Day One: Perfectly Saved
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Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil--the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature, we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else.
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, five that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so we cannot boast about it. 10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
— Eph. 2:1-10 NLT
Devotional
Many of us have entertained a lie for far too long. The lie is that we must be perfect or work hard to be perfect, to be acceptable to God. We entertain that lie when we think or even secretly allow that to motivate our good works. We don't have to come to God perfect to be saved.
In fact, despite our imperfections, while we were still dead in our sins, Christ died for us. Now that is love! This truth undermines the performance lie. We don't have to try to be perfect to be loved by God. There is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. Only the blood of Jesus and his saving work on the cross can save us. And our acceptance of that fact, the yielding of our efforts in exchange for the free gift found only in His Son, secures our perfect salvation.
God does the saving; only His grace is sufficient to do it perfectly. But the true beauty of this great exchange is that our lives now exemplify his glorious grace and wonderous perfection. His salvation shines brightly through our cracks and fills them to make us whole.
Prayer
Father, thank you for sending your Son to die for me while I was still a sinner! Thank you for giving me a new life in you. Lord, I pray that your grace shines brightly in my life – in my choices, actions, and love for others. Help me to live a life out of gratitude for all you have done for me, in Jesus' name. Amen!