Today, a person can earn points when they shop or travel, but to redeem those points requires following certain rules and regulations. People work hard to qualify because of the expected rewards. Sadly, some people think God operates the same way. Perhaps based on their experiences of earning rewards, they expect God to reward them based on their achievement. But that is not how the bible explains God’s way of accepting us. In Galatians Ch 4, here is how the Apostle Paul corrected this error. He wrote, “You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.” In an earlier text (Galatians 2:16) he wrote, “[We] know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” Now if anybody thinks salvation by faith frees us to live as we please without giving account fails to understand the nature of faith. Faith is totally relying on God’s amazing grace and submitting totally to Christ who is so worthy.
Dr. Melvin E. Banks, Sr. is the founder and chairman of UMI (Urban Ministries, Inc.). Under his direction, UMI has grown to be a leading publisher of Christian education resources for churches in the African American community. Read More
