![[Photo of a man kneeling at the altar]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/not_of_works.jpg)
| It is by grace you have been saved, through faithmdash;and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. |
| —Ephesians 2:8-9 |
This verse offers a very powerful lesson for us. Please let me share what I hope will serve as a helpful illustration:
More than forty years ago, and over a period of many years, I accumulated an enormous amount of credit card debt. Almost all of that debt came about because I seemed compelled to help others by spending money to obtain things they needed. I did this for my church and other organizations to which I belonged. I did it for my friends and even for people I did not know well. I realize now that it was a kind of mental aberration where I was trying to boost my self-esteem by showing generosity to others. The end result was that I sunk deeply into debt.
Over time, and through the amazing grace of God, I was able to work my way out of over $100,000 in credit card debt spread across nine credit cards. As you might imagine, the interest payments alone were quite daunting. Nevertheless, God mercifully provided increases in salary and, more importantly, a new attitude toward my spending that allowed me to reduce my debt to zero and maintain it there ever since.
In the midst of this herculian effort, a check arrived in the mail from someone I had known in the past, but whom I had not seen in nearly ten years. This individual was known to be quite wealthy. The letter accompanying the check indicated that he was sending me this money because he had felt prompted to share in the recent sale of his extensive property holdings. He remarked that he had always appreciated a seminar that I had led at his principal company—an event that had taken place nearly twenty years before.
As you might imagine, I was stunned by the generosity of this unexpected gift. Here was someone who had no idea whatsoever of the financial challenge that I was trying to work my way through. He was someone with whom I had always had a friendly relationship, but whom I would not have necessarily considered a close friend. Yet, he had responded to some prompting and sent me a substantial gift.
I certainly did not deserve this amazing gift. He had paid me quite well for the seminar that I had provided those many years ago. He had no reason whatsoever to reach out to me at this time. Still, here was an unexpected gift that would help me pay down my debt even faster than I had imagined.
I wrote a very grateful letter to this benefactor, thanking him for his kindness and trying to express how timely his unexpected gift had been. I also bowed my head and thanked God, for I believed that it was very likely that God had prompted this man to act so generously towards me.
In the verse at the beginning of this blog post, the Apostle Paul reminds the Christians in Ephesus—and us, as well—that the salvation we have received from God has come to us as a precious gift of God’s grace. We have received this gift by the faith that God the Holy Spirit has generated within us.
We had nothing whatsoever to do with this gift. We did not deserve it. We did not earn it. In fact, nothing that we had ever done, or ever would do, qualified us to receive this amazing gift from God. Our salvation from the just penalty for the sins that we had both inherited and committed has come to us purely because of God’s unfailing and undying love for us.
As we begin another day, we should clearly praise God for His great love. And, we should willingly, even eagerly, share what He has done for us that others around us will know what God can do for them, as well.
