Pastor Tricia's Ramblings

What happened to it is a free gift? 

Nothing, but even if you get a gift you have to do something. I can walk up to you right now and hold a gift out to you. When does it become yours? When you open up your hands and take it–receive it from me– at that moment it is yours. Okay so now you are holding the gift, how are you going to know what is inside the wrapping, the box? Again you have to do something! You have to rip the paper off, open the box and take out what is there. Now you know what you have. Are you content just knowing what it is or do you want to know how to use it, start using it? 

It is the same with the gift of salvation. It is a gift given to us, but it requires something of us to truly receive it. I am not talking about reciting a prayer or raising your hand in a dark room. That may be your first step, but if you don’t go further, then that seed will not take root and I am sorry if I am the first to tell you–that is not salvation. Okay I am not sorry I am telling you, I am sorry you have been deceived by the false belief that all you have to do is say a prayer.

In John 3:16 Jesus says “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. So step one is believing in Jesus. That He is who He says He is. That He did come to this earth, live a blameless life, die a cruel death, defeat satan, and rose from the dead on the third day, then ascended to heaven where He now sits on His throne at the right hand of the Father. It isn’t just believing a Bible Story, but the power that comes with the story. The power to be changed into the image of the one who saves us. This means we change from who we are as we are made more like Jesus.

In 1 John 1:9 we are told, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Another step–we have to humble ourselves and confess our sins. I know that is an unpopular idea today, but we are wrong when we live life outside of the guidelines of the Bible and do things our way. God wants us to come into agreement with Him that we are wrong and then we can accept His forgiveness that leads to salvation.

So that’s it, right? 

Nope again, there is more. It is just the start! We have now admitted that we need Jesus and because we confess our needs and we admit that we believe He is who He says He is, He declares us righteous..not about us or what we do, all about His gift to us. That is His grace in action. 

Next we look at how we grow–our position has changed, but our work has just begun.