Is your faith based on rules and requirements? Do you ever feel like God is keeping score of your good deeds and bad behavior? If so, you’ve missed the whole point of the gospel.
Jesus didn’t come to start a new religion where we try to earn our way into God’s good graces. He came to complete the work that only he could do – the work of forgiving our sins once and for all.
When Jesus said “it is finished” on the cross, he meant that the very purpose he came for had been accomplished. The debt had been paid in full. There was nothing we could ever do to add to what he had done.
- The Christian life is not about trying to be good enough to earn salvation. It is about realizing that Jesus has already done everything necessary to forgive our sins and give us eternal life.
- Theology and understanding the truth about what Jesus has done is essential. If we don’t have a firm foundation in theology, we will default to trying to perform and earn our salvation.
- Jesus fulfilled scripture and prophecies about the Messiah when he died on the cross. His death paid the full price for our sins, cancelling our debt and freeing us from condemnation.
- When Jesus said “it is finished” on the cross, he meant that the work of salvation was complete. Nothing more needs to be done for us to be forgiven and reconciled to God.
- We are now free to live by grace and gratitude, not rules and guilt. We do not need to add anything to what Jesus has done to secure our salvation.
- The proper response to what Jesus has done for us is to surrender our lives to him and obey him out of love, not guilt or duty.
The good news is that nothing needs to be added to what Christ has done for you. You cannot undo his finished work. So stop trying to earn your salvation through rituals and rules.
Instead, live a life of freedom – freedom from guilt, freedom from performing, freedom to simply love and follow Jesus. Let his grace transform you from the inside out.
Don’t wait another day to rest in what Jesus has already accomplished for you. Surrender your life to him today, knowing that it is finished – the work of your salvation is complete through faith in him alone.