April 7th, 2020 – Morning Devotional With Pastor Dan
(Ephesians 2:8-9 – NKJV)….. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
If salvation is based on our performance, on what we do, then you and I are in serious trouble. Each of us know what our “performance” has looked like in life, haven’t we? Can you imagine trying to get to heaven on your own merit or performance? So then, if salvation is based on our performance then it is not by grace. Our salvation is based on what Jesus Christ did. Our part is simply to receive the gift!
(Romans 4:1-4 – NKJV)…..What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
Salvation cannot be a free gift and also be something we must earn. Either we earn it, or it is a gift. It cannot be a mixture of the two.
If you claim to give me a gift, but you ask me for any payment — no matter how small — then it is not a gift, but something I am buying for a price. If there is any payment involved, by definition, it is not a gift.
(Romans 11:6 – NASB)…..But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.
How many people today believe that we are saved by keeping the law, or their list of rules, or by doing things that they think impress God, or by joining a church, or a religion?Probably more than we could count. But this thinking is not the true teaching of the Scriptures. Listen to what the Scriptures say:
(Acts 15:5,10-11 – NKJV)…..But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”….. “Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”
(Romans 4:14-16 – NKJV)…..For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…..
(Titus 3:5 – NKJV)…..not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Those who present a plan of salvation based on your performance are not rightly dividing the Word. As a matter of fact, if anyone presents a salvation that is based on what Jesus did plus what they do, it is a false gospel. Yes, many Scriptures give instruction on what we are to do. But they are instructions for how to live, not how to be saved and enter the family of God.
Will there be rewards and consequences for our actions? Yes! Scripture makes that clear. But our entrance into God’s family and our home in Heaven is not based on our performance, but on our faith in Who Jesus is and what He did according to His gospel. I pray this finds you with a faith that is solely in Jesus Christ alone.