But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved!— and he raised us up together with him and seated us together with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them. Ephesians 2:4-10
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One of the big jokes around Christmas is returning gifts. People talk about that one relative who always gives the weirdest gifts that everyone plans to exchange for something better without even knowing what they are getting this year. It’s just a classic thing to make fun with. However, there is one gift that will never need exchanged because it’s the perfect gift no matter the season.
Salvation is that perfect gift, and God is the one who gives it to us. That may be confusing for some people because sometimes this mixed up idea gets passed around that you have to work hard to earn your salvation; however, Paul shoots that idea down in what we read early, making it clear that there is nothing you can do to earn salvation. You don’t even have to try because it’s a free gift!
Sounds easy enough, right? Yet, so often, we meet people who have been offered the gift of salvation but don’t have it. What’s with that? Well, just like with Christmas gifts, you have to accept the gift. The Christmas gift can sit under the tree forever, but it only means something if you take it out from under the tree, unwrap it, and use it. So, if you’ve been offered salvation and you’ve been content with it being offered but have never opened it up and started using, that’s just the same as if you were never given salvation at all.
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. James 2:26
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Like James is pointing out here, if you don’t apply faith to your life, let it change how you live, then you really don’t have it in the first place. When someone has truly unwrapped the present of salvation and begun using, they’ll begin to notice things that they didn’t notice before. Songs they could listen to before salvation begin to become unwanted because of the message they hold. Movies and TV shows that once were no issue now are not welcomed because they do not support what God wants a person to be harboring in their heart. People that at one time were in an inner circle of friends are no longer close friends because they hinder a close walk with God.
If your life looks the same as before you were offered the gift of salvation, you haven’t unwrapped it and aren’t using it.
That’s straight up the truth. It may not be what some people want to hear, but that’s what it comes down to. Salvation is not something light. It brings hard things, and Jesus warned us about it, so we can’t claim to be blindsided by it.
Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. John 15:20-21
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Jesus’ teaching is later retaught by His disciple Peter who said:
For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it? But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God. For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:20-21
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Don’t be surprised when things aren’t exactly the way that you always dreamed or the things you like aren’t always present. Jesus didn’t have a perfect life, He actually chose to live as a traveling man, and then suffered for you. If He can do that for you, I think we can give up books, TV shows, friends, and more for Him because it certainly doesn’t compare to being hung on a cross.
Now, we’ve discussed the importance of opening and using the gift…but what happens when someone exchanges or throws away the gift of salvation? Yep, you read that right. Someone can exchange or throw away the gift of salvation. That may freak some people out because of this untrue “once saved, always saved” false-theology going around, but the fact of the matter is, you’re not permanently saved just because you unwrapped the present. Scripture even states that people can fall from their faith:
Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings, influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared. 1 Timothy 4:1-2
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So, what does this mean for us if “once saved, always saved” is false? In short, it means that salvation is not a get out of jail free card.
Sometimes people think that they can open the present and because they opened it use it like an EpiPen, a last minute lifesaver to keep them out of Hell after doing a bunch of things they knew they shouldn’t do. Other times, people don’t even take that initiative and treat it like a vaccine that prevents them from being harmed by the sinful things they’re doing. Yet, neither of those are the correct way to approach salvation, the book of Hebrews even states as much:
For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God’s enemies. Hebrews 10:26-27
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Salvation isn’t a medicine, it’s a relationship with God…a lifestyle even. That’s why Paul teaches that Christians should experience transformation in Romans:
Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2
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Also, it’s important to note what Jesus teaches regarding those who accept salvation yet do not replace their sinful ways with His ways:
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it passes through waterless places looking for rest but does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ When it returns, it finds the house empty, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!” Matthew 12:43-45
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What we learn here is that if a person takes the gift of salvation and opens it up but then lives in their old sinful nature, knowing full well it isn’t right, then they have not just thrown away the gift, but exchanged it for a life worse than they had before they knew it was wrong. Why would we ever choose to do that to ourselves? Yet, so many times we think that we’re good the way we were and we have salvation in our back pocket to get us out of Hell when death comes knocking. That’s such a hopeless and heartbreaking way to live!
Salvation, though, should be full of hope. Something we can cling to when life is hard, knowing that God is helping us make those hard decisions and carry us through. Think about this, God knew that life for us was going to be hard and we were going to be tempted and experience challenges. So, He sent Jesus to experience everything we experience so that He could fully understand what it feels like and show us that it is possible to resist temptation with the help of God. We see this when Jesus was tempted by Satan in Matthew 4.
What I want you to realize is that you’re not the only one who has to give things up. You’ve not got a target on your back. Everyone has those things that God needs us to hand over so He can give us more of Him. This makes me think of my Aunts rule she used to have with my cousins. If they got a new piece of technology, then they had to give away an old one. You can’t have the new, better thing without first giving up something old. Basically, you’ve got to make room for more of God!
Here’s my question for you, what have you done with salvation? Is it still under the tree perfectly wrapped waiting for you to accept it? Or have you unwrapped it and exchanged it? Do you treat it like an EpiPen or a vaccine? Whatever way you’ve viewed it before, now is the time to accept the gift of salvation and use it properly. I encourage you to take some time and ask God whether you’ve been allowing Him to transform you, also consider whether you’ve given up anything lately. If you haven’t, I’d reason to say you need to start letting God have more room in your life.
Don’t worry, you’re not a failure because you need to change how you’re doing things. If you weren’t in need of change, you wouldn’t still be on this earth. Take up this chance to work closely with God and clear out stuff as a gift, a chance to spend more one-on-one time with God. You’ll be amazed by what He wants to do with you.