good deeds=selfish me VS. grace=humbled servant

Recently, I was confronted with how many people think they will get into heaven through living right or doing good-deeds. People count-out Jesus. Jesus, who IS the very reason we have access to the Father, the reason we get into Heaven, He is our righteousness!

I realized:

IF our salvation IS based on our own deeds, that knowledge can breed self-indulgence, self-gratification, self-reliance, and selfishness. Notice, all these begin with “self"…

If we believe our salvation is reliant on our behavior, than "self " is at the foundation of our salvation. If self is at the foundation of our salvation, we have freedom to live as we please...Even if that means living a life contrary to God.

We can think, "I do a little good and do a little bad"... thinking we will "make up" later for the foolish things we do, or that we will undergo punishment before actually getting into heaven. This is indeed a twisted mindset!

If SELF is the one to rely on for salvation, we are put at a distance from God, What is His great mercy? Where is the WONDER that comes from His great Grace?

The opposite of this is realizing that our salvation is a FREE GIFT from a God who accepts us wherever we are. And, we could never earn the deep, bottomless, genuine, unconditional, undeserved LOVE that has been lavished on us.

If someone gives you something you haven't earned & DO NOT deserve, your desire should be to do everything in your power to please them, even though nothing you were given is based on your merit. This concept of receiving what is underserved should inspire humbleness, and servitude, not selfishness.

Salvation doesn't depend on your works. But, this is not a license to sin. Because salvation is free, we are in total dependence on God, asked to die to the almighty "self".

If my salvation depended on me, my life would be my own.However, I AM NOT my own, I was bought with a price and I am to glorify God in this life I live.

Grace takes my eyes off of me, changes my view...

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

God, how often do I live like your grace is untrue and I am the one in control?Foolish me who you have loved and cherished! Help us, God to not forget You and Your truth in our frailty. You have made us, you see us, you know us, You love us! Oh, take heart friends!

Because He has overcome,

Anna