GOD’S GIFT OF SALVATION TO WHOEVER CALLS ON HIM!
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. —Galatians 5:2
Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. —Galatians 1:11
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. —Galatians 1:18
Works practiced FOR salvation, “Mark my words!”, Paul says, means “Christ will be of no value to you at all.” In other words, if a person thinks that WHAT THEY DO saves them, then they devalue what Jesus has done on the cross. Works pacifies the human pride in thinking we can do something to be saved other than trust the finished work of Jesus on the cross and through His resurrection. Plain and simple—
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” —Romans 10:9-13
Those who trust Jesus, have believed in Him and have called on Him are saved from their sin to a relationship with Him. As we are led by God’s Holy Spirit we are not depending on our works for salvation, but we are depending on Him, understanding that “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). For those who believe their works can save them, “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (I Corinthians 1:18). We understand that the cross, the power of God, appears to the world to be an utter weakness and they think that by their own works/righteousness they can know God (Romans 10:3). But “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16).
Now, will you trust in your own works to be saved which are not acceptable to God? Or, will you call on Jesus who “is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (I John 2:2). This is the only work that has satisfied God for salvation and only for those who call on His Name. Have you called on Jesus? If not, why not? He’s waiting! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYZw0dfLmLk&t=16s Dear Father, if there are any reading this today, please help them, draw them to Jesus so they will call on Him. Yes, may this be so by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus. Oh, may this be so today! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=morHP2cJoZs&list=RDmorHP2cJoZs&start_radio=1
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” —Romans 6:23