“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” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

In his letters Paul often notes how easy it is for believers to drift away from this truth. There is something in human nature that likes to take credit for achievements. The old Smith-Barney commercial put it this way: “We make money the old fashioned way. We earn it.” That may be true for Smith-Barney but it isn’t true for anyone’s salvation. Our salvation is a gift based on our faith in Jesus and is available because of the undeserved grace of God.

A hurdle so many face before they believe is the instinctive feeling that they don’t deserve salvation. They feel the desperate urge to improve their lives before they approach God. We can’t do that and, thankfully, we don’t have to do that. He approached us as we were. He brought to us a gift—salvation—and we receive it by believing in Him. No one can boast in it, it is totally undeserved.

When we get to heaven we won’t be talking about our achievements. We won’t be high fiving and saying, “I did it.” We will be at His feet in worship saying, “He did it for me.” As Paul said of our salvation, “This is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”