Hello friends, today I want to discuss a few verses from Ephesians Chapter 2

⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Today, I want to talk a little bit about the grace of God. The above verse tells us that salvation is a gift from  God. In this verse, we learn that there is Nothing that we can do to earn it..there is nothing that we can "do" to recieve it.. It is a gift that God gave us through His son Jesus Christ simply because He loves us.

We do not obtain salvation through works. It doesn't matter how many church services we attend (something we do) or how much money we put in the collection plate (also something we do)..

Salvation is God's gift to those who have faith. There is nothing that we can possibly do in our own human strength and power to obtain salvation. There is no amount of money that can buy salvation. It is our gift.

I think of the robber who was hanging on the cross next to Christ. This man did nothing to obtain his salvation, and Jesus, knowing his repentant heart, gave it to him freely. "Today, my brother, you will join me in paradise."

Consider the parable of the vineyard. A man hired workers to work in his field. Some workers worked for a full day. Others, started working late in the day, and yet they recieved the same wage. This tells me that salvation is a gift. It doesn't matter how much work that we do, it only matters that we are willing to go into the field.

Because we are saved by grace through faith, does that mean that we are deny works?

Consider the following verse: We are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance fo us to do.

This verse tells me that before we were even born, Christ had a plan and purpose for our lives. We are saved not by works, but to work for the Kingdom of God.

Friends, God has something specific that He has called you to do for His Kingdom. He knew what it was before you were even born.  

Now is not the time to be idle, but to seek the face of the Father and seek His will for our lives.

One more quick thought..
Have you ever had someone who tells you that they love you, but often fail to back up their words with action?  Sometimes, it is not enough to simply say that you love someone. We must love in both "deed and truth" as the word says.
Our actions must back our words. IF we say that we love someone, then we will want to do all we can show that love. It is two fold. If we only speak of our love, then others will doubt the veracity of that love unless we show them what it means to love.