Daily Devotional

Do you ever have those days where you think “how could God ever love or accept me because of…” The reasons for thinking we are not good enough can often be legion, and the truth is it's true, we are not good enough for God’s acceptance or love. God is holy, set apart, sinless, and as such cannot tolerate any sin. He is perfect and we are very very imperfect. Sin has separated us from a pure and holy God. As such, there is nothing that we can do in our own strength or power to close the gap, to make ourselves righteous enough for God’s standard.

But God, my favorite phrase in the Bible, made a way for us, while we were still sinners, God took it upon Himself to rescue us from our sin and trespasses when we could not and quite frankly would not. You see, grace, a word we often throw around in christian circles, is a gift that someone does not deserve. It’s not that God waited for us to try our hardest to be like Him and then decided “ok you got close enough.” No, while we were dead in our sin and rebellion against God, He offers us salvation that we don’t deserve, made possible only through Christ’s death and resurrection on the cross. Not only does God offer us grace, but He does so in a way that required Him to die in our place for our sin. When was the last time you offered someone who doesn’t like or acknowledge you something amazing that cost you everything? That is what God has done for you.
 
You see, the thing that sets christianity apart from every other religion is that we don’t save ourselves. Every other religion requires you to do things to work your way to heaven, to be just good enough to get through the pearly gates. But not with Christ. Christ did all the work, He took the penalty for us, my sin, your sin, our sin has all been paid for already at the cross by the sinless Son of God, the only sacrifice that could pay for sins once for all. All we have to do is accept the free gift of salvation. It’s why the thief on the cross who just moments earlier was mocking Jesus as they both were dying, when he finally recognized who Jesus was and in faith asked that Jesus remember him when He comes into His kingdom, was told “today you will be with Me in paradise.” He didn’t have time to do anything in his own power but recognize Jesus was Lord.

So what do we have to do to be saved? In Romans 10:9 we read “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” It’s that simple. God is offering you His free gift of salvation today, all you need to do is accept it. You see a transformed heart, the desire to do good works and honor God is the evidence of salvation, not the prerequisite for it. God isn’t waiting for you to be “good enough” for heaven before He saves you, He is offering for you to come as you are. And when you come to Him in faith, then He will start to transform your heart and life and make you more like Jesus. But you have to surrender to Him first. Don’t wait until you think you are good enough for grace, you never will be, that’s the point of grace.

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.