Ephesians 2 verse 8 and 9:{NLT}
V 8: "God saved you by His Grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God".
V9: "Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it".
Salvation is an amazing word because it is a gift from God to be accepted and entered into.
There is also a Scripture verse that says 'Faith' is a gift, for example: Romans 12 V 3: {NLT}:
"Because of the privilege and authority". God has given me, I give each of you this warning. Don't think you are better then you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us".
Repentance is also a gift of God. One example concerns the Gentile Cornelius and his household coming to the Lord in Acts 11 verse 1 to 18: After Peter had finished describing to the Jews what had happened, they were astounded, and said "What! The God has granted repentance unto life to the Gentiles!"
Our repentance and saving faith are not things {works} we can contribute to God for salvation, and are not result of effort {works}we can do to earn our Salvation. Salvation is God given. His Grace alone enables us to recognize ourselves as helpless, hopeless sinners and to trust Christ alone to save us.
God will always answer a heart's cry, whether it be desperation in hating what we are doing and cannot stop doing, or whether it be, say despair in the emptiness of life, or whether it be earnestly seeking what is the reality of truth and righteousness, and whether this involves the existence of a God.
The Gift of Salvation cost God a huge price. He gave His Only Begotten Son Jesus. Jesus was tortured and died a horrible death on the cross for us. It is a gift. There is no other way for our sins to be taken off us. We can not earn it, we are not just good enough, and we don't deserve it. It is God's Love Gift of Grace. Grace means undeserved, unmerited favor. Our Salvation involves coming humbly. empty handed to God, and taking what He gives us We have nothing to give Him.
God Bless.
OFJ.
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