Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) said...
Faith is the acknowledgment of the entire absence of all goodness in us, and the recognition of the cross as the substitute for all the want on our part. The whole work is His, not ours, from first to last. (The Everlasting Righteousness – 1873)
Ephesians 2: 5 It is by grace you have been saved. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn wrote that when he looks back on his life, he is amazed to see how God lead him through times of utter despair to times of blessedness. We would agree. The footsteps of God’s mercy are to be seen in our lives in many different ways. God is good to us.
There is also almost nobody who is a child of God who would not concede that he or she was saved by grace. We all quote Eph 2:5 and 8! Yet, so many times, we want to hold on to a little bit of honour for ourselves. We easily focus on the time when “we” were converted, when “we” accepted Jesus in our lives. Yes, it is a wonderful day, but some confessions focus so much on how bad we were and how good we are now. One cannot help but getting the impression that there is some boasting involved.
An old hymn leads us away from our “share” in our salvation. The words are always new and should be sung more regularly! Not the labours of my hands, can fulfil Your law’s demands; could my zeal no respite know, could my tears for ever flow, all for sin could not atone: You must save and You alone.
Paul does not say without reason that we should not boast in ourselves, because what we are, is just God’s grace (Eph 2:10; 1 Cor 1:29,31). Our righteousness, holiness and redemption come from Jesus only (1 Cor 1:30).
Lord, thank you for the joy to know that my salvation is and was your work alone, by your grace. Amen.
