Are you saved?

¹⁰ For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” ¹¹ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” ¹² But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— ¹⁴ so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:10-14 ESV.

One day I was out cutting the lawn and two people walked up to me and asked me the question, “Are you saved?” That was an easy question to answer, and I said, “Yes”, said without any hesitation. I believe deep down in my heart that I am saved by God’s grace because of his love and mercy for me. Jesus died for me!

The problem of how we are saved has always been frustrating to me. Are we saved by what we do or are we saved by God? The frustrating part of all of this came out in last week’s blog. In Ephesians 2:4-5 we read, ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved. It has always been this way from the time of Adam and Eve until the time when Christ comes again. This is so simple and that’s what it is so frustrating.

Then again, I look at how people want to have a part in their own decisions. Salvation is not dependent upon us and what we do. We will never be made justified by God in what we do, say, or think. Jesus, by fulfilling the law for us, has given to each of us eternal life and salvation for all those who believe in the one true God.

In this season of Lent, this is something we all need to consider, Jesus died for each and every one of our sins, past, present, or future. As God gave this process to Adam and Eve, He has given it to each and every one of us. As we reflect upon our sins, we know we are unable to pay for them in this week’s blog. Jesus Christ was the last sacrifice that God demanded because of the law.

We are redeemed and made just before God. What does this mean? God the Father is the judge who judges us on our life. When God sees us, He sees not our sin, but the payment of our sin and declares us not guilty! I know this is hard for people to believe, but they have no part in making themselves right before God. We are all cursed because of sin and fall short of ever going to heaven. Jesus took upon himself all of our sins and became cursed for us. We have received the promise of faith through the Holy Spirit. In our salvation, we see the presence of God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

What is so difficult about this? Man has no place for their participation in salvation from sin. This is what we find it hard to accept. The old concept of pulling ourselves up by our own boots has no part in this way of thinking. It is all the word of God for all the people of this planet we call earth. Jesus took our penalty out of love for us, He could have walked away at any time, but he did not because he loves us so much.

This should be our message to the world, just as it was in the day of St. Paul.

This next week is Holy Week, a very big time in the Christian church, as we remember how Christ received us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

Spread the Word, walk in the Word, live the Word. The righteous shall live by faith!