Let’s take some time to extol the beauty of God’s redemptive plan through the gospel — Jesus Christ.
When I look at myself through the eyes of the world, my tendency would be to think of myself as basically a “good person”. I don’t know of any enemies and my ego is always willing to pat me on the back telling me how good I am because of the wonderful things I do. But as our beloved Pastor of Spiritual Formation, Bob Maas, tells us, “Our ego is not our amigo!” And the truth is seeking the approval of man and hoping that God will be pleased too is an exhausting, enslaved way to live and a scary place to bet our eternity on. God’s plan was so much better.
Isaiah 64:6 tells us, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all of our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” The truth is that none of our righteous deeds will be enough, they fall pathetically short — that’s great news! We are loved so much by God that it is through Christ’s sacrifice that we are made righteous. AND He even provides through His Spirit the very faith with which we receive this gift…a gift that frees us from the bondage of performance in this world and guarantees us a future with Him in eternity. Galatians 5:5 “But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” God expressed His love first to us, and in turn we are blessed to express our love back to Him through our life of faith.
Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Oh Lord — we are so grateful for Your glorious gift of faith!