Day 1 - Week 72 - Are we resting or are we working?

The section of verses we are currently studying is titled "Faith"...but subtitled "Resting in God's Word."  The first two verses we have contemplated have reminded us that our faith brings with it the freedom from earning our salvation...our salvation is given to us by God's grace through faith, nothing that we can boast about of ourselves, but what we should be celebrating and yelling from the rooftops proclaiming our wonderful and merciful God.

Isaac Watts penned these beautiful words centuries ago...his proclamation of God's mercy toward him:

Lord, we confess our numerous faults,

How great our guilt has been.

Foolish and vain were all our thoughts,

And all our lives were sin.

'Tis not by works of righteousness

Which our own hands have done;

But we are saved by sovereign grace

Abounding through His Son.

Raised from the dead we live anew;

And, justified by grace,

We shall appear in glory too,

And see our Father's face.

So have you gotten Ephesians 2:8-9 down?  Say them with me:  "For it is by grace you are saved, through faith; and this is not from yourselves, it is God's gift.  Not by works, so that no one can boast."

We'll add Ephesians 2:10 this week, but first let's review:

The Holy Spirit's Role in our Lives (6)
Ephesians 5:18 "And don't get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit."
Ephesians 5:19 "Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music in to the Lord in your hearts."
Ephesians 5:20 "Giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ."
Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."
2 Timothy 1:14 "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you...guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us."

Joy: God's Kind of Happiness (12)
Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
Philippians 4:5 "Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near."
Philippians 4:6 "Do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."
Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
James 1:2 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."
James 1:3-4 "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you will be mature and complete, lacking nothing."
1 Thessalonians 5:16 "Rejoice always."
1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray constantly."
1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."


Faith: Trusting God and Resting in His Word (12)
Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift."
Ephesians 2:9 "Not by works, so that no one can boast."

So what does Ephesians 2:10 say?  Does it say, "So take it easy, you can now spend your lives doing whatever you wish, indulging yourself in any way you like"?  Not quite...even though Paul just told us that our salvation is a gift to us from God due to his abundant grace, listen to his very next words....-

Ephesians 2:10  - "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." NIV

Wait a minute!  I thought we were talking about resting!  Now we're told we are expected to work!  Which is it?  LOVE the way this verse reads in The Message...

No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

Our salvation is bestowed to us without any work on our part --- without any merit.  It is not a reward for our wonderful works, rather God's response to our cry of faith in Him.  But once we have received God's mercy, once He has reached out His hand and pulled us from the drowning sea of sin, we come to an understanding of just exactly what our purpose is on this earth.  We are now truly His children, placed here to do His good works that He ascribes to us each day.  And we do not want to miss out on participating with our Father in the wonderful things that He is doing.  He will give us the strength - He will give us the ability - and He will give us the resources to do whatever it is that He asks of us.