Tag: Faith

Morning Musings: Ephesians 2:8-10

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For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship; created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.  (ESV – Read the chapter)

For anyone who would argue that our salvation has in even the tiniest of ways to do with our good works, this verse puts the lie to their position.  Any individual, church, or even whole faith tradition that says otherwise is mistaken.  That’s a pretty strong way to put it, but there really isn’t any other way around what Paul says here.  Salvation comes by grace through faith and not by works.  Period.  We didn’t have anything to do with it being given to us beyond receiving the gift by faith. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Galatians 2:21

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“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Verses like this one are a big part of why protestants tend to be so radically committed to salvation by faith alone.  Look at what Paul is saying here closely because this is really important.  If we could somehow get ourselves into a right relationship with God by means other than the grace of God as mediated through the death and resurrection of Jesus, then His death was without purpose.  It was entirely pointless. Read the rest…

An Exclusive Club?

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“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. . . .The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritual discerned.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Now we’re getting into some tough stuff here (and we’re only into the second of 16 chapters!).  Let’s start with what Paul seems to be saying and then we’ll deal with whether or not it’s true and what it means.   Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

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“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

If we are going to be in a relationship with God, it is going to be on His terms, not ours.  In spite of our sinful nature, we naturally recognize that there is something wrong with the world; something wrong with us.  This is the result of our being created in God’s image along with the echoes of eternity still ringing in our hearts.   Read the rest…