Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Let’s talk about the key to justification.

Today’s scripture, Romans 5:1-2 (KJV) says…
[1] Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: [2] by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Consider…
Over the years I have been taught that our salvation is a result of grace and the finished work of Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV) underscores that truth, when it says…
[8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] not of works, lest any man should boast.

Yet, there may be a slight misunderstanding about nothing being required of us to be saved. You see Paul was making the point that we cannot earn salvation. However, we absolutely have a responsibility for our salvation.

Reading verse 8 closely we see that we’re saved by grace through faith. Grace is on God, but faith is on us.

So while it is true salvation is a gift, if left unopened it just remains a mystery to the recipient.

Every state in the U.S. has an unclaimed property fund overflowing with refunds from companies, due to customers that overpaid or earned rewards, but have been unable to be reach.

Unfortunately in the world there are also many people that don’t realize or haven’t claimed their free gift of salvation.

With the unclaimed property, all the recipient is required to do to claim their monies is provide identification and confirmation that they are the one entitled to the unclaimed monies.

Similarly, the identification required to claim salvation is believing and confessing Jesus is Lord. Romans 10:9-10 (NIV) explains…
[9] If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [10] For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Notice, to be saved you must confess and believe to claim salvation.

Romans 6:23 (NLT) clarifies God’s free gift, saves us from death to life. It says…
[23] For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thus by believing and confessing unto salvation, we’re also claiming God’s free gift of eternal life.

That connection prompted the Holy Spirit to emphasize the fact that we play a pivotal role in our eternity. He used Jesus’ words in John 3:18-21 (NLT)…
[18] “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. [19] And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. [20] All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. [21] But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

Notice, God’s judgement is based on a person believing in Jesus. God doesn’t send people to hell, He just just allows His free gift of eternal life to go unclaimed.

Yet another scripture, Romans 1:16-17 (NLT), states…
[16] For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. [17] This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Here again we see that our being made right in God’s sight starts and finishes with our faith.

So the next time you hear someone declare salvation is free or by God’s grace, be sure to point out it can only be claimed by those who confess and believe Jesus Christ is Lord.

Today’s Song is…
Do You Know Jesus

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)