Notice on a slight format change:

Except for July 2012, these are mostly a collection of current devotional notes.

July 2012 is a re-write of old quiet times. My second child was born Nov 11, 1987 with multiple birth defects. I've been re-reading my QT notes from that time in my life, and have included them here. They cover the time before the birth and the few years immediately after the birth. They are tagged "historical." I added new insights and labeled them: ((TODAY, dd mmm yy)).

Thursday, August 27, 2026

QT 8/27/2026 Eph 2:8–10, Unworthy but saved by faith

Ephesians 2:8–10 (ESV) —

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

NOTE: The first verse puts God's sovereignty and man's free will into one phrase -- "by grace you have been saved through faith." God's grace initiates everything but it still requires a free will response, faith. The phrase "And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God," does not negate faith or free will, it just emphasizes that faith is not works. The bible says repent and believe -- those are not works. No matter how you might intellectually argue that an action, even a mental action, is a work, it is not. It is a response to God's gift. You don't earn a birthday present. The present is not earned by your reaching out and unwrapping it. The present is freely given, and the present is freely received. If it is earned, then it is a wage and not a gift. Of wages, God says that the "wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." All the work was accomplished by God. Jesus lived a perfect life. He died on the cross for my sin. He rose again from the dead. God loved me first, not the other way around. God gave me a sensitive heart to hear the good news. God convinced me of my sin. I received the gift by faith and became a child of God.

 

PONDER:

  1. Do I realize that I was never good enough to be saved?
  2. Do I entertain stupid notions that I was a good person?

 

PRAYER: Father, I do know my sin and my unworthiness, but I also realize that I have lived a fairly innocent and even naïve life. I was not exposed to the depravity that many see. So what? I still know that I have sinned, and probably every day. I know that compared to your infinite holiness, my good deeds, my best deeds, are dirty rags in your eyes. I realize that truth. So I will not fool myself with a false sense of arrogance for my life. I'm just thankful to be in the kingdom and to see life as it truly is.

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