A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (January 12, 2018)
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)
The vast majority of our evangelistic ministry over the last thirty years has been in arenas where people of all different kinds of beliefs and non-beliefs have been present. Probably the biggest lie ever perpetrated on mankind is that receiving salvation by believing on Jesus, and what He did on the Cross, is just too simple. There must be more to it than that. There must be something we have to do to earn this great salvation. That is the oldest lie (started in the Garden) and it is still a big part of Satan’s attack today. That lie is the beginning of all work-related religions. What it actually says is that what Jesus did on the Cross was not good enough to pay for our salvation. (By the way, the Greek word used in the New Testament for salvation is “soteria” which means to deliver, to rescue, to save, to heal, to prosper, and to protect).
We live in a world that is built on working hard at something to gain monetary and physical possessions. We live in a world that teaches, “If it appears to be too good to be true, it probably is”. We live in a “show me” world that says, “I will believe it when I see it”. We live in a world that maintains a work/reward type system. The Spirit world does not work like that. The Spirit world works on faith and belief versus works and is constantly at odds with our natural thinking.
For the flesh lusteth (wars) against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Galatians 5:17)
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
Probably the three most powerful words that Jesus ever spoke were, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Your salvation and my salvation have already been paid for. There is no amount of work we can do, or money we can give, that will qualify us for this great gift. It is finished! All we have to do is simply believe.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Don’t get me wrong. There will be works, but they are not qualifying works. They are works that come out of your love for God and His creation. The simple and most important key is to just believe. Jesus repeated it over and over again in the Gospels. The following are just three examples out of some eighty that are recorded in the Gospel of John alone:
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12)
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:15)
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. (John 6:29)
If you have picked up any works theology along the way we encourage you to let it go and run away from it. What Jesus did was enough!!! All we have to do to inherit all the promises of God is simply believe. It is that simple!
