Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Eternal Security and PIN Numbers

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Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation.  What did he discover about being made right with God?  If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about.  But that was not Gods way.  For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”    Romans 4:1-3 (NLT)
I got one of those very personal computer-generated letters from my bank a few weeks ago; they were changing my bank account access number, my PIN.  AGAIN! 
It seems security has become such a major issue these days the financial institutions have stopped suggesting you change your secret number every other month - now they change it and you have to use their number, like it or not!
What does that have to do with Abraham's faith...or mine, or yours? 
Abraham didn't trust in anything he possessed, or anything he had done or was born-into for his eternal security; Abraham relied entirely on God's kindness and mercy. 
There's no PIN number for faith.
That is so different than the way I approach the ATM.  As I put in my PIN number, my attitude is:  that's MY money in there, machine; I earned it and you hand it over right now!
Some of us in the church seem to think that kind of attitude is acceptable when approaching God. We imagine because we said the right prayer, attended church regularly and gone through the liturgy and rituals, that we're entitled to this blessing or that answer to prayer. 
We should always remember that faith is entirely dependent on the mercy and grace of our God through Jesus Christ.
But, that said, we should also remember that we serve a God of ultimate mercy and grace, Who is always willing to forgive and bless a humble and penitent heart.  This means we must be ready to lay-aside any claims we think we might have earned to eternal life, and rely entirely (like Abraham) on the UNmerited favor of God.

For You Today

If God, like your local bank, wanted you to choose a new PIN, what would it be?
May I suggest that if your answer to God is anything other than "grace" your faith would be bankrupt! 



[1] Title Image: by Brad & Sabrina, via Wikimedia Commons

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