God saved you by his grace. And you or I can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-10). Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. If salvation is based on our performance, on what we do, then it is not by grace. Our salvation is based on what Jesus Christ did. Our part is simply to receive the gift! Yet that is so hard for people to grasp.
Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. So salvation cannot be a free gift and also be something we must earn. That just doesn’t work. 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 (certainly it’s not a FREE gift), but something I am buying for a reduced price. Buying something on sale does not make it a gift. 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.
Today, just as in Bible times, there are those who teach that being right with God can only be achieved by keeping their list of rules. But this is not the true teaching of the New Covenant. Just take a moment and read (Acts 15:5,10-11) (Romans 4:14-16) (Titus 3:5)
Those who present a plan of salvation based on your performance are not rightly dividing the Word. 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. Be glad and rejoice today that our entrance into God’s family and Heaven is not based on our performance, but on our faith in what Jesus performed and accomplished by Himself (Hebrews 1:3).