Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
Ephesians 1:3-8 (NIV 1984)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV 1984)
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
John 6:36-38 (NIV 1984)
My faith is in Jesus Christ, my maker, my redeemer, my savior, my sustainer... While I was still in my sin, Christ died for me and purchased my salvation. In time, He revealed himself to me and by his grace I responded. He who began a good work in me will undoubtedly see it through to completion. I want to know Him more and more. I want to be conformed daily to his good, pleasing, and perfect will. Though I fall short and sin against him, if I confess my sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive me of my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:3-9 (NIV 1984)
I grew up in the Southern Baptist tradition. I must confess that I received a distorted view of God's "plan of salvation." At age 9 I walked the aisle during vacation Bible school and shook the preacher's hand and he prayed, and I was baptized and joined the church. I really didn't have any idea what I was doing. I was just doing what my friends were doing. I continued going to church regularly and when I was about 14 I was in doubts about my salvation and during a "revival" I walked the aisle again trying to get it right. I was "baptized" again and hoped I was saved now. Through the years, I did not have peace concerning my relationship with God. I was trying to do all the right things. I went to church, I didn't cuss, I didn't smoke, I didn't drink, I didn't go with girls that did. It was all about trying to please God by doing or not doing. I even "surrendered to preach."
After high school, I joined the army and ended up in Vietnam after about a half year of training. While in Vietnam, I met a guy that challenged me about my relationship with God. My response was, "I'm a baptist." Well, as it turned out, that was not a relationship with God.
After I returned home from Vietnam, God challenged me even more. He let me know that it was not all the things that I tried to do or not do that defined a relationship with him, but it was simply trusting fully in him to do the work of salvation in me. And at that point, I did simply that. I trusted God to save me through the work of Jesus. Through his obedience: sinless life, death, burial, and resurrection, he did that which I could not do.
From that point on, I have grown in my relationship to God. He granted me repentance and faith to begin a new life in Christ.
