Do you know that when you are saved, God sees you very differently than you see yourself? God sees you through the blood of Jesus, pure and clean like you have never sinned before.
But what does it mean to be saved? God says that there is NO ONE RIGHTEOUS, and that ALL HAVE SINNED and fall short of the glory of God. But we are JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE THROUGH THE REDEMPTION THAT CAME THROUGH CHRIST JESUS. What does this mean? It means that God provided a way for us to be RIGHTEOUS and that “THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GOD COMES THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST TO ALL WHO BELIEVE” (Romans 3:22). In other words, if you place your faith in Jesus and believe that He died for your sins, and that He was raised from the dead the third day, YOU ARE SAVED.
When a person is saved, he or she gets in right standing with God. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). More than that, SALVATION comes with lots of benefits and blessings from God. Below are just few of these BLESSINGS (from Ephesians 1:3-14):
1. You are IN CHRIST
2. You are HOLY
3. You are BLAMELESS
4. You are BLESSED with every spiritual blessing in Christ
5. You are ADOPTED as his son or daughter
6. You are REDEEMED through the blood of Jesus
7. You are FORGIVEN of all your sins
8. You are CHOSEN
9. You are PREDESTINED according to God's plan
10. You are INCLUDED IN CHRIST
11. You are MARKED in Him with a SEAL, the promised HOLY SPIRIT
These are the scriptures that support the blessings mentioned above:
1., 2. and 3. “For He/God chose us IN HIM/CHRIST before the creation of the world to be HOLY and BLAMELESS in His sight” (Ephesians 1:4).
4. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has BLESSED US in the heavenly realms WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN CHRIST” (Ephesians 1:3).
5. “In love He predestined us to be ADOPTED AS HIS SONS THOUGH JESUS CHRIST in accordance with his pleasure and will- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves” (Ephesians 1:5-6).
6. and 7. “In Him/Christ we have REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:7-8).
8. and 9. “In Him/Christ we were also CHOSEN, having been PREDESTINED according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:11-12).
10. “And you also were INCLUDED IN CHRIST when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13).
11. “Having believed, you were MARKED IN HIM WITH A SEAL, THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession-to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
I will end here, with a prayer for ALL OF US (from Ephesians 1:17-19):
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give YOU the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that YOU may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of YOUR heart may be enlightened in order that YOU may know the hope to which He has called YOU, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for US who believe.”
LOVE TO ALL!!!
