We were all equally separated from Christ...

While praying for the hockey team, I have really started to read through Scripture passages that focus specifically on God’s grace through salvation. One of the first places I went was Ephesians 2. Beth and I had gone through this passage last year, and it really opened my eyes to some hard Scriptural truths. Going back through these passages, different things started to stand out to me. I was able to see God’s sovereignty, His grace, and His mercy. But what struck me this time in particular was the obvious message that we were once all sinners. ALL of us. We were ALL separated from God, and in His mercy, he rescued us from our sin. And this is “not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Paul asserts the same thing in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). But God has washed us clean; he has redeemed us by the blood of Christ. He is the only thing that was able to save us from remaining dead in our sin. That is so powerful.

But I still find it so easy to think that He can only save certain people. He is only a God that is sovereign and can save those that already kind of follow Biblical principles. But, when it comes to people who indulge in sin- He is powerless to save them. THAT IS SO WRONG! God can save ANYONE. As David so eloquently said on Thursday, “We were all equally separated from Christ.” We are either saved by grace, or separated from God (Romans 8:9-11). There’s no middle ground; one person isn’t more separated from God than another. So why would I doubt God’s ability to save anyone? He was able to save me, and I was just as lost as anybody. Ephesians tells us to recall how we were once separated from Christ, “having no hope and without God in the world” (vs. 12) “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (vs. 13). “So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” (vs. 19).

God is sovereign. He is the only one that can lead someone to salvation (Romans 8:31-35, Ephesians 2:8). And He is able to lead anyone to salvation. When He calls, He calls effectively. Yet I continue to doubt His ability. As I pray for the hockey team, I am discouraged as I hear about the sin that they struggle with. I doubt God’s ability to save them. I fear that they are just too sinful for God to redeem. How ridiculous is that? The God of the universe, who died for the sins of the world- not able to save? That isn’t possible! So why do I have such a hard time accepting His ability to show grace? After God has shown me endless mercy and redemption, I still struggle to believe that He can do anything. What seems impossible (to us) is possible with God. I need to start living like that, praying like that. How powerful would prayer be if we really believed God could do half the stuff we ask Him to do?

Please pray that God would enable me to pray boldly and approach His throne with confidence (Hebrews 4:16), that I would not lose heart (2 Corinthians 4:1, 16), but that I would pray for the hockey team with persistence and in faith (Luke 18:1-8, Matthew 8:13, 9:22,29). I pray that the hockey team would come to know the Lord, and that He would save them from their sin and “delight to show them mercy” (Micah 7:18).