Ephesians 2: 1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.[b] 4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Thoughts:

In our mind and heart we think that if we keep the law better we will feel worthy of salvation and even merit it because I’m a “good person” and I’m not as bad as that guy.

This is part of human nature, and especially part of our culture, to be self-reliant.

But God did not give us the law for comfort or to be self-reliant. It was given to increase the trespass it was given to condemn us, to show us how ugly our sin is and how much we need a Savior, one that will change the universe by his death and resurrection. Jesus defeats sin, death and the devil by his death and resurrection.

Because salvation is a gift of God by grace through faith, we can be confident that we will one day be seated with him in the heavenly places because He said so. And that is a check we can take to the bank!