Saved...Saved! Part One

We talked this morning about the amazing gift of salvation that we have through grace. We have done nothing to achieve salvation, nor have we done anything to earn it.

We talked about God putting His stamp on the work He's done, similar to the work of an artist who signs the picture he paints. God wants us to know that He alone has accomplished this.

It makes me think of the creation story. After each part of creation, the Bible tells us that God saw that it was good. I wonder if that is how He feels about His work of salvation as well.

Think about it.

Remember the terms we went over this morning to describe our condition apart from Christ? Let's review:

citizens of the kingdom of darkness
dead afar off lost sheep
children of wrath treacherous
sons of the devil sinners enemies
helpless without strength condemned
ungodly unrighteous adulterous
stiff-necked arrogant without life
sons of disobedience in bondage

Then there were the words that describe what we have become in Christ:

citizens of the Kingdom of light
alive in Christ brought near saved found
sons of love selfless sons of the Father
saints friends empowered
forgiven and justified godly righteous
faithful obedient humble free
obeying from the heart full of life

We come into this life broken, belonging in the first category--ungodly, treacherous, and stiff-necked. He does His work of grace in our life and we now fit into the second category--saved, sons of love, friends, and righteous. What a difference He makes in our lives.

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

Just like an artist admires and signs his amazing work, I kind of think that God does the same thing. Just like in the creation story, He sees that His work is good and then He says, "I did that!" He is pleased with what He has done, but we need to keep in mind that He has not just created us so that He could be pleased with His work. He also has prepared good works for us to do. We are not to sit idly so He or others can admire us. We are to do whatever good thing He has in mind for us.

Thoughts? Post a comment!