TUESDAY December 5th
Ephesians 2:4-9
‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.’
These verses are important to those who are trying to get to heaven by their own effort.
I am going to make a statement here which to some who fall into this category may seem to be arrogant but is the truth which you need to hear.
‘There will not be a single person in heaven who will have arrived there through their own effort.’
Sadly, this means that there are thousands upon thousands who are expecting to get to heaven or whatever they consider to be their home in the afterlife who will not get there. And why? Because rather than trusting in Christ alone, by grace alone and through faith alone they are trusting in their good works or other expressions of human effort.
For those who are keeping themselves busy going from door to door or standing with their propaganda on the street corner and then reporting each week or however often it is required of them to those who have oversight over them the time and effort they have put into their ‘witnessing’, it counts as nothing, absolutely zilch, they might as well just sit at home with their feet up reading a book or watching TV, because the gospel message is very clear that we will never be saved by works, therefore relying on a works based religion is pointless.
Listen again to what Paul says, ‘And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.’ On another occasion Paul put it this way ‘Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel’, (2 Timothy 1:8-10)
Not one of us can make ourselves spiritually alive again, no matter how hard we try, for all of our own righteousness or righteous actions, even good works are like filthy rags, we can only stand before God and in the presence of God through the righteousness which is imputed or given to us through and from the Lord Jesus Christ as we come to him by grace and through faith.
So when we see the vast crowd standing around the throne of heaven in the book of Revelation it is comprised only of those who have come and placed their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who have come to him as the One who was slain for the sins of the world and been washed in his life giving blood.
So, for anyone who may be involved in a works-based religion, stop now, it will achieve nothing for you as far as eternity is concerned, instead come to the only One who can make you ready and fit for his eternal kingdom, the Lord Jesus Christ.