Saved By Grace
Will the God that created all things judge His wayward people? Will He hold us responsible for all our many misdeeds? We, His creatures are all too often inconsistent in our faith and obedience to God. He has great patience with us but we make so little progress. and all too often, it is regress rather than progress in our faith.
As we shrink back from full obedience to God it becomes easier and easier to neglect the responsibility, He has given us. There is an unbelieving world out there, all around us. God has given us the gift of faith that results in eternal life. It is the greatest gift anyone could ever receive and yet we fail to communicate it to others as He requests us to do.
Is our faith true or is it false? Are we true or are we false believers? We may feel it is true but our lack of action seems to say otherwise. How can we truly believe we have received the greatest of all possible gifts and still fail to communicate this free gift to others, as the Giver of the gift asks us? There is something seriously wrong with such a faith. Do we just hope that it is true? Is that all that our faith consists of? If so, could we be sadly mistaken? Is it only a wish, an unsubstantiated wish, and not true faith after all?
Faith, true faith, is a gift of God:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
We are “His workmanship”: He chooses us! We chose Him only after Christ first chose us and sent The Holy Spirit to live within us! Why is this so? I distinctly remember making the decision myself: I chose Him! Yes, you did but if your faith is real and true, your choice came only after He first chose you. Actually, He chose all who will truly believe in Him before He made the world!
Why is this so important? It is so very important because so many are lost but believe they are saved because they made a choice a while ago. Contrary to this teaching, we are not saved and will live forever by making a choice. We are saved because God chose us long ago and sent His Holy Spirit to live within us. Sadly, many pastors and preachers fail to explain these truths carefully. They want to believe that every convert is a true convert and often fail to question sufficiently.
As a result, there are many in today’s churches that think they will go to heaven when they die but are sadly mistaken. It is very, very important to make sure that your faith is true and sure. Going to church is insufficient. There are many regular churchgoers that will be sadly mistaken when their time comes and they find themselves in Hell’s fire, instead of heaven.
The key to true assurance ls to see a true and very pronounced change in your life, a point at which your interests shifted abruptly, a point when obeying God became all important. If this fits your life, welcome to the Body of Christ. If not, don’t despair; seek Him with all your heart and you will surely find Him and will be saved by His grace. What, indeed could be more important than eternal life in Heaven?