Topic: Too Good for Salvation? [Charles Stanley Daily Devotional 27 April 2020]
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Too Good for Salvation?
Ephesians 2:1-10
When Jesus walked this earth, one group of people consistently refused Him—the Pharisees. The most outwardly righteous people of that day couldn’t see themselves as sinners. These religious leaders assumed they had no need for Jesus, who said He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).
Many people today think the same thing—that they’re good enough to get to heaven on their own. After all, they aren’t criminals, so surely their good deeds must surely outweigh their bad ones, right? Wrong. In God’s eyes, we’re all spiritually dead, enslaved to lusts, and are “by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:1-3).
Pride often keeps us from understanding the extent of our guilt. Sin led to Satan’s downfall, and it has infected every human since Adam and Eve. We like to think there is something in us that’s good enough to please the Lord, but Scripture teaches we can be saved only by God’s grace.
Salvation is a gift received through faith in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:8). There’s nothing we can do to earn it, because any good thing we do is tainted by the sin that dwells within. Your only hope is to look to Christ to save you. Trust in His death as payment for your sins; then you’ll be made new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
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