so, who are you really serving?

Ephesians 2: 8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."

I love the apostle Paul. Though well educated, brilliant by many standards, he shares the gospel in words and emotion that make it plain for all.

In his letter to the church at Ephesus, he records for us a simple reminder- It is our great God who is the giver of salvation.

So many want to earn the right to a reward. "I'm working my way to heaven." "Look at the good works we're accomplishing. I hope it will please the Lord and secure my home in heaven someday." Sound good, doesn't it - almost enticing.
On the surface those statements, or similar ones, sound noble. Almost Scriptural. But what lies underneath that thin coating?

Paul said we are not justified (saved) by our works lest anyone boast. What did he mean, where's the danger in boasting about our accomplishments? For the answer, I go to the root of all sin - I go to the beginning.

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth and all that is in it, including mankind. He gave dominion over all things to mankind with one simple restriction - there was a tree in the garden, from it (the tree) God said do not eat lest we die. Satan, came along and whispered in our ear and enticed us to not heed the loving instruction of our Father and Creator. Satan told us that if we would ignore God's words and eat the fruit, we would become like God knowing right and wrong. We would in fact become our own god - and we were persuaded.

We liked the thought of being our own god. And so we ate. Each of us. Whether it be Adam, or Eve, or myself, or yourself. When we were tempted to stray from God's love, we did. Thus the need for our redemption, our salvation.

God, being our Creator, and loving us beyond our ability to comprehend, set in motion a plan to reconcile us to Him. The problem for man was our sin brought about the very thing that God had so forewarned, death. And so to redeem us, a debt of death had to be paid. This is an obstacle that no matter how great a mans work may be, they cannot equate the debt owed. Therefore God, because of His great love and desire for us to be reconciled to Him, became man. He lived among us. He walked among us. At the appointed time, He surrendered Himself to His creation and gave His life as the death debt that was owed for our sin. That man was Jesus Christ. His coming foretold throughout the centuries and recorded in scripture. His authenticity evidenced by the miraculous signs and wonders He performed while in fleshly form. His authority to forgive sin and reconcile us to our loving God and Father confirmed by His glorious Resurrection.

Jesus did what we cannot. He paid the death debt and rose again to life everlasting.

His promise as the Prince of Peace is that all who would believe and put their faith in Him would be granted redemption from their sin and be given the gift of salvation. by the power of Jesus, we are reunited once again with Himself, the Father, the Holy Spirit - the great God of Creation.
When we place our faith in Jesus in the watery grave of baptism, we once again recognize Him to be the one true God and put to death our false god (our own will), placing our trust in Him, we are raised out of the watery grave to newness of life, forever transformed into a new creature, His new creation. That is why Paul said our salvation is the gift of God. We cannot do what Jesus did.
If we die, we die. But Jesus, He has the authority and power to transform us into His likeness and so give us the gift of life everlasting. I am speaking of the spiritual realm, that place beyond this physical existence where moth and rust do not destroy, the heavenly realm.
In Christ Jesus, we will live forever. Apart from Christ, we can only die.
The good news of this life is that we may know now that if our faith is in the Lord Jesus, when we pass over, He has paid the death debt owed and will therefore welcome us to live with Him forever in our Fathers Kingdom.

You see, we do not do good works to get to heaven. We as confident heirs, do good works in this existence as an affirmation of our love and trust in Jesus because He is taking us to heaven.

Why did Paul say "not by works so that no one can boast"? What's the danger?
To boast in your good works as the cause of your salvation is to do the very thing that Satan tempted Eve and Adam with in the Garden - to become our own god.

Remember, Jesus did what we cannot.

Heed Paul's words, and do not put your faith in the works of your hands, but in the hands of the ONE who is worthy - Christ Jesus our Lord.


Eph 6:24 "Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love."


In Christ,

RangerLane.