shifting sand: jargon

if someone gave you a gift, you need to do something you make it yours. and that something is to receive it.

i usually explain salvation that way. it's a gift and once you accept it, it's yours.

we are saved by grace through faith, which is a gift.

but true acceptance of a gift requires that you use it.

when someone gives you a car and you don't ever drive it, it almost doesn't make any difference that you received it.

faith is a gift. not just salvation faith but sanctification faith as well.

you need to rely on the Lord Jesus Christ not just to be saved from the punishment of sin but to be saved from sin itself.

***
grace - getting what you don't deserve
faith - not passive believing, but full surrender to the lordship of Christ and total trust in God
salvation faith - faith that saves us from judgment
sanctification faith - faith that changes us into Christ-likeness
***

this post came about because of my struggle with spiritual disciplines such as having my quiet time, which is time spent seeking God through His Word and through prayer and reflecting on who He is and what He has done, is doing, and is capable of. and i have been failing in that struggle mainly because i tried to do it on my own strength instead of relying on His.

so i needed the reminder. more than you know. maybe more than you do. :)