Saturday, January 26, 2013

Not By Works But By His Mercy Are We Saved

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Titus 3:5-6

Your hours of study and minutes of sweat may be beneficial to your success; however, it is imperative to know and realize today that you can’t do anything on this earth through the works of your hands to obtain the righteousness needed to be saved and clothed in the garments that show you as a child of God… Titus reminds us today that no matter how perfect we think we are or how many good deeds we try to do that it is not by our hands that we receive Salvation… Often times we shortchange the way in which we are saved and sealed until Christ returns… Ephesians 4:30 says, “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed until the day of redemption…” You are saved by the blood of Jesus and sealed by the Holy Spirit… Did you catch that? Again, we are drawn by the father, set free by the son and sealed by the Holy Spirit… All three comprise the Salvation that we inherit as a child of the most high…Today you need to stop acting as if you are a good person and start recognizing that you are saved “…according to his mercy…” You didn’t deserve it, you didn’t’ warrant it, but while you were in the pit of darkness God withheld His judgment from you and gave you a clean slate… It is by the mercy of God (withholding the judgment that you and I truly deserved) are still in the land of the living…Don’t get it twisted; you have done nothing to deserve the saving power that came through God’s beloved son. Don’t lose sight of the fact that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Nothing of your feeble hands has acquired God’s mercy, none of your works on this Earth would ever be enough to offer and pay the ransom for you life of sin. Remember that He has washed us through regeneration; to regenerate means to renew, restore or revive… We were dead and God revived us, we were broken and God restored us, and we were expiring through sin and God renewed us… He gave us a clean slate and refocused our minds on Him by the sending of the comforter the Holy Ghost. Regeneration is a change of mindset, a new focus or outlook; if it were up to us our mindset, our goals and our desires would all be of this world and Satan would laugh all the way to the pits of hell carrying our souls along with him…Through the outpouring of Christ blood, we are given a choice to either walk under the curse we are born with or receive the grace of God which can transcend any current circumstance and place our feet on a heavenly foundation… Again, don’t become so prideful that you forget that humility is the key to salvation. Paul said, “not by works of my hand, lest I should boast!” Paul is credited with writing a majority of the New Testament; however, he knows that even this would not stamp his ticket to heaven… Even though Paul founded many churches He knows that He was found to be a sinner until the light of Christ shined upon the darkness in his life… Don’t take this time for granted, don’t ignore God’s mercy and please don’t forget that without God NOTHING is possible, but by HIM all things are possible…

BE BLESSED!!!

1 comment:

  1. WORKS THAT SAVE AND WORKS THAT DON'T
    THE WORK THAT SAVES

    What work endures to eternal life.

    John 6:27-29 Do not work for the food perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the the Father, God has set His seal." 28 Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He as sent."

    The work that men do to be saved is believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and their Lord and Savior and that God raised Him from the dead. Yes, there is a work that men do, that can save them. Believing is the work men that do that saves.

    THERE IS A WORK THAT GOD DOES, THAT SAVES.

    Colossians 2:12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in whichyou were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

    God does the work in water baptism. Not men.
    You cannot separate faith and water baptism.
    Mark 16:16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved....

    1 Peter 20-21 ...safely through the water. 21 Corresponding to thatbaptism now saves you ---not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience--- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    You cannot separate faith and water baptism. Man's work is to believe. God's work is to forgive men of their sins.

    Colossians 2:12-13.......When you dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

    You cannot separate faith and water baptism.

    WORKS THAT DO NOT SAVE.

    Galatians 2:11-16....16 nevertheless know that a man is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ Jesus and not by works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

    The apostle Paul was not telling Cephas (Peter) and Barnabas,
    that believing in Jesus was a work of the Law Moses,
    that being baptized in water for the forgiveness of sins was a work of the Law of Moses,
    that repenting (turning from unbelief and making a commitment to turn from from a sinful lifestyle and turning toward God) was a work of the Law of Moses,
    that confessing that Jesus was the Son of God, their Lord and Savior and believing that God raised Jesus from the dead, was a work of the Law of Moses.

    FAITH-REPENTANCE-CONFESSION and WATER BAPTISM are not works of the Law of Moses.

    Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been savedthrough faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
    Colossians 2:12 ....baptism...through faith in the working of God...
    Ephesians 2:9-10 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in the.

    Believing in Jesus is not a good work.
    Repenting is not a good work.
    Confessing is not a good work.
    Being baptized in water is not a good work.

    Believing (John 3:16) Repenting (Acts 2:38) Confessing (Romans 10:9-10) and Water Baptism (Mark 16:16) are all essential for salvation, however NONE of them are Laws of Moses nor are they good works.


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