"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." John 1:12-13
Today's post is part two from yesterday, for in today's verse we also see a pattern similar to the one we saw yesterday in John 3:16-17.
Yesterday's pattern showed us God's gift of salvation. The pattern we see in the verse above shows the part we play.
We receive.
We believe.
We become.
God gives us salvation freely by grace, but He doesn't force it on us. God is interested in covenant relationships. We enter into that covenant when we accept and receive the gift of salvation He offers us through His Son. We receive that gift by believing in Jesus' name. Why is this so important? Because, as John points out throughout his gospel, believing in Jesus' name means we believe in everything He is, in everything He's done, and everything about Him. We believe He is who God says He is, and we believe in the power of His name.
God freely gives us the gift of His Son, but He calls on us to respond and receive that gift by believing that Jesus is who He says He is, the One who saves. In receiving and believing we then become children of God. We are adopted into His family. Our adoption papers say "by grace".
"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
By grace - God's kindness, unmerited favor and forgiving love - we are saved. We believe and we receive the gift of God - His Son.
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