Faith-righteousness

I don’t know what it is about late in the evening when I'm about to drift off to sleep after kissing Susan and turning out the light -- but in these moments I tend to be very open to what God wants to tell me. When I read some Scripture or a few paragraphs from one of the Christian books on my nightstand, I'm deeply impacted by what I read. It happened again last night.

As I've told you before, I'm working through a tremendous book titled Grace Works by Dudley Hall. It seemed like he knew exactly what has gone on in my heart the past few years when he wrote:

"There are thousands of well-meaning Christians who live each day in doubt over whether they are 'really saved.' The problem with many of them is they are focused on 'Did I do it right?' They are not sure they prayed the right prayer or prayed with enough sincerity. Or they wonder if they knew enough when they decided to follow Christ to make that decision properly."

O, wow. That has been my story too often -- questioning my salvation. Maybe it's my melancholy nature, my perfectionism, or some legalism that I've been taught. For whatever reason, I've wrestled with this issue far too much. And the balm to this gnawing struggle in my heart is when the Holy Spirit calls me to once more grasp beauty and power of the gospel. Maybe that's why I love verses like Eph. 2:8 so much - "saved by grace through faith, and not by our works..."

I loved this one section in Dudley's book so much that I read some of it to Susan right before we went to sleep. His words spoke deeply to both of our souls:

"The assurance of salvation comes from our confidence in God's faithfulness and our relationship with him, not from our confidence in doing things right.. 'Well then, how can I know I'm saved?' someone might ask. We can settle that right now. Are you trusting Jesus as your Savior and as Lord of your life? 'Yes, but I don't know if I prayed the right prayer or if I was sincere enough...or if I can even pinpoint when I accepted him as Savior.' That is not the issue. The issue with God is your relationship with him now.”

A relationship with Jesus is what gives us salvation, hope and assurance that we are His. It is what Hall calls “faith-righteousness, as opposed to self-righteousness.

Regardless of what any church tradition or preacher tells me, and in spite of my feelings or the onslaught of the enemy’s lies, I stand with Paul on this truth from God’s word:

I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.”

– Phil. 3:9, NLT

I had a great rest last night as I went to sleep meditating on this soul-liberating truth – that I am saved by grace through faith in Jesus…and that my salvation does not depend on me getting it all right. Through faith in Jesus and in Him alone, we can enjoy rest for our souls throughout our lives…and into eternity.

I’d like to hear your story. How did you come to rest in Christ by faith?

Saved by His marvelous grace,

Jim