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TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL

THE GIFT OF A LIFETIME!

Thursday, 2 January 2020

Ephesians 2 : 1-10

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;” -Ephesians 2:8

A gift is something given without compensation—a gift graciously given is to be graciously received. Salvation is a gift God offers us— it can’t be earned or paid for; and God graciously extends it to all who would freely receive it!


In layman’s terms Salvation means being saved from a place of danger to a place of safety- the place of danger being the world which is under the sway of the wicked one (1 John 5:19) and the place of safety being the Kingdom of God where His rule and reign is! Those who live in sin (the passionate desires and inclinations of the world) , refuse to obey God and has the spirit of the wicked one working in their hearts constantly warring against God and His commands/directions; thus has the wrath of God upon them. [Ephesians 2:1-3 NLT]


The good news is that we don’t have to live this way! God has a way to get us right with Him and have his smile of approval, instead of His wrath! But the decision to get right with God has to be made in one’s lifetime, since after his death, he forfeits this chance; there is only judgment that awaits: “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27).


From our key verse, we see 3 aspects of Salvation:

 

  • Salvation is by Grace: Someone has the acronym for GRACE defined thus: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense!! Salvation is offered in God’s goodwill in giving His Son to take on Himself the death penalty we deserved for our sin so that we would go scot-free! Jesus paid in FULL all the requirements needed for us to be made right with God. Rom.3:24 NLT says, “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”
     

  • Salvation is by Faith: To have faith in someone is to put your trust in him. When God says that He has atoned for your sins by His Son’s shed blood on the cross, you and I need to believe and take Him at His word! That is faith! It’s the faith to believe Jesus saves us from our sins and the faith to trust that His death on our behalf is sufficient to put us right with God. Galatians 2:16 says, “Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law.”
     

  • Salvation is a Gift of GOD: This simply means salvation cannot be earned. No amount of “self-righteousness” or good works to “please” God, could ever give us an entry into His Kingdom. But God has ordained good works for us to walk in them once we are created anew in Him (Eph.2:10). Now all our righteous acts are like filthy rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6). They could never measure up to the rich gift of His Son. He offers Jesus Christ, His Son FREELY to all who are willing to accept Him, for them to be made right with God. “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
     

Dear friend, if you are yet to receive the gift God freely offers you in His Son, would you graciously accept it? If you won’t you are missing out on not just this world but the next as well! Would your state be described today as “from rags to riches” because you traded your rags of righteousness for His rich gift of salvation?


Think on it:

“Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.”

(Romans 5:18 NLT)


Listen- 'Wonderful Grace of Jesus'

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