How many people do you have to feed in order to go to heaven? How many naked do you have to clothe in order to go to heaven?
God did not offer salvation to you because you were smart. Or because you were pretty. Or because you were widely respected by your peers. God did not offer you salvation because He saw that you were a pretty-good guy. He did not offer you salvation because you were a great father or a good mother. He did not offer you salvation because you served your fellow man. Man, in general, fundamentally believes that as long as his good works outweigh his bad works, he’ll be saved.
But spiritual laws do not work that way. God does not work that way. Jeremiah 9:23-24: “Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
God turns man’s expectations on their head, upside down. God does not work through the eldest son, as many expect. God does not work through the bravest men, as many expect. Paul reiterates that principle in Romans 9:8-13.
Man absolutely must understand that he is saved by the grace of God. None of us deserve it. There is nothing we can do to earn it or merit it as if you can set aside the sacrifice of Christ and do your own thing in order to stand in the presence of God. Even we who understand the role of Christ in God’s plan of salvation also have to understand that we still do not deserve the salvation we have received in Christ.
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That is why none of us can ever boast before God. We have nothing about which to boast. We do not deserve heaven. Now, God’s arm may have to reach deeper into the morass of sin to pull someone to salvation such as Saul of Tarsus or Jeffrey Dahmer. But the fact of the matter is, that I, who grew up in a Christian home and can probably list the number of times I have missed worship (since teen years) on one hand, was just as dead in trespasses and sins as Saul of Tarsus was. I, too, have been in the morass of sin and even, occasionally, I dip my feet into that same sinful swamp. Not only can I not save myself, but having been saved by the blood of Christ, I can’t keep myself saved!
It’s only by the grace of God! Paul talks about the grace of God in Titus 2:11-14 3:4-7. We saw in Titus 2 that the grace of God appeared teaching us that we must obey Jesus Christ. So, I cannot overemphasize the biblical doctrine that strict obedience to the laws of God are not antithetical to salvation by grace. It is God’s grace that teaches us what to do to be saved. It is God’s grace that sent Jesus to die for our sins in the first place.
But, we are still saved by grace, nevertheless. And we need to appreciate that grace and we need to extend that grace to others. We’ll take a look at Titus 3:4-7 later.
–Paul Holland
