“How do you get salvation? By resting in what Jesus Christ has done.” ——Author Unknown
Your salvation is not a reward for good behavior! It was a grace thing from the start to finish; you had no hand in it. Even the gift to believe simply reflects his faith! (You did not invent faith; it was God’s faith to begin with! It is from faith to faith, [Rom. 1:17] He is both the source and conclusion of faith. [Heb. 12:21] If this could be accomplished through any action of yours then there would be ground for boasting. We are engineered by his design; he molded and manufactured us in Christ. We are his workmanship, his poetry. (God finds inspired expression of Christ in us. The Greek word is poeima.) We are fully fit to do good, equipped to give attractive evidence of his likeness in us in everything we do. (God has done everything possibe to find spontaneous and effortless expresssion of his character in us in our everyday lifestyle. the word, proetoimatso, translates a notion that God has prepared a highway for us to lead us out like kings, just like the Oriental custom, where people would go before a king to level the roads to make it possible for the king to journey with ease and comfort.) [Isaiah 40:3-51]. ——From Mirror Bible, translated by Francois du Toit
What was done cannot be undone. The work of God and the obedience of Christ on Golgotha is not something conditional on whether or not we believe it or respond to it or prepare ourselves for it. It has already happened, and its effects are unstoppable. The consequence of the obedience of Christ is that every descendant of Adam will be constituted righteous. When Christ died, God was there in Him conciliating the world to Himself, not reckoning their offences to them (2Cor. 5:19). Peace is not made by us; it is made by God in the death of His Son. And now God is entreating through us that this peace might be recognized and enjoyed (2Cor. 5:20). ——Dean Hough