Text: Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. (NRSV)
I believe that God’s only purpose in creating was to love something outside of God’s self (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and to receive love from something outside of God’s self. We read in scripture that loving God means keeping God’s commands (see John 14). We also see in scripture that God’s love is demonstrated in the giving of God’s self in order to make a loving relationship possible.
In John 3:16 we have what is arguably the most famous verse in all of scripture, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” In Romans 5:8 we read, “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” And in verse 10, “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.”
Today’s text makes it clear that none of this is because of work we have done but is the gift of God’s grace. It is the result of the outpouring of the love of God by God who is love. We do not earn it, because we were actually created for it. We do not have to work toward it, because it is the ultimate will of God that it happens.
This freely given love of God when received, gives us the ability to love God in return which completes the relationship. God’s love makes it possible for us to love God which is keeping God’s commands summed up in loving God and neighbor. God’s love makes it possible to live our lives in the way we were created to live for the purpose for which we were created.
Is there something holding you back from accepting the freely given grace of God? Is there something keeping you from living out the purpose of your creation? I know this sounds cliché but, let go and let God.
Pray with me:
God of creation and God of love, give me the courage to let go of all the things that keep me from fully accepting the grace you offer to me through your Son Jesus Christ. Through your freely given love to me, may I be set free to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and love my neighbor as myself. AMEN.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. (NRSV)
I believe that God’s only purpose in creating was to love something outside of God’s self (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and to receive love from something outside of God’s self. We read in scripture that loving God means keeping God’s commands (see John 14). We also see in scripture that God’s love is demonstrated in the giving of God’s self in order to make a loving relationship possible.
In John 3:16 we have what is arguably the most famous verse in all of scripture, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” In Romans 5:8 we read, “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” And in verse 10, “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.”
Today’s text makes it clear that none of this is because of work we have done but is the gift of God’s grace. It is the result of the outpouring of the love of God by God who is love. We do not earn it, because we were actually created for it. We do not have to work toward it, because it is the ultimate will of God that it happens.
This freely given love of God when received, gives us the ability to love God in return which completes the relationship. God’s love makes it possible for us to love God which is keeping God’s commands summed up in loving God and neighbor. God’s love makes it possible to live our lives in the way we were created to live for the purpose for which we were created.
Is there something holding you back from accepting the freely given grace of God? Is there something keeping you from living out the purpose of your creation? I know this sounds cliché but, let go and let God.
Pray with me:
God of creation and God of love, give me the courage to let go of all the things that keep me from fully accepting the grace you offer to me through your Son Jesus Christ. Through your freely given love to me, may I be set free to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and love my neighbor as myself. AMEN.
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