Week 7 Day 2 Devotions
Saved by Faith
“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
Titus 3:5
Well, perhaps after yesterday's devotion you went out with the eyes and a heart that are open to looking for and reaching out to the hungry, the thirsty, the poorly clothed, the stranger, the sick and even the prisoner. (If you didn't then today is an opportunity to go out with the eyes and a heart that are open to looking for and reaching out to the hungry, the thirsty, the poorly clothed, the stranger, the sick and even the prisoner.) Bless you, and remember that as much as you did (or do) these things for the least of those you came (or come) across you did (or do) them for the Lord Jesus Christ. But let us pause as well and remember that we are not saved because of the righteous things we do. Good works are the fruit of saving faith; we do righteous things because we are saved, not in order to be saved. Wesley's comments on our text verse remind us once again of the grand truth of the Christian faith: “Not by works - In this important passage the apostle presents us with a
delightful view of our redemption. Herein we have, The cause of it; not our works or righteousness, but "the kindness and love of God our Saviour." The effects; which are, Justification; "being justified," pardoned and accepted through the alone merits of Christ, not from any desert in us, but according to his own mercy, "by his grace," his free, unmerited goodness. Sanctification, expressed by the laver of regeneration, (that is, baptism, the thing signified, as well as the outward sign,) and the renewal of the Holy Ghost; which purifies the soul, as water cleanses the body, and renews it in the whole image of God. The consummation of all; - that we might become heirs of eternal life, and live now in the joyful hope of it.”
As you look forward to living out your faith today you may want to sing or hum the Wesleyan verse that follows (it will fit into the tune of Amazing Grace or, if you know it, Scarborough Fair):
Happy the souls to Jesus joined,
And saved by grace alone;
Walking in all his ways, they find
Their heaven on earth begun. (15)
