April 11

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

It is the way of the world to think that we can earn our salvation; that our good works will somehow outweigh our bad works and balance out. Or if they don’t quite balance, God might accept us anyway. This is a totally natural idea but it is totally wrong. If you had asked John Dillinger, Adolph Hitler, or Joseph Stalin how to go to heaven, they might have given a scenario of good works, leaving off sin, and starting to do good. But the Bible says “by grace are ye saved through faith.” You see, if we could have saved ourselves, Jesus would never have had to die on the cross. Look at the last words of this verse: IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD. Have you accepted this gift, and given your heart to Jesus? If you have, you have discovered that Jesus is the Fairest of Ten Thousand, The Lily of the Valley, and The Bright and Morning Star. Without Him, life doesn’t make sense.

Commentary by Francis L. Harris

"...what must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:30