Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Martin Luther
Devotional:3 Reasons You Should Be Happy Salvation is God’s Free Gift to You
The Bible is clear: salvation or eternal life with God is something God gives you absolutely free. No strings attached. No conditions. This fact completely flies in the face of human nature. After all, we tend to love only those that love us back and always ask for something in return.
As hard as it is for many Christians to fully understand God’s free gift of salvation, here are three reasons you should be ecstatic that this is the case.
Reason #1: You don’t have to work for God to consider you righteous enough to be saved
Asking fallen human beings to transform themselves into anything other than fallen beings is like asking a leopard to change its spots. It’s not going to happen. As God said through Jeremiah, we have depraved hearts. There is only wickedness in the fallen human heart. Expecting sinful human hearts to produce righteousness is like expecting apple trees to produce cashew nuts. Not very likely. If this is all there is to the story of salvation, we are doomed. We cannot save ourselves because we don’t have the equipment. Thankfully, God gives us salvation freely out of His grace.
Reason #2: God doesn’t owe you anything
As Apostle Paul wrote in Romans, if it were possible for us to do the right things and put in the work to be saved, then God becomes obligated to us. We did our end of the bargain, so he has to perform his end of the deal. This completely contradicts the Bible, its timeline, and internal logic. The fact is, God, soon after Eve and Adam fell, promised that the Son will crush the serpent’s head while the serpent will bite the Son (thereby killing Him). God made the promise without being goaded, pleaded, or petitioned by Adam. Adam just stood there. God made the promise completely on His own. Again, it is a free and voluntary gift.
You should rejoice because God’s free gift is due to the fact He loves you unconditionally instead of simply delivering on an obligation. Isn’t that worth getting excited about?
Reason #3: You don’t have to try to make God love you any more than He already does
The parable of the Prodigal Son featured the story of the older brother who was mad at the Father because the older brother felt he ‘slaved’ following his Father’s law with little reward. He was frustrated that the Father lavished blessings on a sinful brother who returned yet he, the one who kept commandments, didn’t get such blessings. Put another way, he ‘slaved’ to deserve the Father’s favor. Well, since ‘we have all fallen short of the glory of God,’ no human (except Christ when he still walked the earth in human form) could say we ‘deserve’ to be saved. All our efforts, as seemingly selfless and good as they may be, are never ‘good enough’ to earn God’s love.
God’s love can’t be earned because it is already given freely. How can you ‘slave’ for something you already have? Isn’t that good news? You don’t have to worry about God loving you because he already does.
Keep this thought in mind
Be happy that our Father is the way He is. He loves unconditionally and freely and we don’t have to work for His love because it’s already there. We don’t have to make ourselves deserving of His love. He’ll love us anyway. That’s His nature. Isn’t it time you accept that love and let it transform you? Are you ready to make that leap of faith today?
