Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 114

April 24;   Ephesians 2:8;   170/260(I);   Saved By Grace’

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

We have been saved by grace.  Biblical scholars tell us that the meaning of the word ‘grace’ is so powerful and wonderful that it is almost untranslatable.  Basically it means everything the Lord did for us because He loves us.  The word ‘saved’ has several meanings also, and they are all incredibly important.  The word means that our sins have been forgiven and cleansed, our bodies have been healed, we have been made whole, we have been delivered and rescued, we have been made prosperous, and more.  The verse goes on to say that our salvation comes by faith.  We must know from God’s Word what Jesus has done for us and believe by faith that it is true and that because of His love, He did all of this for us.  We are told that our salvation is not something that we accomplished on our own or could have.  That is the flase teaching of religion, that by our efforts we can make ourselves right with God.   We could not have saved ourselves.  The Lord gave us this gift because of His great love for us.  This verse also teaches that even the faith we believed the Word of God by and were saved, is also a gift.  Romans 12:3 teaches that God has given each of us ‘the measure of faith.’  Think of how all of this incredibly important truth is taught to us in one short verse.  God’s Word is fascinating and life changing.  Every born again Christian must decide that they will learn more about the Lord and what He has done for us by spending time in the Word.  Our Lord says so much to us, concisely.  Decide this day that you will spend quality time reading the Word of God.  What a powerful difference it will make.