Sometimes
one verse can say a lot. For instance,
take a look at Colossians 1:13: “For he (God)
has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of
the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”.
I want you
to notice the fact that “HE has rescued US!”
Now those four words may not seem like much, but they contain one of the
best messages every told. Note who does
the rescuing: God. Note what we do in order to be rescued:
nothing!
If that
sounds strange (and it may because we have been taught to think that somehow we
have to earn our salvation) continue reading.
Notice how we got from the “darkness” into “the Kingdom of the Son he
loves”. We are “brought” into the
Kingdom. It is not about what we have
done, but, again, about what God does for us.
The passage
goes on to say that we are redeemed (bought back) and that we have “forgiveness
of sins” because we are “in Christ”.
Notice this is not tied to our action, but to God’s Son. This is given to us, not earned by us.
Unfortunately,
our sinful nature tries to convince us that “nothing is free” and that if you
are going to be saved you have to work for it.
However, God’s grace is a free gift.
The offer is open to all with no strings attached. As soon as we start to believe that we have
to somehow work for this gift, we have corrupted the entire message. Logic should tell us that we cannot work for
a gift. By its very nature, a gift is
something that is freely given.
2
Corinthians 5:21 makes this truth even more clear when it says, “God made him
who had no sin (Jesus) to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God”. How do we become
righteous? We become righteous by
accepting the free gift offered through Jesus’ death on the cross. He takes our sin and we take his
righteousness; Period!
Now, does
that mean that we can live any old way we want?
Of course not! To go on sinning and living in a way that is opposite to
the things of God would be an insult to the gift that we have been given. In fact, the Colossians are reminded that
they must “Live a life worthy of the Lord” (Colossians 1:10). This, however, is a response to the gift, not
the way to earn it.
Bottom
line: We are sons and daughters of God
based on the fact that we are born again not on what we have done to earn it.
In other words,
your salvation is based on your birth certificate, not your resume.
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