift, we can seek to abide in Him and be fruitful for
His glory. And we can serve Him and others out of a thankful heart.
In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul writes, "For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of
God--not by works, so that no one can boast." One reason why God wants to
make our salvation a gift is so that we can't boast about it or take the
credit for it. God wants the glory, and He deserves it. Scripture reveals
that when people asked Jesus, "What must we do to do the works God
requires?" He answered them, "The work of God is this: to believe in the
one he has sent." (John 6:28-9) We all know how much Jesus spoke about the
importance of our doing good works and loving and serving God, but here He
gives us the bottom line. It's not what we do that matters most to God,
it's in Whom we believe. It's not what we do that makes us righteous in
God's sight, it's what He has done for us. Does that mean that the Bible
condones sin? Not at all. The same man who wrote the verses above in
Romans 4, the apostle Paul, also wrote in Romans 6:2, "Shall we go on
sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can
we live in it any longer?" From the moment of salvation, we are empowered
by the Holy Spirit to resist sin and obey God. We become increasingly
uncomfortable with sin, and God's ways become more attractive to us. And
Scripture assures us that "God is at work within us, helping us want to
obey him, and then helping us do what he wants." (Philippians 2:13 TLB) I
pray that these truths will help you to relax a little more and enjoy your
special relationship with God. May you rest in this precious promise from
Him: "So now, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith in his
promises, we can have real peace with him because of what Jesus Christ our
Lord has done for us"! (Romans 5:1 TLB)
Prayer: Lord, forgive me for trying to earn the salvation You want me to receive
as a free gift. Help me to stop striving to please You and to learn to
abide and rest in You. Give me a revelation of my new identity in Christ
so that I can cooperate with Your plan for my spiritual growth. Thank You
for showing me that it's not my perfection that counts, but Yours!
- J. M. Farro
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