"Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel," (2 Timothy 2:8, NIV)
"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 2:1, NIV)
Jesus, raised from the Dead—this is the good news. What I love about Paul is his unrelenting reliance on the grace of God. Paul emphasizes over and over again it is all about what Jesus (God in flesh) has done and will do. It has not about us, but a dependence on God alone.
We cannot earn our salvation, we cannot earn a relationship with the Holy God, but we can receive it when it is freely given. We cannot not even choose to accept it, unless God allows His Spirit in us to accept His grace (what? Does that mean I cannot choose to accept Jesus?) Well—basically yes. We cannot choose, because we are unholy. The gift of God is about what He does, not what we do. Therefore works righteousness is not just a matter of trying to do the right things to earn God’s approval and salvation—but belief righteousness is someone trying to believe in the right things to earn salvation.
Keep in mind—orthodoxy (right thinking) is important. But God’s grace is just that grace. We don’t suddenly believe the right beliefs—God works through us to accept him and confess Jesus with our lips. We are transformed by the Spirit to confess the Truth of Jesus Christ and receiving the Good News that Jesus is raised from the dead.
It is not about what we believe, but who resides in us and what he has done for us.
This doesn’t mean all beliefs are equal—far from it—there is only one Truth and He is Jesus. We just don’t earn our salvation by believing it, we are given it. That is grace!
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