If you want to rob the Lord Jesus Christ of the praise due to Him, then believe it was necessary for you to perform some work that needed to be mingled with His shed blood on the cross before the Father in heaven would accept His Son’s sacrifice.
Attempt to make yourself believe that you were searching for the Living God, and that because your search was diligent, that with great intent and diligence your search was rewarded with eternal salvation.
Make yourself believe that because you repeated some form of a “sinner’s prayer” that you are now accepted in the Beloved, that because you got baptized now your salvation is a guarantee. If you want to rob the Lord Jesus Christ of His praise, believe that you were worthy to be saved.
“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1st Peter 2:24)
“There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” (Romans 3:11)
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44)
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)
If you believe any of those statements mentioned before these verses were offered, you are not saved, you may behave in this life in a different manner than you once did, you may have mended your ways and are now what the world considers a good person, you may go to church, sing the songs, read the Bible, even have a feeling in your heart that lifts your spirits up at times, but you have not been born-again.
The grace of God is an unacceptable path to nearly all people, something by them must be done, some deed, some words, some action must be performed by them, or faith will not arrive so that grace can perform its work. No one is saved by faith, all who are saved are saved by grace through faith.
“To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26)
Repeating some words, being baptized, reading the Scriptures, even obeying all the laws of Christ will not save you. Grace saves us, the grace of God upon sinners who can add nothing, not one thing, to the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ offered upon the alter of heaven. Only those who have been born-again will believe these truths, all others, no matter how much they say they love the Lord, will find these truths unacceptable.
We cannot offer works of any form for our salvation, we accept His grace, and we submit our lives fully to Him when we believe this truth.
“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1st John 2:2)
We were drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ by God Almighty, those who accept His grace, attempting to add nothing to it, understanding that they have nothing to offer, that His grace alone is what saves us, are chosen. This is why Matthew 22:14 is a truth.
“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
None who believe that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ was not sufficient in and of itself, that we need to add something to His suffering on the cross, to His shed blood before we will be accepted are saved, they will die in their sins believing a lie.
“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matt. 7:14)
Every works-based religious organization teaches this lie, many in the Evangelical community believe it as well, for the word grace is foreign to them. They believe they must do something more than just submit to the truth of His grace. Our salvation does not rest on our faith my friends, but on His grace.
Remember that always.
