06 November 2007 Devotion for Today “Grace Through Faith” Ephesians 2:8-10
The story is told of a man who died and went to heaven. Of course, St. Peter met him at the Pearly Gates. Peter said, "Here’s how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man said, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years." "That’s wonderful," said St. Peter, "that’s worth three points!"
"Three points, is that all?" he said. He went on, "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service." "Terrific!" said St. Peter. "That’s certainly worth a point."
"One point?!!" He continued, "I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans." "Fantastic, that’s good for two more points," he said.
"Two points!?!!" Exasperated, the man cried out. "At this rate the only way I’ll get into heaven is by the grace of God." "Now you got it, that’s worth 100 points! Come on in!"
Some of you might take exception to that story, because St. Peter is not going to be standing at the gates of heaven waiting for you or I- its going to be Jesus Christ himself. But that is just how the story goes. More and more all the time I find people who do not understand what grace is. What is even more embarrassing is that these same people were raised up in a Southern Baptist church. Do you know what gets us to heaven? Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Do you know what that means? One writer said, “When it comes to God, being good is not good enough.”
In 2001, Reader’s Digest asked Muhammad Ali what his faith meant to him. Ali replied, “[It] means [a] ticket to heaven. One day we’re all going to die, and God’s going to judge us, [our] good and bad deeds. [If the] bad outweighs the good, you go to hell; if the good outweighs the bad, you go to heaven.” That’s what many people believe. If that is the case, Mohammed Ali had better hope he’s got more than a butterfly or a bee standing on the balance with him. But that’s not what the Bible says. If it were just a matter of being good enough, none of us would be in heaven. We all have transgressed God’s laws and stomped on every one of them. And if it were based on being good enough to get to heaven, how would any of us know when we have reached that mark? We wouldn’t. That is why God has given us His grace. Why would anyone do something like that? That is where Faith comes in as we believe what Christ did for us by grace.
What is grace? Someone years ago cleverly created an acrostic stating grace is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. That means that by grace, someone else purchased the ticket to heaven for us. WE could never purchase it, because the price was too high. Jesus Christ did it with the cost of His own blood. Because of Grace, may we never cheapen it by our actions, and, by faith, may we never take it for granted.
Have a blessed day!
Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@embarqmail.com
jcrussell@liberty.edu
Church website: http://25621.lifewaylink.com
Devotion Archives: http://www.msnusers.com/DevotionforToday
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