Grace a Free Gift.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. Eph 2:8-9
This verse begins a journey of rely on what Jesus did for us. The challenge is to not rely on your good works to get to heaven. Works based salvation is this thing many struggle with but often can't see the patterns. Trying to climb a stairway to heaven by their good deeds. Most of the times in my church circles, we know the theology of this verse but it still hasn’t sunk in to our everyday life. We would never say we work for our salvation, but the minute we mess up we feel we are not worthy to approach God. We start hiding until the extreme feeling of shame and guilt is lessened enough to go to God. As if we punished ourselves by staying away and now we can come again.This is not grace and its not what Jesus paid for on the cross.
Jesus paid the price for our sin. ALL OUR SIN. Past, present and future.
Now this doesn’t mean there is now no need to repent of sin. That’s its all covered so live whatever sinful life you want its all good, your in. However, I don’t fear that a sin, that I’ve committed and have not yet recognized in order to repent will cause me to loose my salvation.I don’t perform or do good deeds to earn my salvation.But catch this, it may be simple but its essential.
I still do good deeds, works, live a life of holiness but not for salvation, from salvation.
You see salvation is not just about a ticket to heaven, its about eternal life that starts NOW. Not when you get to heaven. Salvation is about first and foremost the removal of the penalty of sin. But to stop there is just so tragic. Look at what 2 Peter 1:3 says
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Niv
Look at the Passion translation: Everything we could ever need for life and godliness has already been deposited in us by his divine power. It's already in you. You just have to let the Holy Spirit fill every area of your life, transforming you. Him transforming you. Spending time in the Presence of God, reading God's amazing word, worshipping, being so filled with as Peter said, His divine power that we are transformed into His likeness. Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that salvation is by grace. Not by any works that we would boast.
Grace removes the striving to be good enough, and replaces it with a hunger to walk in the divine power that Peter speaks of that gives us everything we will ever need for life and godliness.
I love the band Mercy Me. They have had an encounter with the Rhythms of grace. They truly have gotten off the treadmill that Pastor Jay spoke of in the intro video. Much of their music speaks of grace.
They have a song called “welcome to the new you”. There is an amazing line in it that says “Look at you, Shiny and new. Look at you, You got the proof of purchase. You were purchased , 'Cause you're worth it.
Another song called flawless, says “Take a filthy wretch and wrap him up in righteousness.”. They keep reminding “the cross was enough”.
Lastly, one of my favourite lines in any of their songs is from Best news ever. It says “Press on, get it right. Otherwise, get left behind". Some say, He's keeping score, So try hard, then try a little more. But Hold up, if this were true. Explain to me what the cross is for.
See the cross did everything we could never do. Then, He wrapped it up and gave it to us as a gift. Unpurchaseable. That’s right salvation is unpurchaseable. Some people believe that money can buy anything. Everyone, they say has a price. But not God. You cannot purchase this gift. If you could it would not be good enough to set you free, to cloth you in righteousness. It would be limited to your perfection. The minute you try and purchase it, you have missed the whole point. The fight has already been one. The work has already been done. The cross was enough. We are clothed with HIS righteousness by faith through grace.
A free gift that is immeasurable in cost but bears no price to you.
He paid it in full. Stop trying to be good enough. The father valued you so much, the He gave you Jesus. His sacrifice is enough. Therefore I AM ENOUGH. His salvation works in me, to make me into a brand new creation. Looking, sounding and acting just like Jesus.
Let’s end with 2 Peter 1:3 again “Everything we could ever need for life and godliness has already been deposited in us by his divine power.”
Questions to Ponder:
1. Do you struggle with recieve salvation as a free gift? If Yes, take a minute and ask the holy Spirit why?
Extra thoughts: Is it possible that nothing has come free to you, you have had to work for everything and you struggle with the concept of anything priceless being given without cost to you?
A strong work ethic is great and godly, but you cant earn this.
You have to submit to the gift.
Submit to Jesus, realize your best efforts on your best day don't even begin to look like a droplet of water into the ocean. They are not even the size of a droplet of water in comparrison to the ocean. Take a minute and tell Jesus when your ready. I submit to the gift. I submit to you. I accept your gift freely with no strings attached. You Jesus are my salvation.
2. Do you beleive you have everything you need to walk Holy and righteous accroding to 2 Peter 1:3. If your not sure, ask the Holy Spirit why? If you are sure you beleive that confirm this with the Holy Spirit. You are enough, becasue He is enough in you.
Declarations: I submit to the gift of grace. I submit to Jesus. I recognize I cannot buy my salvation with good works or by trying harder. I submit to grace and I declare I am filled with His divine power to live a life filled with joy and godliness.
Let's try something that may stretch you.
Prophetic Postcards: Category=Send this to a friend
1. Pick one of the Postcards. 2. Ask Holy Spirit who this is for? 3. Look at the card and ask Holy Spirit for a prophetic word (from Gods heart) or a word of encouragement for them (from your heart). 4. Right click on the image, download to your pictures. 5. Text or email the picture to them with your word.
If this is new to you follow these helpful reminders. Be postive, Be brief, Be kind, Be humble, Be bold.
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Ascent Church