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.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)

Something that we often do as humans; try to reach God on our own. We often stretch to the heavens and hope to reach him. We try and try to be kind and we try and try to be good. We hope that all of our works and deeds will someday get us to heaven. The problem is that many of us fall flat on our faces very short of that goal. As hard as we might try, we are never good enough.

How do I know? Scripture tells us that God and His law are the standards we are to live by. If we look towards other humans, we may look great depending on the person, or we may look horrible. If we look at God’s law, we are all guilty of breaking the law of God. Scripture tells us that if we even break one of God’s laws, we have brought upon ourselves the guilt of the entire law. The fact of the matter is, none of us are perfect.

However, this is not the final statement. Ephesians 2:4-5 tells us that God is rich in mercy and He saved us from our sin. Even while we were sinners, Romans 5:8 tells us, Christ died for us. When we look at passages like Ephesians 2:8-9, it should bring us so much joy. We don’t have to be perfect! Instead of striving towards a goal, we could never reach, we are carried to the goal by the perfect sacrifice that Christ provided on the cross.

By God’s grace, we are made right in God’s eyes. Through the faith that God gives us, we are saved out of a life of sin and into freedom in Christ. This salvation doesn’t stop there! God continually makes us more like himself. He makes us holy! Stop and think about that for a second. Instead of us striving to be holy, we are made holy by God!

What an awesome God we serve!

Turn yourselves over to God. Rely on Him alone for your salvation and he will save you and make you holy. God does it all. We are recipients of this amazing gift, Grace.

So this week, remember the salvation that comes from God. Do good not because you have to earn God’s salvation, but because God saved you regardless of your works. Do good because God wants good for you.