Hi everyone,
In my last write-up I wrote on the topic "Obedience or Hardwork?" I pointed out that God is moved with the obedience of His Sons and Daughters, and not through hardwork. A person who is obedient follows all what God tells him or her to do by being led by the Holy Spirit. This is proof that they are Sons and Daughters of God, (ref.: Romans 8:14).
Hardwork is an expression of man-made effort without the presence of God. Obedience to God is a sign of faith and humility. It symbolises complete trust in God.
As I wrote yesterday, your reaction to Grace is obedience and not hardwork. The moment you say "Yes" to Him, immediately all that He would need to carry out His mission, He gives to you. But without obedience you can't carry them out.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; ⁹ Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]" AMPC. It is God's Grace and not by our striving that we are saved. The essence of this is all glory to go to God, and not ourselves. It is an experience that we would know that it is nothing that we would have been able to do, which is why it is a free gift.
The Passion Translation puts Ephesians 2:8-9 thus, "For it was only through this wonderful grace that we believed in him. Nothing we did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the gracious gift from God that brought us to Christ! ⁹ So no one will ever be able to boast, for salvation is never a reward for good works or human striving." TPT. This version makes it clear that nothing we did could ever earn this salvation. God gave us this gracious gift.
We should understand that the moment we say "Yes" to Jesus He takes over. Let me elaborate, when Jesus is in charge, He is the one doing the work. In other words, we are just vessels unto Him. All He would ever need to carry out His mission, He gives unto us. This also means that since it is His mission, we don't decide what to do, rather, He decides what we are to do. He is in charge.
The reason why things don't work out is because we choose to do things ourselves, instead of being led by Him into falling in line with His mind-set and His plans for us. This is where obedience comes in. No knowledge you acquired can be our leading.
The Bible says in Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make." TPT. We are to rely on Jesus with all our hearts, we are to put aside our opinions, and trust in the Lord completely. This is complete obedience in Jesus.
We shouldn't forget that the Holy Spirit would strengthen us in our weakness. Also, it is by the Faith of Jesus that we move, and not with the faith of the former life.
In my next write-up I'll look into Ephesians 2:10 in line with being obedient to God, and why this is very important to us and to God Himself.
Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!
Log on next time.
For prayers and comments, send to the comment section below.
GOD BLESS YOU.
PLEASE LIKE AND FOLLOW MY BLOG
Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)
No comments:
Post a Comment