Salvation - The Gift for Everyone

For Sunday School, May 5, 2024, we started off by reading Ephesians 2:8-10 which says "God saved you by his grace through faith. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

Faith is our conduit. It is through faith that we get through the hard times. Through faith, we are saved. Faith makes us feel good because we know that once we give it to God, he will make things right. Through faith, we are given salvation, and it feels good because it is our gift.

Let's say there's a man who comes up to you and he says "I'm gonna give you a gift. It's going to be an amazing gift, but you just have to work for me a couple of days". That's not a gift. That's a bribe. God gives you salvation as a gift, not as a reward for a trade-off. Salvation is not a gift to be won, so you can't boast about it. It's for everyone. We are ALL worthy.

It doesn't matter who you are, as Ephesians 1:4 says, "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes." Adam was made in the image of God and we are all made in the image of those before us (following our DNA traits, all the way back to Adam and Eve).

We're not all children of God until we get saved and live as God wants us to. We're not born into the family of God. We're adopted in. When you're adopted, you are chosen. However, it's a mutual thing. He doesn't just choose particular people. Those people have to choose HIM. And that's where our free will comes into play. Not everyone will choose to have faith in him, and not everyone wants the gift of salvation. He gives them free will to make that decision on their own.

God knew who was going to come to him, and who was going to reject him. But why does he allow it to happen? Because he gives us the choice. Some people eventually find their way, and that is where his mercy and love shines on us. He wants that none shall perish, but we have to want it too, and he is here for us, waiting for us, when we are ready.

Eve kind of fell into the trap, but Adam chose his decision. The serpent played on her emotions to convince her to eat the forbidden fruit, because women are emotional and think with their feelings, but Eve appealed to the logic of men when she convinced Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. Even though they were tricked, they made their decisions, knowing they weren't supposed to do what they did. They knew the right choice from the wrong choice, but had free will, and chose the wrong choice.

Even though they were banished from Eden and paid the price of an eventual death, God still says we deserve salvation under his blood. That's why people are innocent until proven guilty, because the devil will ALWAYS say you're guilty (unless he's trying to deceive you). God has no pleasure for the death of the wicked.

We are to live our lives for his pleasure. He gives us all limited sovereignty. Revalations 4:11 says “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.” He created us, we are his creations of pleasure.