Key Passage
“And it will be very hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of God! It would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle!” The followers were more amazed and said to each other, “Then who can be saved?”
— Mark 10:25-26 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key Thought
If we are talking about meeting a legal requirement to be saved, we’re all doomed. God is holy and we are not. God is pure and we are not. God is generous and we struggle to be. God is genuine and we struggle with hypocrisy. God is gracious and we are often petty and grudging. And … when it comes to money, the vast majority of people are selfish or fearful or miserly or faithless. So who can be saved? Ah, God has already provided for our shortcomings and rebellious moments. Otherwise, who could be saved!
Prayer
O Father, I recognize the gift of salvation as a gift from your grace. I do not deserve it. I did not earn it. However, dear Father, please know I cherish this gift of grace and I praise you for your loving and sacrificial generosity shown me in Jesus. Amen.
Related Scriptures
But God has a way to make people right without the law. And God has now shown us that new way. The law and the prophets told us about this new way. God makes people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. God does this for all people that believe in Christ. All people are the same. All people have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory. People are made right with God by his grace (kindness). This is a free gift. People are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ. God gave Jesus as a way to forgive people’s sins through faith. God forgives by the blood (death) of Jesus. God gave Jesus to show that he always does what is right and fair. God was right in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins.
— Romans 3:21-25
In the past, your spiritual lives were dead because of your sins and the things you did wrong against God. Yes, in the past you lived doing those sins. You lived the way the world lives. You followed the ruler of the evil powers over the earth. That same spirit is now working in those people who refuse to obey God. In the past, all of us lived like those people. We lived trying to please our sinful selves. We did all the things our bodies and minds wanted. We were {evil} people. We should have suffered God’s anger because of the way we were. We were the same as all other people. But God’s mercy is very great, and God loved us very much. We were {spiritually} dead. We were dead because of the things we did wrong against God. But God gave us new life with Christ.
You have been saved by God’s grace (kindness). And God raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavenly places. God did this for us who are in Christ Jesus. God did this so that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace. God shows that grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus. I mean that you are saved by grace. And you got that grace by believing. You did not save yourselves. It was a gift from God. No! You are not saved by the things you have done. So no person can boast {that he saved himself}. God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would do good things. God had already planned those good things for us. God had planned for us to live our lives doing those good things.
— Ephesians 2:1-10
“So, all the Jewish people should know this truly: God has made Jesus to be Lord and Christ. He is the man you nailed to the cross!” When the people heard this, they felt very, very sorry. They asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter said to them, “Change your hearts and lives and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Then God will forgive your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you. It is also for your children and for the people that are far away. It is for every person that the Lord our God calls to himself.” Peter warned them with many other words; he begged them, “Save yourselves from the evil of the people that live now!”
— Acts 2:36-40
Devotional provided by Heartlight®
© 1996-2016. All rights reserved.