The Gift

Many new and some longtime Christians have a hard time grasping the fact that all God asks us to do to gain eternal salvation is confess with our mouths and believe with our hearts. (Romans 10:9) When you look back at all the sins you’ve committed, it’s hard to believe that you don’t have to do anything, but accept Jesus into your heart to be saved. God came down from Heaven in the form of a man to be beaten and crucified just so you can live eternally in heaven with Him. Many Christians feel there has to be something else you have to do. This causes them to doubt whether they were ever saved. They start to ask questions like: “Am I truly Saved?” “How can I know?” These doubts build frustration and the frustration can lead us away from our savior.

How can you know yes I am truly saved? Look at Romans 10:9. That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Okay, you say I did confess and I do believe Jesus died and arose on the third day. But He has to expect something out of me and I try to be perfect but I Can’t. God realizes we can’t be perfect Romans 3:10 "There is no one righteous, not even one; What you must realize is your salvation is a gift from God. Matthew 7:11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! If you’re a Christian you should know that your fleshly body is evil. Now let’s apply this verse to the gift of salvation. You give a gift to your child, not for any reason other than you love them. What do you expect in return? Think about it for a minute. A thank you is nice, but you aren’t going to take the gift back because you don’t get one. An “I Love you!” is nice, but again you aren’t going to take it back if you don’t get one. Your Child cleaning their room without being told as a thank you is nice, but you didn’t’ feel they owed it to you. We are evil and this is how we feel about giving a gift. Think about how much more our Heavenly Father loves us.

To me the greatest joy in giving a gift is in seeing the joy of the one who receives it. This is the reason God gave His only begotten Son to die for our sins. (John 3:16) He gave us a gift! He expects nothing in return. It was a gift to show that He loves us. God loves it when we worship and praise Him, but salvation is a gift with no strings attached. Realizing this, it is easy to be sure of your salvation and start showing God you love Him.

MSW