(By : Dessy Ariadna – Stand To Jesus Writing Team)
Which category do you fall into? Are you a person who fully believes in the grace of JESUS Christ and His sacrifice on the cross or are you a person who relies on your own strength?
The Apostle Paul is an example of someone who believes completely in the grace and sacrifice of JESUS Christ on the cross, while the scribes and Pharisees are examples of people who rely on their own strength and truth, and do not need JESUS.
2 Timothy 1:9 (IMB) He who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not based on our works, but based on His purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ JESUS before the foundation of the world.
Luke 18:11-12 (IMB) The Pharisee stood up and prayed: O God, I thank You, because I am not like other people who are greedy, dishonest, adulterers, or like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of everything I earn.
The Apostle Paul realized that he was saved not because of his piety, and his actions, he realized that the salvation he obtained was purely a gift (grace) of the Lord JESUS Christ alone, without his intervention as a human being. The scribes and Pharisees took pride in their deeds and even looked down on others and considered unclean those who were not the same as them.
Isaiah 64:6 (IMB) But we have all become like unclean people, and all our righteousness is like unclean rags. We all wither like leaves, and our evil is like the blowing wind.
People who rely on their strength to obtain righteousness and salvation stumble upon the truth of God’s words in Isaiah 64:6. None of human actions can make them justified, everyone needs JESUS, but not everyone wants to come to JESUS.
