Saved by Grace Alone

“If you had the power to change yourself without God’s help, Jesus wouldn’t have had to come.” This statement by Paul David Tripp really hit home with me. If I could, through personal strength and fortitude reform myself I would have no need of a Savior, but without that Savior and the inner change that comes from knowing Him I would have no hope of rescue from my sin. It’s plain and simple, we just can’t save ourselves.

Isaiah 64:6 tell us “we have all become like the unclean; all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. All of us wither like a leaf; our sins, like the wind carry us away.” Our only hope of reconciliation is by way of change within hearts and lives that only Christ can bring. There is nothing in a sinner which can entitle him to salvation or recommend him to mercy. It must be God’s own heart that dictates the motive why men are to be saved. God saves us for his namesake.

What does it mean…to be saved for God’s namesake? Charles Spurgeon explains it like this: “I think it means this: the name of God is His Person, His attributes, and His Nature. For His Nature’s sake, for His very attributes’ sake, He saved men and, perhaps, we may also include this—“My name is in Him”—that is, in Christ. “

There are many self-help books on the market. Motivational speakers abound and try to teach us how to save ourselves; however there is only one name by which we can be saved and that is the name of Christ. This truth is found in Acts 4:12 and says, “Salvation can be found in no one else. Throughout the whole world, no other name has been given among humans through which we must be saved.”

Tripp also talks about two different people in this devotion I read, one gets up in the morning telling himself that he’ll do better today, the other starts his day with a plea for grace.

I pray I will always be like the second person …asking for grace on a daily basis.

The Grace of a Savior

God has for us, an overflowing supply of mercy and grace for us to daily apply.

We can put it on, be it night or day we just need to ask for it, when we pray.

Abundant it is, it will never run out it’s what being forgiven is really all about.

God will release it, as we require for granting it to us is His heart’s desire.

For all those in need, of God’s mercy and favor all you need is faith . . . and the grace of a Savior!

Deborah Ann Belka