God's Grace

He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
Ephesians 1:7-8, NLT

Grace is God's voluntary and loving favor given to those he saves. We can't earn salvation, nor do we deserve it. No religious, intellectual, or moral effort can gain it, because it comes only from God's mercy and love. Without God's grace, no person can be saved.

To receive it, we must acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves, that only God can save us, and that our only way to receive this loving favor is through faith in Christ.

© 2009, Tyndale House Publishers

Saved by Faith Alone

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)

We are saved by faith alone. Faith in God - Jesus Christ. Good works only will not bring salvation to us.

Am I saying that, we can just have faith in Jesus Christ, and do bad deeds, and still be saved? I must say, 'Yes', theoretically. But there is a problem.

When we really accept Jesus Christ as our savior, and really let Him live inside us, our character will be changed automatically. He will change our mindset of everything. We will have more and more Christ-Like Characteristics over time. We have no choice, but be changed. God's Ultimate Character is Love. God is Love. We will be a person who exhibits God's Love. Then, good works will automatically follow. If God really dwells in us, we will not have the ability of not doing good works.

Good works alone will not bring salvation. Faith alone will bring salvation.

In mathematical language :
1. Faith is necessary and sufficient condition for our Salvation [very strong condition]
2. Good works are not necessary and not sufficient condition for our salvation

But again, when we have the faith and God really dwells inside us, we have no choice, but to exhibit His Love to others through our actions.

We are loved first by God, so that we have the ability to show love to others.

May God bless you always, Readers. Have a Blessed week ahead.

Why do we serve? We serve because Jesus did.

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down, and asked, "Do you understand what I was doing? You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord', and you are right, because that's what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washer your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them. (John 13 : 12 - 17).

Serving others is not something natural for us. We all want to be served. The very act of being served makes us feel important. It also implies that we are somehow superior to the one who is serving us. Jesus, however, totally changes our mindset by his own very behavior. He washed His disciples' feet.

Jesus set the example for us to serve each other. If Jesus served we are compelled to do the same. This washing of the feet was an ordinary, mundane task but Jesus, the Son of God, was not too important, too busy or too proud to serve the disciples.

Copyright, 2009 Island ECC, Hong Kong.