Encore post: Crafters carefully select the materials for their works. They weigh their qualities, imagine what can be done with them, use their experience and training to prepare them for use. With great care and the confidence that comes from their skills honed by years of practice, they prepare, shape and fashion a quality product. The best are held up as works of art, masterpieces of their craft.
Even more so, God prepared us for salvation. By his grace and through the faith he gave us, he made it so. Our sins are forgiven, their power over us destroyed and we will rise from the grave on the last day — all for Christ’s sake. But there is more to God’s plan for us than these things. He has made us in Christ a new creation — people who want to do good works and do so as naturally as a good tree bears good fruit.
And God does even more for us. He prepares the good works for us do. He gave us his law, so we know what his will is for us. He places us in the right time and place, then urges us to do them. Because we love him, we follow through serving him and loving our neighbor. (Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 2:12-13) So it is that we are instruments in God’s hands, doing good, showing his mercy to others and bringing the Gospel to them.
See also: Everybody’s Good at Heart, Right? |So, Does God Hate Me?
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