“Salvation means much more than forgiveness. We do not simply have our slate wiped clean; we also become perfect in God’s sight. And we stay perfect in God’s sight.” [Timothy Keller]
I feel like I’ve been hit with a ton of bricks this week by my time spent in the Word each day. Every day, as I continue to read through Galatians and a book I’m reading with it, the Gospel message is there. Prior to now, I would have given up in continuing to read the book and would have breezed through the rest of Galatians because, as much as I hate to admit, the Gospel bored me. But I feel like over the past few weeks, I have been given fresh eyes and a new perspective of what the Gospel really means.
Before this week, even though I had heard the Gospel and how it wasn’t about anything that I have or could ever do, I included it in my life as some performance based idea. Just like everything else I was taught in life. I mean, I performed well in school so I would earn good grades. I performed well at work so I would get that next promotion. At times I even felt like I performed in friendships trying to earn a deeper relationship with that person in return. I performed well as a daughter so I would earn the trust and respect from my parents. So if that’s what I had always been ‘trained’ to do, why wouldn’t I treat the Gospel the same way?
But in reading Galatians, I’ve come to understand and it has finally clicked that it’s not a performance in the least bit. The Gospel message says:
[Salvation = Jesus + nothing else]
Jesus is the replacement for my sin and he offers His grace instead. So I no longer have to work for the approval of God. Because when I accept that gift of His grace, God no longer sees me; He only sees Jesus – His perfect and holy son. He doesn’t see the ways that I’ve blown it. He doesn’t see the mistakes. Or the disappointment in not living up to a specific standard. I don’t have to perform. I just have to accept and live in God’s grace. Like my pastor said this morning at church, “exchange God’s disapproval of me for God’s approval of Christ.” And I don’t have to feel like I need to start over in a new round with God every time I’ve blown it. Accept grace. And believe in the truth that God’s view of me never changes from being perfect. And it never will.
