"Your faith has saved you" (Luke 7:50). We have been "saved by grace" (Ephesians 2:5). How are God's grace and our faith related to each other? Ephesians 2:8 tells us that we have been "saved by grace through faith." God's
grace comes first. Without his grace, reaching out to us, we could
never be saved. We cannot save ourselves. He must save us. What, then,
does it mean to say, "Your faith has saved you"? We must begin by
stating clearly what it does not mean. Faith doesn't say, "I can save
myself." By faith, we look away from ourselves. We look to Jesus, our
Saviour. We say, Jesus, I cannot save myself. You must save me." We
should never think of our faith as a way of achieving salvation for
ourselves, Faith looks to the God of grace and receives from him his
free gift of salvation.
"I am filled with the power of the Lord's Spirit" (Micah 3:8). This is what makes true ministry of God's Word so different from 'prophecy' that doesn't come from the Lord. Without the power of the Lord, there can be no Word from the Lord. We need the Word, and we need the power. "Let's go to the mountain of the Lord ...He will teach us His ways so that we may live by them" (Micah 4:2). We are taught by the Lord so that we might live for Him. Teaching and living - they belong together. We do not learn from God's Word so that we can amass more head-knowledge. We pray for a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ - a life-changing knowledge that gives us the strength that we need to live for the glory of God.
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