How were you saved?

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2: 8).

Sunday, March 14th 2021, 4th Week in Lent. This Sunday is called Laetare Sunday, that is: Rejoice Sunday! We have made it to the mid point of Lent. It is a good reason to be joyful.

On the surface, our Scripture verse for today appears simple. But if you can grasp the meaning of Ephesians 2: 8, the insight and light you get will transform your life. You become a new creation freed from the anxiety of how you are doing in your Christian walk.  You come to depend totally on He who gave you freely the gift to become a Christian and the faith to say Yes that Jesus is Lord and Savior.

God looks upon us with merciful love. You remember how the Father of the Prodigal looked upon his emaciated, badly clad and dirty son. He embraced him with loving and tender kindness. Did his son deserve the princely welcome he received? Not at all. This is what happened to you and me. Whether we received salvation through Baptism as infants or later in life, the story is the same. We are saved through God's unmerited favor. No hard work, no striving of ours produced it.

The initiative is 100% from God. Our acceptance of this offer is what is called Faith.
"Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit." (CCC 154), teaches the Church.

Those who refuse to believe in the proclamation of the Gospel for whatever spurious reason are in a bad place. Why? Belief in a credible source and information is a totally human phenomenon teaches the same paragraph 154 of the CCC.

Rejoice therefore in the free gift of salvation and do not grieve the Holy Spirit by your actions. Rather allow the Holy Spirit to transform your minds so that in everything you will discern the will of God and not imitate or conform to the behaviors of unsaved people around you who do not know that this world is passing away.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com