#salavtion

Here is a blog post about my recent trip to Israel! It was truly a life-changing experience!

Human nature is prideful and it leads people to brag about all kinds of things. We brag about our achievements, lineage, wealth and family. We brag because we take pride in these things. However, the Scripture warns us that, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

Pride is the number one hindrance to people submitting to the authority of Jesus Christ—and that pride leads to destruction. Pride blinds people to the reality of their desperately sinful condition and need for salvation.

From beginning to end, salvation is God’s work. One of the hardest things for people to accept is the grace of God because it is a free gift. They feel they have to do something to pay for it. They want to receive credit for the work that secures their salvation rather than freely accepting it and giving thanks and praise to God for it.

We judge people all the time by their social status, good looks, and good works, but God does not use this standard of judgment. There is no difference between us before God “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Every single one of us have fallen short of God’s standards and need to be “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

Prayer: Father, thank you for the reminder that we all fall short of the glory of God and that there is nothing I can do or not do to earn my salvation. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Matthew 6:9-13

Jesus Christ gave His followers a pattern for prayer that includes seeking forgiveness daily. The invitation to regular repentance is not a means of renewing our salvation, but rather a maintenance plan for our fellowship with the Lord. When we trust Jesus as our Savior, our sins are forgiven forever. The stains from our past, present, and future wrongs are wiped from our record; however, we're a fallen people so we do continue to commit sin.

With the exception of Jesus Christ, no person is perfect. Sin is simply a fact of human life. The Lord's payment for our transgressions means that we can look forward to an eternity spent in God's presence instead of getting the punishment we deserve. On this side of heaven, though, we still have to contend with our tendency to do wrong--and we must also deal with the consequences. The Lord's admonition to seek daily forgiveness is a reminder to confess our sins and turn away from them because we are forgiven.

God's grace is not a license to sin; instead, it's a reason to pursue righteousness. Bad attitudes, thoughtless actions, and unkind speech do not fit who we are as children of light. We're new creatures in Christ, bought for a price and set free to live as partakers of His grace.

Salvation makes a way for us to enter God's presence, while regular confession and repentance keep the pathway well maintained and free of obstruction (1 John 1:9). The so-called "sinner's prayer" need be said only once, but a saint will tap into God's forgiveness every day of his or her life.