Photo: Mountain Lion, Near Moab, Utah. United States. ©1998-2023 R. John Anderson
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works [of the Mosaic Law], so that no one may boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9
Porque por gracia ustedes han sido salvados por medio de la fe, y esto no procede de ustedes, sino que es don de Dios; no por obras [de la Ley Mosaica], para que nadie se gloríe. – Efesios 2:8-9
There is nothing that man can do to “earn” forgiveness of sin, nor be “good enough” to stand before God on Judgment Day and be declared “NOT GUILTY” of sin. We need a Savior. It was the Grace of God by the love of God that put Jesus on the cross for us to be covered by His blood and righteousness and saved to eternal life (1 John 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Eph. 1:7; Rom. 5:9). Jesus died willingly for you – He wasn’t forced to! Know that attending church, doing “good works” (Note: this is specifically referring to self justifying meritorious works, not works done in obedience to the commandments of Christ) and being a “good person” will not matter on Judgment day. Only those who trusted in Christ and obeyed His gospel (Jesus’ commandments) will be saved to eternal life. It is written that we are all sinners. Even though sin entered the world “through one man [Adam]” (Rom. 5:12), please be honest with yourself; it’s not Adam who is to blame for your sins, is it? You chose to do them (as did I). I hope you see that you are a sinner. This is a vitally important step. A failure to admit (or accept) that you are indeed a sinner stems from pride, and pride leads to death (Pro. 16:18, 25). It’s no shame to admit you’re a sinner; we all are! All of us in this fallen world have an unclean heart (described as “deceitful,” “sick,” Jer. 17:9), unclean thoughts and motives, “unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5), and unclean actions. The Bible tells us that “there is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10-11) – except one Man, “the Son of God,” the Man Christ Jesus. Jesus was born under the Old Testament’s Mosaic Law and perfectly “fulfilled” that Law (Matt. 5:17). He lived a perfect, sinless (morally pure) life in obedience to God (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:21-22; Isa. 53:9; Luke 23:47; ), even “obedient to the point of death: death on a cross” (Php. 2:8-11), being crucified as an atoning sacrifice (payment) for your sins. Only the death of Christ covers your sins because He was the “spotless lamb” (without sin Himself, 1 Pet. 1:19).
