A Christian Prospective

A Christian prospective

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  
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.” 
Ephesians 2:1-10
Here for the none-Christian is a brief explanation of what Christians believe.
Prior to our accepting Christ as our LORD and Saviour we are separated from God by our sin.  Paul here makes it very clear that we were essentially dead to God because of our sin.
Sin is falling short of Gods ideals for our life. We are imperfect beings and thus to fall short of what God wants for us.
The apostle Paul makes it clear that we cannot work our way to heaven, that it is by faith we are saved not by our works.  That it is God’s grace that saves us.  His gift to us is His Son Christ Jesus who died for our sins.
Many people today read these words of Ephesians two and fail to understand that while God offers the gift, we must accept the gift for it to be of any use to us.
It’s like a starving man being brought into a large banquet hall and told here is all the food you could ever wish for.  It’s free.  The food, however, is no good to the man if he refuses to eat it.
We must make a conscious decision to accept Christ as our LORD and Saviour. To believe that He is the Son of God and that He died for our sins.  We must admit to God that we are a sinner and ask His forgiveness and allow Christ to come into our lives.  Once we do this Christ can begin to work in us and with us.
This is the message Christians have for the world.
Something to think about
All to many people say they are Christians by virtue of the fact they were born into a catholic or protestant church going family. Or the fact they were christened as a child.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Becoming a Christian is an act of faith taken when the individual is old enough to understand what they are doing.
C.S. Lewis I think put what Christians believe best when he wrote,
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” 
                          C.S. Lewis
 Think about it