Hello strangers, sorry I haven't posted for sometimes. With my exams life is very busy and the blog is taking a bit more of a back seat but I promise I haven't given up! If you have any more misconception ideas please let me know :-)
Anyhow, this is another moot issue for many people. I have seen people very attracted to Christianity over the years but put off by the idea that Christianity is just a load of rules that will stop them having fun in their lives.
Christianity isn't about people not having fun, Jesus states in John 10:10 that He came to give us life in all of its fullness.
It isn't about just obeying rules to please God. In Amos 5:21 God stated that He despised the religious feasts & assemblies of the Israelites because of their hypocrisy and attitude towards them. Jesus came and fulfilled this Old Testament law by living a perfect life and setting us free from it. Forgiveness and righteousness before God comes from accepting His Grace through Christ not through achieving a standard. Paul describes it best in Ephesians 2:8-9...
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."
It is very sad to me that other faiths such as Islam try to achieve grace by works and don't even know whether they have done enough or not until they die. As Christians, we can know our eternity right now.
Christianity is about relationship with the Father, God wants to know us and that is why He sent Jesus...to remove the barrier between us, sin.
Showing posts with label Grace not Works. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grace not Works. Show all posts
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
It's just a bit of hard work...or is it?
Today was one of those extra hard working days. I try and work hard normally but today I had to give that little bit more to get things done. Added onto a very busy schedule and I am pretty pooped tonight.
In life we are, quite rightly, told that success is usually the result of hard work. People such as Sir Alan Sugar have worked extremely long hours to get where they are today.
The greatest gift ever in my opinion is the gift of forgiveness, relationship & eternal life from God. Some people wrongly assume that we have to earn this gift through doing good things or great things.
I was reading Romans 3 this morning and it was great to be reminded that Jesus has already done all the work, and these great gifts are given to us freely by trusting in Him!
Romans 3:21-26
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Ephesians 2:8-10
In life we are, quite rightly, told that success is usually the result of hard work. People such as Sir Alan Sugar have worked extremely long hours to get where they are today.
I was reading Romans 3 this morning and it was great to be reminded that Jesus has already done all the work, and these great gifts are given to us freely by trusting in Him!
Romans 3:21-26
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
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