But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 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.
Ephesians 2:4-9 (NIV)
This is one of those Lutheran passages - it talks about grace. I found it because I thought yesterday's was mis-referenced. So I looked up this one. Then I realized this was a different passage, but I really liked it.
This passage talks about the fact that it's God's grace, not the things we do that save us. The question then is if we can't do anything, why bother doing good deeds? The answer is that he gives us a new heart - one that wants to do good things. We help others not because we need to, but because we want to.
It's also good for our egos because it says, "No matter how awesome you are, you're not awesome enough." We all fall short, and that's a reminder that's good to have, along with the knowledge that he picks us up and carries us when we do fall short.
http://kairosverse.blogspot.com
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