Wednesday, July 04, 2007
a few excerpts from my Independence Day sermon
We as Christians do not have to fear the end times. Don’t let the Left Behind series scare you. We can look forward with eagerness to see Jesus – our Lord who, as we read in verse 8 (Isaiah 25), will himself wipe away the tears from all faces.
Does this sound too good to be true? For some people it does. Satan would have us believe that we have to do a certain amount of good works to be received in heaven – that we have to behave in a certain way in order to be saved.
We don’t! -- and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
If we ever have doubts about whether we are saved -- we need to turn to Ephesians, Chapter 2: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”
But aren’t Christians supposed to do good works? Aren’t we to avoid committing sins? Of course we are. But that’s putting the cart before the horse.
Our good works – our avoiding sin – is not what saves us. We are saved by our faith in Jesus. When we accept that Jesus died for our sins – when we are truly sorry for our sins – they are forgiven – and the slate is wiped clean.
It is after we have turned to Jesus – it is after we come to love him for what he did for us – it is then – out of our love for him – that we will let him guide our life and do good works.
