Ephesians Lesson 2/Day 7

My dad used to say that Christians had two bellybuttons. As a child, I’d lift my shirt and check for mine, and he’d laugh and explain again. When the Pharisee Nicodemus snuck away at night to see Jesus, Jesus told him that “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This is where my dad got the “two bellybuttons” idea. “You get your first bellybutton when you’re born from your mommy,” he’d remind me, “The second one is invisible, and you got that when you were born again in to Jesus’ family.” Before we were saved we were “children of wrath.” Now, we are “made alive in Christ” so we can walk “in a manner worthy of the Lord.” Our salvation is not the result of any of our efforts or acts of service we do. It’s true and important to remember that, as believers, we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works”—to help and serve others. So, while there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, God’s will is that our salvation will result in being like Him – masterpiece makers. We are saved not merely for our own benefit but to serve Christ and build up the church (Ephesians 4:12). In this way we are most like Christ. Our righteous acts do not produce salvation...not at all! Our good works are the evidence of our salvation (James 1:22; 2:14–26).

In the end, we must recognize that even our righteous acts come as a result of God within us, not of ourselves. On our own, our “righteousness” is simply self-righteousness, and vain, hypocritical religion produces nothing more than “filthy rags.” Instead of counting our good deeds as if we were placing chips on a scale to outweigh our bad, we should toss out the scale, thank God there is no scale, and that Jesus fulfilled all the requirements to be part of God’s family. It’s now up to us to accept that free gift of grace by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.

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