Have you accepted the perfect gift? Are you certain?
This is a question that has come up with me a lot lately.
I am certain I have accepted His perfect gift and that no one can take that from me.
And I used to have a hard time understanding why someone that says they believe can also be unsure of this. Unsure of if they are going to heaven. Unsure of if they will be allowed to keep the perfect gift or have it stripped away from them.
Did you know that Christianity is nearly the only religion that believes in the perfect gift? That most other religions believe you must do good deeds to buy your way into Heaven?
I didn't. Which is why I may have had a hard time not understanding why a person could be so unsure of whether the perfect gift was theirs to keep or not.
But God tells us it is.
We are all sinners.
"As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one." -Romans 3:10
"For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God." -Romans 3:21
The wage of sin is death.
"The wages of sin is death..." -Isaiah 64:6 (a)
But God has a perfect gift for us.
"...But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." -Isaiah 64:6 (b)
We can't buy His gift with good deeds.
"For by Grace ye are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves. But it is a gift of God." -Ephesians 2:8
If you believe He wants you to have this gift, confess it.
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" -Romans 10:9-10
He promises.
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, ...but is long suffering to us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." -2 Peter 3:9
It's a gift. A free gift.
"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." -Revelation 22:17
God tells us it's ours. It's ours to keep. In fact, there are no good deeds good enough to buy it. We can't afford the price of the perfect gift. But he has paid it for us. He has paid the price in full.
And it is ours.
Have you received the perfect gift?
This is part 3 in my attempt to organize my thoughts on His Grace.
Read part 1 here. And part 2 here.
To be continued.
