“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 should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Did you know that salvation has three tenses: past, present, and future?

• Past Tense – What God has done for sinners through the work of Jesus on the cross – Justification
• Present Tense – What God continues to do through the Holy Spirit to make us more like Christ – Sanctification
• Future Tense – What God will do at the second coming of Jesus when he comes to judge and rule – Glorification

Today, we will be looking at justification.

How are sinners saved?

By God’s grace. It is all God. God loves you. Not because you are lovable or because you are worthy. God loves you because he is God. God’s love for sinners has nothing to do with us. God’s love for sinners has everything to do with God and God’s character.

Jesus tells us in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son so that whosoever should believe in him will not perish but have everlasting life.”

This is all God. This is all grace. God loves you. Because God loves you, God made a plan for you to be changed from sinner to a child of God. This is all God’s doing.

All those who receive Jesus as Lord and Savior have been saved. This is a done deal. God did it all. Jesus paid it all. When we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior our status and standing before God is changed to sons and daughters of the King. We are justified by Christ through faith. We stand before God just as if we had never sinned because Jesus takes on our sin and receives the wrath of God’s anger and judgment on our behalf. But this is not the whole story. Jesus rose again from the dead so that those who received him as Lord and Savior rise with Christ as sons and daughters.

That’s justification. This is all God. This is all grace.

Just as we did nothing to deserve God’s grace, there is nothing we can do to make God forsake us. Once we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, we are God’s own.

If you’ve received Jesus as Lord and Savior, you need not ever doubt your standing before God. God is your Father.

This is the good news of salvation!

Rest and be encouraged by the truth of Justification. God has done it all. Jesus has paid it all.

Amen!

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

God takes forgiveness seriously.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:13).

Jesus, in expounding the need for forgiveness taught, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15).

God takes forgiveness seriously. Why? Why does forgiveness matter so much?

The reason why God calls us to forgive others is not because others deserve forgiveness but because you deserve peace. There is no peace without forgiveness. That is the way it is with us and God. And that is the way it is with us and others.

We forgive because forgiveness is the pathway to experiencing God’s peace.

Who do you need to forgive today? Who has been the stumbling block to you experiencing God’s peace?

Go to God and release them and yourself from turmoil and experience God’s peace by forgiving them.

“LORD you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago” (Isaiah 25:1).

There is not a single time in the Bible where God is not the object and the purpose of worship. There is not a single instance in the Bible where God worships something or someone. God is always the one being worshiped.

That makes sense, right? Of course that’s right. God is God after all.

I am glad we all agree on that.

Think about the last several times you went to worship at your home church. Think about your attitude and posture regarding God.

• Did we show up to worship doing our best to be found pleasing to God? Or did we show up thinking, “Ok, God. I’m giving you an hour. Impress me.”
• Did we prepare ourselves with our heart, soul, and mind to be ready to worship God and honor him in our worship? Or did we show up thinking, “I wonder if the sermon and the music will be any good?”

Who’s worshiping whom?

I think we all get that God is the one to be worshiped. But we have skewed and perverted the practice of worship because of our consumeristic attitudes.

It’s not that sermons and music shouldn’t be good. But that’s not why we gather to worship. The staff and I work hard to do our part to make sure that the sermons and the music is indeed good. We do everything we can to rid distractions from worship. But, ultimately, the reason why we gather to worship is simply because God is God and God is worthy of our worship. Because God is God, we show up so that we can be found pleasing to God.

Friends, God is God. God is the one to be worshiped. In every single instance in the Bible, God is always the object, the subject, the recipient of worship. We are to be found pleasing to God in worship.

So, here are some practical take aways:

• Show up in time. You wouldn’t make the President of the United States wait for you. Show proper respect. Show up in time.
• Show up with an expectant heart. After all, God is going to be present. And God wants to bless you and love you.
• Show and be present. Don’t be looking at your phone. Don’t check the scores. You are in worship service for one reason and one reason only: to worship God. So, do that. Be fully present. Worship God!