No extra charge

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Salvation past, present, and future”

Our Bible verse for today: “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift – not from works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “No extra charge”

Sometimes when someone thanks me for doing something for them I will jokingly respond, “You’re welcome. No extra charge.” When I say that I’m being a wise guy, of course, but the point is that I am happy to serve them in that way and to do it for free.

Salvation is like that too. It’s a gift from God, it is free, and He is happy to give it to you. But you do have to accept it as the gift that it is.

Martin Luther was a Catholic priest and monk in the 1500s in Germany. He was terrified by the thought of a God who is holy and righteous and who requires holiness and righteousness from us, but who at the same time is impossible to please (or so Luther thought). Trying to satisfy that God, Luther prayed eight times a day. He sometimes spent six hours or more confessing his sins to another priest. He fasted multiple times each week. He often slept without blankets – even in the winter, because he considered himself too sinful to deserve the pleasure of blankets. He once ascended a staircase on his knees, pausing at each step to pray a prayer of confession and to beg God’s forgiveness. And yet, Luther was miserable. No matter how much he repented he still felt guilty and unforgiven.

Finally, one day in Bible study and prayer Luther had an epiphany. The Holy Spirit helped him to understand two critical Biblical truths. The first was in Romans 1:17 that the righteous shall live by faith. The second was Ephesians 2:8-9 (above), which teaches that our salvation is a result of the grace of God by means of faith in His Son for the forgiveness of our sins, and not from any works that we perform. It is a gift, it is free, and it can only be received by faith (it cannot be earned, not even by extreme acts of penance).

That was the most revealing and liberating truth Luther had ever experienced – and it changed everything for him. In that moment he realized that he did not need to earn his salvation. In fact, he couldn’t earn it – he had already learned that sad truth through his many years of extreme and fruitless acts of penance.

The truth is that you cannot earn your salvation, you cannot purchase it, and you will never be good enough to deserve it. It is a gift from God, simply as a matter of His amazing grace, and it comes only through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

Please stop trying to pay God for your salvation. It has already been paid for – and there is no extra charge.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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