|
|
|
| |
I am a good person… Why can’t I just earn my salvation?
Christians believe that a personal faith in Jesus Christ is the only
way to come to God. Jesus died for us – for you and me –
and his resurrection from the dead confirms him as our saviour.
But many people find it hard to accept that we cannot
‘save’ ourselves. In a go-it-alone, do-it-yourself society,
it is difficult for us – for me – to place all my faith in
Jesus. And many of us try and substitute the simple gift of salvation
offered by Jesus with other acts of our own.
‘I do lots of good deeds and give money to charity,’ say
some. But as Titus 3.5 reminds us, “He saved us, not because of
righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”
The Apostle Paul also stresses this point in his letter to the
Philippians. Few had done more for ‘the cause’ than him,
and yet he writes: “The very credentials these people are waving
around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the
trash--along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why?
Because of Christ.” (Philippians 3.7)
Many of us try hard to keep to the rules and laws, including those
contained in the Bible. All well and good but Galatians 3: 10 tells us
that we are “utterly cursed” unless we “carry out
every detail written in the Book of the law." Can you do that?
These and many other things that we ‘do’ can easily take
the place of having a personal relationship with Jesus. They can be
used to downgrade the awesomely simple gift that God gave us –
his son. To make us and our actions more important and Jesus less
important.
Of course, everyone who follows Jesus will want to be a faithful church
member, try to obey God’s laws, give to those in need. But all
this should come as a result of faith in Jesus, not as a way of trying
to ingratiate our way into God’s good books or sooth our
conscience.
- No matter what you do, Jesus cannot die for you again.
- You cannot make God love you because he already does.
- Do good not because it makes God happy but because God has made you happy!
- Love others out of gratitude for God’s love, not to try and earn it.
Why keep trying to rationalise God’s offer? Instead be amazed
that so little is asked of you in exchange for peace in this life and
eternity in the next! |
|
|
|
|
|
