Pastor Robert Hudson, Littleby Baptist Church
“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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10
In these verses Paul is letting the Ephesian Church know that first and foremost they are saved by the grace of God through their faith in Jesus. There is nothing they can do that will pay for their sins. Works such as sacrifices, giving, and doing good will not pay the debt they, or we, owe. Only faith in Jesus will do that. But while we are saved by our faith in Jesus, we are created by Him to accomplish the works that He has prepared for us.
Some of that is what we would call the sanctification process in which we are drawing closer to Jesus and learning to live our lives as He wants us to live them. Put another way, we would be pursuing righteousness. We cannot achieve it on our own which is why we need Jesus, but we are to pursue it. Being a Christ follower should inspire us to fulfill the purpose He has given us.
Part of that purpose is to draw closer to Him, but there is more to it. Jesus has told us that we are to be witnesses. He also tells us that we are to make disciples which includes teaching others what God has commanded us to do.
We are also to show His love to others. In Matthew chapter 25 Jesus is separating the sheep from the goats. Those who the sheep are those He says are blessed and will inherit the kingdom of God. He says they cared for Him when He had a need. Let’s pick up with their response to Him.
““Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or without clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?’ “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:37-40
The sheep did not understand. They did not remember helping Jesus. Jesus let them know, when they cared for another, provided for a need, showed compassion to those who had no one, did for those who could do nothing for them in return, they were doing what Jesus had created them to do. They were doing the ministry that had been prepared for them.
For the complete column, see this week’s edition of the Centralia Fireside Guard
