Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast."
Paul loves to talk about grace! Here he states that we are saved by grace-and not because of anything we've done. It is a gift from God. It is free. It is ours to have. It was given by God through Jesus. This is the gospel. This is the good news!
I memorized this verse when I was a boy. It's one of the most important verses in the Bible for me. It represents this great idea that God saved us from our sins, our guilt, our shame, our past, our demons-all for nothing. It was and is a free gift from him. It is a gift we have to receive, but ultimately a free gift nonetheless. When we work for something or earn it, we have a tendency to be proud of whatever it is we did. We tend to boast or feel real good about ourselves and what WE accomplished. Our salvation-the gospel-doesn't work like that. It is a free gift. So we are not to boast of ourselves but of God alone.
Dear Jesus, thank you for grace and for Ephesians! Help me to boast about you! Amen.
