"THE GIFT"

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the Gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10) Here is another reason that I know I am saved: God does not take back the Gift He has given!!! I know that we are not real familiar with that concept, because when we give gifts, we always will put something attached to it; something which we can take back, or something in which we will expect to receive from giving the gift. However, this is not so with God and the Gift He has given us in Jesus Christ! With God; His intention for us is to be have eternal life with Him, which is the source of His Gift; meaning that His Gift and His intention are all for our benefit. Does that mean He will not expect anything from us? No, I don't think it does; because, as we read the words of verse 10, we can see that "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works", which means that we are made into a habitable place for God's Spirit to dwell and to work. Now then; in the second part of this same verse, there is a word which comes close to 'try', and it is the word 'should': "which God hath before ordained the we 'should' walk in them". Why is this word should used, and not the word would? It is something called 'free will', that is why. There are two judgements that await man: The Great White Throne Judgement, which is for all those not written in the Lamb's Book of Life; the other is The Judgement Seat of Christ. All those not written in the Lamb's Book of Life, are those that were condemned already, and remain condemned because they have not received the Gift of God. While those that are written in the Lamb's Book of Life are to be judged at The Judgement Seat of Christ for those things which this word 'should' talks about in verse 10. And what things are these? These are the things which God has preordained for us to walk in; which are things that He has established within us to be, do, or say. Okay then; do we need to worry about our Salvation? No!!! God's Gift of eternal Life, is not negotiable; nor is it based upon our works; it is based upon His love for us, the death of His Son, and our receiving it; period! Does that mean I am free to do what I want? Well, in a way it does; because if I am His workmanship, then I will want to do those things which are pleasing to Him. Okay; and what if I don't want to do those things? Then I better check myself, because I 'could' be standing in the wrong line...