Some of you might wonder why I named my Blog Eph2810; some may not be surprised (especially people who know me) when they read my Blog.
You see, I am Bible believing Christian (Lutheran to be exact) and I didn’t understand the gift of God until 7 years ago when I started attending a Lutheran church here in Arizona and my son started his confirmation class. In Germany, till this day, in most of your Lutheran churches the “Law” is more preached than the “Gospel”; which is strange, since one of the biggest and influential reformers was Martin Luther.
At first I thought that I never paid attention in church when I was younger, but believe me I did; I noticed it again when I was in Germany last year and attended the church my mom & sister belong to.
So, here I am in confirmation class with my son (parents at my home congregation are strongly encouraged to attend the class with their children), I finally understood the grace of God…WOW – what a revelation that was to me… There it was – right in front of me and I never had noticed it before…
There is absolutely nothing I can do to earn my way to heaven. No matter how much I put in the offering plate (I do tithe though) or how much I am involved in church. God loves me anyway and it was by His grace that I am saved, not my merit, but His. No matter, how many times I stumble, He picks me up, dusts me off and says: “My grace is sufficient for you”. I am cleansed through the precious blood of Christ. Ah, what a comfort!
So, since that revelation, Ephesians 2:8-10 are my favorite Bible verses and always will be until I meet my Lord in person and can thank Him for what He has done for me…
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
(Eph 2:8-10 NIV © IBS)