GPA of Salvation

I've had a few recent conversations with a friend regarding salvation and it's affect on our lives. I soon realized that we were on two completely different pages. I was talking about how salvation was challenging my life to follow Christ. He was talking about how his life was questioning his salvation when it wasn't.

The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8, that by GRACE we have been saved. So the first part of this verse nails down the origin of our salvation. Salvation came from the grace of God. We didn't do anything to deserve it. It wasn't our idea. We had absolutely nothing to do with it. To say otherwise would involve replacing the word 'grace' with 'merit.'

So now we know where salvation came from. Let's look at the other part of that verse so we can understand how it gets to us.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and THAT (faith) not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Ephesians. 2:8

The vehicle of our salvation is our faith in God, and that faith didn't come from us. The faith we had to accept Christ was a gift of God. Our acceptance of the gift of faith allowed us to RECEIVE grace.

How many of you know that your life is in no way affected by me giving you 100 acres of land on Mars? Martian real estate is meaningless, because you have no way of receiving it. When God gave the whole world Salvation, he also provided the rocket ship that would take you to there. God provided you the faith to receive him. It wasn't a preacher, a book, a song. It was God, and you did nothing but hop on for the ride. Even the urge to hop on came from him. If God would not have given you faith, Salvation would be just be another piece of land on Mars.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

No one can come to me (believe in him) unless the Father who sent me draws him (provides the gift of faith to believe) John 6:44

We now know where and how salvation came. Do we know when it came?

Who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. 2 Timothy 1:9

Because salvation proceeded from God, provoked by God, and preceded us, let us with confidence remove ourselves from the equation, shall we? Are we gone yet? OK, so let's move on.

If we did nothing to deserve salvation, then it would seem logical that salvation has nothing to do with being deserving. One doesn't have to fear that they have to walk the straight line of religion to maintain one's salvation. God's salvation didn't come with a maintenance plan that must be followed to prevent voiding the warranty.

I remember walking into class at the start of a school year and hear the teacher say, "Everyone has an "A", it is up to you to keep it, or lose it." That is NOT how Salvation works. God has given the whole world his son, and He has ALREADY passed the tests FOR us. Why, because without HIM, we never stood a chance of making it. Jesus secured our grade, before releasing us back into the world to change it for the better. Religion is re-taking the exam and merging YOUR score with his. Sounds foolish doesn't it? Paul thought so as well.

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Galatians 3:1-3

Friends, Jesus has taken our final exam and it was graded and stamped by God, PASSED! He then gave us the grade and declared us righteous and justified. Take the tests. Run the race. But never take the grade. Keep the one HE gave you. You will never improve on it. And don't let anyone tell you different. Get back on your feet. Get back to life. You're not disqualified. You were never qualified to begin with.