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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:8-10

Read: Ephesians 2:8-10
Listen: Ephesians 2

TODAY’S MESSAGE

The Jewish elders get to Jesus and plead on behalf of the centurion. It’s an understandable argument, “Save his servant; he deserves it.” The centurion feels differently. He doesn’t think he deserves Jesus to come under his roof and doesn’t even consider himself worthy to go to Jesus himself. He doesn’t point to anything he has done to make his case. Instead, he relies on the grace of Christ.

The centurion’s appeal reminds us of the words of the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus. In today’s verse, Paul talks about salvation and tells his readers that they are saved by grace. They can’t do anything to earn salvation because it is a free gift from God.

If we misunderstand this, we might think following Jesus is about obeying a lot of rules and doing the right things. But this way of thinking leaves us confused, discouraged or prideful. The good news is following Christ isn’t about doing the right things or earning our way to God. As Pastor Jeff Manion has said, God doesn’t love us because WE are good. He doesn’t forgive us or accept us because WE are good. He loves, accepts and forgives us because HE is good. Salvation is a gift from God based on the goodness of Jesus Christ.

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

If you have never given your life to Christ and accepted his free gift of salvation, today is a great day to do that. Pray the following prayer, “God, I recognize I am a sinner and can never do enough to earn or deserve your love. Thank you for offering me salvation as a free gift not because I am good, but because you are good. I give my life to you and invite you to be the Lord of my life.” If you accepted Christ’s gift of salvation for the first time, please let us know at btw@adabible.org. We would love to help you take the next step in your faith journey.

2023 SPIRITUAL PRACTICES

Join us all of 2023 developing a different spiritual practice each month. SPIRITUAL PRACTICES are intentional regular activities to deepen our relationship with God and mold us to be more like Jesus.

June is WORSHIP. Keep track of our spiritual practices at beyondtheweekend.org/spiritualpractices.

Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.