Theology 101
(grace)
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Eph. 2:8-10
Oh no! another touchy subject. Grace. Read the verse again. By Grace we are saved. Nothing we did. No great works on our part. We are forgiven even though we don't deserve it. That's GOD's Grace. So we can take no special pride in the fact that we are Christian. No more than we can take pride in the fact that we were born. Yes, we can have pride in our heritage, our parents, even our culture, but those are all external, not within, not really us. As Christians we take pride in Jesus, in the Saints, in the Church, but not in ourselves. We have no part in the great Family of GOD outside of our redemption through his Grace. Jesus did the work on the Cross of Calvary.
We cannot even take credit for the Faith with which we believe. We are saved through faith but not our own inherent or developed faith but that faith which we were given by GOD. GOD supplies the Faith with which to believe, the Grace to forgive our unworthiness, and the Spirit to give us new life.
Once we are saved, we cannot even take credit for the works we do. They are preordained by GOD. It is Christ that works through us. The Holy Spirit that empowers us and GOD that guides our steps. If we are truly Born Again, we have died to ourselves and live for Christ. We are not the focus, GOD is.
Modern Christianity [especially in the U.S.] has gone off on a tangent of freedom and individuality. Noble goals in government, not in church. We are not individuals, we are one body, one church. We are not individually free, we are bought with a price, the very high price of Calvary. If we are Christian, we belong to Christ. If we are free from that bondage, we are of this world and the god of this world is Satan.
So if we are to be truly the Sons and Daughters of GOD, as Christ promised, we must crucify our Selves, our egos, our dreams and ambitions. We must live for Christ, not for our own desires. I have been called a fanatic [I prefer Jesus freak], I have been told I spend too much time at church or studying the Scriptures, but what else should we center our lives around if not GOD. Let's read that verse one more time...
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Eph. 2:8-10
So we are all saved, 100% by GOD's divine will, nothing we did to earn it or prepare for it. The works we do are by GOD's design, through HIS power, not our own.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; Ephesians 4:4
And we are called into one body. Separate parts working as a united whole. No part greater than any other, no part lesser. Each of us is no better or worse than the 'babe in Christ' who is still struggling in carnality, or the Saintly Mother Teresa who gave her life for the poor. Each of us performs our function as GOD wills and by HIS grace. Each lives by the measure of Faith granted us. And GOD's Grace is sufficient.