notes

Meditation

[ Even believers need to be reminded to live loving, godly lives. The only difference now between "us" and "them" is Jesus. He saved us--not because of anything we did, but because of Who He is. The standard, the measuring rod, by which He evaluated us was not anything we had done, but rather He evaluated us according to His mercy. (Mercy triumphs over judgment - James 2:13). All of our deeds, even on our best day are just "filthy rags of righteousness" (Is 64:6)--worthy only of judgment and condemnation. But He saved us and cleansed us by the washing of His Holy Spirit. He made us new and gave us a new start. The Holy Spirit is the Agent by which we are made new. God is the Source of new life. We are His heirs. We need to be reminded to be intentional about walking by the Spirit; otherwise, we will revert to our default setting of ungodliness. We were powerless to save ourselves from condemnation, so God in His love, by His mercy, through His Spirit, with His grace saved us. He saved us by having the Holy Spirit wash us clean, by extending His grace through Jesus. He cleans us up, gives us a new beginning, renews the spirit within us by His Spirit. Why? So those who believe---His children---can stand before Him in their “Sunday best”, as if they had never wallowed in the mud! There is a place for our good deeds. They won’t save us, but they are the natural result for all who believe in Jesus. Our good deeds are evidence that we believe.