Jesus spoke of a man justified by his faith only: "Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other..." - (Luke18:10-14).
This tax collector was immediately forgiven by using three "Keys" that access the portals of Heaven:
1. Realization he was not worthy to be saved.
2. Admission and acknowledgement of this to both himself and God.
3. Asking the Lord for mercy and forgiveness.
All it took was for him to be saved was a simple act of faith. Nowhere in this parable does our Lord mention good works or sacrifices of any kind were also necessary for this man's redemption to be whole or complete.
No comments:
Post a Comment