In Ephesians 2:8-9: Paul says,“For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

And in his letter to Titus, in chapter 3, verse 5, Paul says again,  “ .  .  not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”   Did you get that?  It is not by any works, not by any deeds we have done, or by any special actions we have taken, that God saves us.  Particularly not by “works of righteousness”, meaning good things we’ve done to make God like us. 

God does not like us because we do good things; He likes us because He wants to have a relationship with us. He picked us out before the foundations of the earth to be His.  The only way we can be in right-standing with God, and have a relationship with Him, is by faith, by trusting in God’s grace, His unmerited favor.

And what does it mean, “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit”?  The washing of regeneration is what happened when Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins, and washed us clean with His blood.  The renewing of the Spirit comes when we trust God and He sends His own Holy Spirit into our own little hearts bringing His ETERNAL LIFE.

So don’t think that because you go to church every time the doors are open; or because you give money to the church and to the poor; or because you never break one single rule or law in your whole life; that God is going to like you.  That’s what the Pharisees thought; and look what Jesus thought about them.  You can read it for yourself, throughout the Gospels.

But here’s your saving grace: God loves you.  He loves you so much that He sent His Own Son to die FOR YOU, so that you could have HIS ETERNAL LIFE, starting right now!