Many of us believes that we can earn our salvation by doing good works. Yan din ang aking paniniwala noon. I believed that I can go to heaven because I do this or I did that. I told to myself, “Magpapakabait ako para mapunta ako sa langit.” Todo effort pa ako minsan sa paggawa ng mabuti. But you know what? I was shocked when I read the Word of God.
“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – it is not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works. Lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Ang sabi sa Bible, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith” it is plain and simple! As you can see, the word “saved” here is past tense. Naligtas tayo sa pamamagitan ng “grace” ni God na tinanggap natin sa pamamagitan ng pananampalataya. Hindi kasi natin maaaring ipagmalaki ang mga kaya nating gawin, una sa lahat, we are all sinners (Romans 3:23). We all lied, stolen anything irrespective of its value, hatred for other people, we used God’s name in vain, sinuway natin ang ating parents, and so on! The Bible says “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). Hindi ka man nagnanakaw pero nagsisinungaling ka, guilty ka pa rin. Romans 3:10, “No one is righteous, not even one.”
Consider this illustration; Imagine you are in a court room, you are guilty of lying, stealing or you breaks the law. The judge says, “because you broke the law, makukulong ka habang buhay or give P100 million as your fine. Because you dont have enough money or wala kang pang piyansa, it is sure na makukulong ka habang buhay. But what if there is someone entered the court room and said to the judge, “Your honor, this is P100 million fine. I gave it all, I surrendered all dahil mahal ko itong nasasakdal!” Do you think makakalaya ka? Of course yes because someone has paid your fine!
That scenario is a picture of what God did two thousand years ago. We are all guilty of sins and deserves punishment. We’re all going to hell because of our sinfull nature. But God gave his only begotten Son (John 3:16) in the person of Jesus. He never lied, stolen anything, or commit any sins. He is the sinless lamb of God. And because of His love for us, he entered into this world and made himself as fine or sacrifice for our sins! Siya ang naging piyansa para dun sa mga kasalanan natin. At kapag hindi mo tinanggap ang piyansa, siyempre makukulong ka habang buhay! And that is the eternal damnation on Hell. We can escape from destruction if we recieve the fine (Jesus) through repentance and putting our faith in Him.
“He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)
By His grace and mercy kaya tayo ay naligtas. Gumagawa tayo ng mabuti hindi para maligtas, kaya tayo gumagawa ng mabuti kasi ligtas na tayo. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10)
Good works is only the result of our salvation. But we are saved by God’s work.
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