The Gift Of God

"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.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Christmas is a joyous time with the exchanging of gifts. Carefully thought out purchases, wrapped with just the right wrapping, reflecting the love you have for another. Your joy comes to the full when you see the happiness, and excitement on the receiver's face. It is also true that God the Father glows with happiness to give to you and this world a gift that cannot be pruchased, it is freely given. It is the gift of eternal life. while our purchases for Christmas gifts cost something, for Jesus it cost everything, the bearing of the sins of this world upon Himself and death upon the cross.  He willingly paid!

Thinking about the crucifixion of Christ is not a pleasant picture and hard to grasp the full meaning for us. The scene is so often on Jesus, nailed to the cross, wound in His side. Yet, even during this most horrible moment Jesus gives a gift. Let us paint the picture of the scene occurring this day. On one side of Jesus hung a criminal, and on the other side another criminal. They deserved to die, Jesus did not deserve to die, but willingly hung there between to criminals; one mocking him, calling out, that if Jesus was the messiah of God prove it by saving himself, and of course he hoped that he too would be saved. The other criminal, rebuked the first criminal and then asked jesus, "The he (the criminal) said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Then Jesus gave him the gift; "Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 21:42-43). In that moment joy came into that criminal' life, faith in Jesus, it was not by works, but by faith, and the gift of eternal life was given to him freely.

We must come to the cross ourselves, come to the cross and die, surrendering our sinful life for His life. Our sins are forgiven and we enter into the gift, eternal life, we are transformed to live a new life with the power of the Holy Spirit residing in us. Too often we only read verse eight of Ephesians chapter two; let us go on and read verses nine and ten. Our salvation is free, but it will cost us everything just as it did Jesus. We are saved "to do good works," works that God has prepared for us to do. this is the very heart of Christian conversion.  It is not an intellectual assent, it is a giving of ourselves wholly, completely, the mind, the will, and the affections, and all shown in a changed life.  It is "sola fide" by faith alone.

What is this saving faith? It is more than "making a decision" for that may not be helpful as to what your faith entails. Were we really repentant? Did we intend to cooperate with God in His work? Are we willing to allow God to transform us? Only God knows, for He knows the heart. He alone knows whether or not our commitment to the Lordship of Jesus is genuine. How do we know that it is genuine? We soon notice a change in our affections and habits. As Charles Spurgeon once said, "hatred of sin and love of holiness is not experienced, then God has done nothing in you of a saving character." We are known by our fruits, which we were perepared in advance to bring forth (Matthew 7:16). True faith means putting the cause of Christ and the needs of others first, ahead of us, and bringing the "Gospel" to our world. What are the marks of our faith, when others can see the nail prints in our lives as true Christians.

Today, determine to develop the character of Christ in you. Yes, salvation is the free gift of God, it will cost you everything; it cost Jesus everything, He willingly paid, even though we may suffer, our character will be made and character is the only thing we carry with us beyond this life because it shapes our souls and deepens our faith.

Daily Prayer:

Today Father I yeild myself to your will, shape me, mold me, use me for what you have prepared in advance for me. I want to be the witness of your love and bring to others the gift you gave to me, eternal life. I put my full trust in you. Amen