2 Timothy 1:9 (NIV)
9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not
because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.
This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
Most people I know look forward to payday. You do too,
right? For a week, or perhaps a two-week period, you give time and effort to
your job. When payday arrives, you receive a hard-earned, well-deserved
paycheck. I have never met anyone who bows and scrapes before his boss, saying,
"Thank you. Oh, thank you for this wonderful, undeserved gift. How can I
possibly thank you enough for my paycheck?" If we did, he would probably
faint. Certainly, he would think, What is wrong with this guy? Why?
Because your paycheck is not a gift. You've earned it. You deserve it. Cash it!
Spend it! Save it! Invest it! Give it! After all, you had it coming. In the
workplace, where wages are negotiated and agreed upon, there is no such thing
as grace. We earn what we receive; we work for it. The wage "is not
reckoned as a favor but as what is due."
But with God the economy is altogether different. There is
no wage relationship with God. Spiritually speaking, you and I haven't earned
anything but death. Like it or not, we are absolutely bankrupt, without eternal
hope, without spiritual merit; we have nothing in ourselves that gives us favor
in the eyes of our holy and righteous heavenly Father. So there's nothing we
can earn that would cause Him to raise His eyebrows and say, "Now maybe
you deserve eternal life with Me." No way. In fact, the individual whose
track record is morally pure has no better chance at earning God's favor than
the individual who has made a wreck and waste of his life and is currently
living in unrestrained disobedience. Everyone who hopes to be eternally justified
must come to God the same way: on the basis of grace; it is a gift. And that
gift comes to us absolutely free. Any other view of salvation is heresy, plain
and simple.
Thought for today:
Am I welcoming or judgmental?
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