Just as Jesus gave a
sacrifice of Himself for us - we should be more than willing to do the
same for Him and for others in our lives. The grace of God is
sometimes hard to understand. Grace means giving to someone what
they need instead of what they deserve.
4
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in
transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable
riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
9 not by works, so that no-one can boast.
10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:4-10
God gives
us the choice to accept His free gift of salvation or to refuse Him.
Whatever we choose we must understand this... salvation is a gift
from God and not something that we can earn. We cannot be good
enough - we cannot do enough pennance for sins - and we cannot buy
salvation by donating our resources. Read this verse again -
carefully. It is very important to know that you cannot earn your
salvation - you can only gain salvation by accepting the gift that God
offers you. Gifts cannot be bought - they can only be received
from the one that is giving it.
8 For
it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God--
9 not by works, so that no-one can boast.
Christ became sin
on our behalf so that we might experience the love of God and be reconciled to
Him.
He made
Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the
rightesnous of God in Him. (II
Corinthinans 5:21)
We are warned not to marry non-believers because there can be no
fellowship between light and darkness.
Do not be bound
together with unbelievers; for what
(3)
partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light
with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14)
Likewise, we are all sinners and God has no sin and there can be
no fellowship between God and man without the sacrifice of Christ who bridges
the gap between sinful man and God.
Christ is the ultimate example for us to follow. His love for us surpasses
anything we are capable of giving and He asks us only to pick up our cross and
follow Him.
What does it mean to pick up the
cross and follow Him?
