By the Grace of God, We are Saved

This scripture is preceded with Paul’s explanation of our personal salvation in Christ. He makes it clear that it is by the grace of God that we are saved.

It is not our own works, but Christ’s finished work on the cross that declares us right before God. The internal work of grace births us into God’s kingdom and we are set on a trajectory of eternal life.

This new life involves “good works” in the sense that we are now part of the new creative process of God’s restorative work in Christ.

Through the Spirit’s gifting and our obedience, we are able to enter into a truly purposeful life in the Kingdom. This new work may be as simple as giving a cup of water in Christ’s name.

It may be in planting seed in God’s kingdom work both here and abroad. In fact, all of our life is now a life of participating in the work of Jesus who is living our life as if he were us!

From this perspective, all of life is meaningful! And this meaningful life will extend beyond our own mortality and into God’s eternal future.

We may not always see the fruit of our labor, but we can know and hope that our life is not wasted or meaningless.

My hope and prayer is that we will wake up each day knowing that God has a purpose for our lives. That we will take the time to discern what His purposes are for each day.

As we draw near to God through our solitude, silence, prayer and His Word, we will stay focused on what He wants to do through us.

May we stay focused and rejoice that our life here on earth matters!

 Pastor Fred