FEB 24

Romans 10:9
Memorise 1 Corinthians 15:4
“…he was buried…rose again on the third day according to the scriptures”

Today’s reading tells us that a person who receives the Lord Jesus as Saviour by faith not only agrees with the gospel but also believes it in his heart such that he becomes a changed person. He will therefore “confess with his mouth” and “believe in his heart”. What this means is that he will manifest both outward and inward signs of his salvation and of his relationship with Jesus because of what he believes.

In contrast to many other religions and belief systems that prescribe participation in rituals and doing good works to earn salvation, the reformed view of saving faith as taught by the Bible shows us that salvation is by God’s grace through faith according to Scripture, and is only possible through the finished work of Christ (Sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus and sola scriptura in Latin). This means that salvation is a free gift of God given to undeserving sinners who put their faith in Jesus alone as Saviour, just as it is written in the Bible (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Dear Teen, some people may have trouble accepting that every sin that they have ever committed or will commit in future can be forgiven so “easily” just by confessing Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. We are often told that salvation is free but it came at the cost of the life of God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. If we really think about it, earning our salvation through doing good works cannot be right as we would never know how much good works is enough. Instead, we would quickly realise that no amount of ‘good’ that we do can ever reach the mark of our perfect God! The Bible clearly tells us that God’s standard for being “good enough” for heaven is perfection. That means no sin, no error, no mistakes and no shortcomings 100% of the time from birth to death. Since this is impossible, God has given us a way out through the work of Jesus who fulfilled all of God’s requirements for salvation on our behalf. The only condition is we must believe it with all our heart. Have you accepted the Lord Jesus as your Saviour?

Thought: No wonder the Bible says in Romans 5:6 that while we were yet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly.
Prayer: O Lord, thank You for having mercy on me and sending Jesus to save me even though I deserve only condemnation.