There is no salvation or forgiveness of sin apart from the life and work of our Lord Jesus. We are saved and forgiven because of what He has done on the cross. God accepts no one because of his or her good works. Everyone must have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. No one will claim before God that they deserve to go to Heaven because they go to church, give money to the church, pray long prayers, light candles, serve in the church, serve in the community, help the poor, belong to a particular church, be water baptized, and be a good person. 1 Corinthians 1:30 says, "God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin."
Our Lord Jesus is the one that made us right with our Heavenly Father. We were separated from our Heavenly Father because of our sin, but Jesus brought us near to Him. We were sinners by our sinful nature, but Jesus made us pure and holy and freed us from sin. He did all these things to us because we genuinely put our faith in Him. We receive our salvation and forgiveness of sin not because of our doing, but our Lord Jesus's doing. The only thing that we did was to put our faith in the Lord. However, putting our faith in the Lord means surrendering our life to Him. We cannot say that we have faith in the Lord Jesus and live according to our ways and disregard God in our life.
Our salvation is free, but it costs our Lord Jesus His life. Only by faith are we saved and forgiven, and we prove our faith in our Lord Jesus in how we live and surrender our life to Him. So let us examine our hearts to see if we truly surrender our life to Him. It does not mean that we live a perfect life, but it means that we obey and want to follow Him, and when we stumble and fall, we are quick to ask for forgiveness and change our directions to the right direction.
Ask yourself these questions: What are the things that Jesus has done in my life? What is the only requirement I need to be saved? What does it mean to put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?
Write down all the worries you are facing today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, I am accepted, forgiven, holy, and righteous before you because of what Christ Jesus has done for me. With that, I am always grateful for what Christ Jesus has done for me. Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, for everything. I am saved because of what you have done and not what I have done. I am forever thankful, and I love you. In your name Jesus, I pray. Amen.
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