God Does the Saving
By Pam Blattner
“Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 (MSG)
A dear friend of mine is worried that she may not really be saved. She is a devout Christian woman. She’s battling cancer and is thinking hard about her future with Jesus. Her doubts made me wonder how I could encourage her that every sin of hers has been taken care of on the cross. I emailed her a photo of a person’s hand stamping, “PAID IN FULL” on a contract. I believe Scriptures teaches that once someone is saved by faith in Christ’s death on the cross, that person has eternal life. His or her salvation is secure.By Pam Blattner
“Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 (MSG)
God tells us in Scripture that because all of our sins…past, present, and future…were forgiven at the cross, there is absolutely nothing that we can do that will deter our official standing as children of God. We don’t save ourselves, God does it all. I’m still amazed that we’re saved by grace alone. Because salvation is given as a free gift, nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:37-39), not even us. If we disobey God, we’ll lose our companionship with God and suffer the consequences of our own bad choices. We could even encounter a divine correction, or miss out on all of the blessings He has for us. We may not earn the heavenly rewards we would have received if we had been faithful; but He will always be faithful and true to His Word.
Jesus made a way for us to have a relationship with Him by giving Himself as a gift in the final and ultimate sacrifice. Jesus is the Gift. Dear friends, Jesus performed that unselfish mission completely by Himself. Nothing we do or don’t do could ever make a difference. Our response is to trust Him and receive the gift. Praise God!
GOING DEEPER:
1. Have you had a moment in your life when you asked Christ to forgive you, trusting Him for eternal life? If not, would you consider making that decision today?
FURTHER READING:
Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24, 5:15-17; Ephesians 1:6-7, 2:5-9; Titus 2:11; 3:4-7; Hebrews 2:9; 1 Peter 1:9-10
Pam and her husband Richard have two adult children and two grandchildren. She serves Oakwood through its Family Care and is Co-Coordinator of Touched Twice Ministries.
