By Grace You are Saved by Faith

"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" (Ephesians 2:8-9)

The devil is very clever when it comes to our faith. Let me tell you what he did once to me because he may do the same thing to you.

He will start agreeing with you so he can trip you. He'll say, 'Sure, you're saved by faith in Christ. But ho do you know that your faith is good enough or strong enough to save you? What if your faith is too weak? What if you don't make it?'

He tried to cause me to put my faith in my faith, rather than put my faith in Christ. Have you ever heard someone mention the phrase "saving faith"? Although we may say it, in retrospect, there's no such thing. You are saved because God the Father loved you so much He sent His Son to suffer the pain of His wrath on your behalf.

You are saved because God did it all - He called you (read 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14). He bought you (read 1 Corinthians 6:20). He will keep you (read Ephesians 4:30).

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"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven" (Luke 6:37)

Sometimes Christians look at people who have committed adultery or murder and compare themselves to them. They may even say, "They're dead in their trespasses and sin."

I want to tell you something. They are no more dead in their trespasses and sin than your sweet daughter or precious parent who has not received Jesus Christ's gift of salvation. There may be some degree of corruption, but there are no degrees of deadness.

All lost people are dead people in need of the Saviour Jesus Christ. You may think you don't have a testimony to share because you didn't get a Ph.D. in sin before you were saved. Perhaps you were saved as a little child. Well, it took as much of the grace of God to save you, as it did to save a murderer on death row. Never forget that, precious friend.

Dead people need to stop comparing themselves with other dead people. The ground is level at the foot of the Cross.

Has satan ever tempted you to play the comparison game? What if he were to start today? Practice what you are going to say to him, right now, to defeat him at his own game before it begins.

~Adrian Rogers~