Bible Verses to Explore: Ephesians 2:8 & 9
Suppose you do many, many good things. Do you believe God will let you go to heaven? How will you know when you’ve done enough good things?
To do enough good things to go to heaven we must live a perfect life. We must never tell a lie, never say a bad or mean word, never act from anger, never steal, never do an unkind act, never do anything that God says is sin. We must perfectly obey every command in the Bible!
Are you perfect?
No, you aren’t perfect and I’m not perfect.
If living a perfect life is what God expects can any of us ever get into heaven? No.
We don’t need to live a perfect life. We can’t live perfectly. Jesus lived perfectly for us. How did Jesus live a perfect life? He perfectly obeyed God! Then Jesus chose to accept the punishment for our disobedience. Jesus didn’t deserve our punishment, but He accepted our punishment because He loved us.
Today's Bible reading tells us, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast." You don’t have to be perfect; you just need to believe in Jesus. You just need to ask God's forgiveness for your imperfection and accept Jesus' perfection and His perfect sacrifice on the cross as the punishment for your sins and imperfection. Remember Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes 7:20, "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins." Ecclesiastes 7:20
Let’s pray together then you can download the study guide and spend some time along with God.
Heavenly Father, we know we’re not perfect, but we believe You are. Thank You for being perfect for Us through Jesus and His sinless life and flawless sacrifice on the cross. In Jesus' name. Amen.