Not by Works

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast."
-Ephesians 2:8-9
      I went to a Chris Tomlin concert last Friday and I was really blessed through the experience. It was awesome to be in the presence of God and so many fellow Christians. In the middle of the concert, Louie Giglio gave a sermon on the parables of the lost sheep, coin and son. I've heard these stories countless times in my life, but every time I feel that I learn something new through the parables. One thing that really stuck out this time was the idea that our works do not save us.
      If you have been a Christian as long as I have, you've heard this many, many times. However, while hearing the message by Pastor Giglio I realized that this idea is easy to forget and hard to employ. In the story of the lost son or "Prodigal Son" (Luke 15:11-32), a son squanders his father's inheritance through wild living. This should have made his father despise him and reject him, but as the son approaches his father to repent and become a hired worker. The father sees him coming from a distance and runs to him, which was considered a disgrace for a man in those times. The father knew his son dishonored his family's name, but he chose to run and embrace his son. After the son is brought home, the father throws a party for him.
      Now this may sound like a feel-good story, but this parable probably confused and angered the listeners. Why would a father embrace his son after his son disgraced him? The other son in the story probably embodies the listeners well. The older son is infuriated at the party the father threw for his lost son, and demands an explanation. When the father tells him that his son was lost and now is found, was dead and is now alive, the older son responds in anger. The older son reminds the father that he was the one who slaved for the father and got nothing for it, but the younger son did shameful acts and got a party. While the older son's reaction is very understandable, it revealed that he did not know his father's heart.
      If I were to compare myself to either of the two sons, I would say I'm more like the older son. I do have similar qualities to the younger son, but I have been a Christian for so long I believe I reflect the older son's qualities more. The older son doesn't realize that it isn't by working hard that earns the father's love. The father already loves him and wants the best for him. The older son thinks that because he works hard, he deserves something from the father. What he doesn't know is that the father is always with him and all the older son had to do was ask for anything, and the father would have given it to him.
      While I know that people aren't saved through their works, I still try to earn God's approval through my works. I always question what I have to do in order to experience more of God, expecting some kind of work I have to do. What I forget is that I am already with the Father, and all I have to do is ask. It sounds very simple and unrealistic, but Louie Giglio said something very interesting in his message that struck me; "If you don't think you have a good testimony, you don't know the gospel". I always felt that my testimony was not too spectacular, so when I heard him say that it opened my eyes a little bit. The reason it is so "simple" to be with God and earn salvation is because it really wasn't simple at all. Christ had to suffer and die for us to be saved; He did all the work for us. He tore the veil that separated us from God, and that is why we only need faith to be saved. Christ did all the work that we could never do, so that we could live a life with Christ.
      As the verse in the very beginning of this post says, we have been saved by grace, not by our works. It is God who did everything to save us, so we just need to have faith and accept him. "I once was lost, but now I'm found; was blind but now I see (Amazing Grace)."
-Smart