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The greatest favour that God has shown us is to offer us salvation, when what we really deserve for our sins is fiery judgment. We cannot earn this salvation, no matter what religious rites we go through or however many good things we do. Salvation by grace is completely counter-intuitive to us because it is natural for us to think that since we get what we deserve, somehow we have to earn our way into heaven. But what happens then is, once the idea of grace gets accepted in our thinking, the Devil tries to hype it up, taking it to extreme ideas, and many preachers and listeners have fallen for this deception.

One false concept that is presented to us is that, since salvation is by grace and not by anything we do, therefore there is nothing we need to do from our side (Ep.2:8,9). Acknowledgement of our sins, confession and repentance all get thrown out as 'works'. We are told that we have to only believe in what Jesus has done on the cross, and count everything as having been already given to us by grace. Since Jesus has died once for all for all our sins, some preachers say that if we sin in the future, we don't have to confess it but believe that it was forgiven on the cross. Some extreme ones preach that even suggesting that we must receive this salvation by faith is wrong, because salvation is entirely a work of God. But faith is not a work, but a response to God's gracious offer.

Things are really simple to understand, if only we would think about it. It is an irrefutable fact that we have sinned, and we deserve judgment for it. Now in God's grace, He has taken our punishment on Himself (through His Son), and now that the righteous requirement of the law has been met, He is in a position to grant forgiveness and all other things associated with salvation to anyone who wants it. For us to want it, we must first realise we are sinners and we need salvation. That is when the fact that Jesus has taken our punishment and that God wants to forgive us and accept us as His children looks attractive to us. Once this good news grips our mind, it is only natural that we desire strongly to stop sinning in future. In this way, repentance is a part of putting our faith in Christ. (Can He forgive anyone who intends to go on sinning? Ps.130:4) When we go to God with this faith, He washes us clean with the blood of Jesus, adopts us as His children, and gives us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us to help us to walk in His ways.

All this is missing if someone only follows some mechanical steps or repeats a prayer without really meaning it. Then he is not born again, he does not have the Holy Spirit in him, and his life shows no transformation. What a grand deception!

It also happens to those who have been truly born again, that if they believe God will do everything for them and they do not take up their cross daily, deny themselves and follow Jesus, sanctification will not work for them. God works in us and we respond.

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