The Lure of Independence Today’s Scripture: Job 12:10 “In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” God’s grace assumes our sinfulness, guilt, and ill-deservedness—and it also assumes our weakness and inability. Just as grace is opposed to the pride of self-righteousness, so it is also opposed to the pride of self- sufficiency. The sin of self-sufficiency goes all the way back to the Fall in the Garden of Eden. Satan’s temptation of Eve was undoubtedly complex and many faceted. That is, it included what we would now consider a number of different temptations. But one of those facets was the temptation of self-sufficiency. Satan said to Eve, "you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). Mankind was created to be dependent upon God—physically: "In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28); and spiritually: Jesus said, "apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). God intended our dependence on him to be conscious and continuous, just as it was for Jesus with the Father: "The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. I can do nothing on my own" (John 5:19,30). But Satan tempted Eve to assert her autonomy and self-sufficiency. As G. C. Aalders said, "That ideal of sovereign independence, which had been presented to her by the serpent, lured her on, ‘and she took some [of the fruit] and ate it.’" Ever since the Fall, God has continually worked to cause his people to realize their utter dependence on him. He does this through bringing us to the point of human extremity where we have no place to turn but to him.

God’s Grace Today’s Scripture: John 6-8 He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. – Titus 3:5 All during my growing-up years, what little religious instruction I was given led me to believe that good works was the key to going to heaven. But through a series of events, I did something that turned my life upside-down, or maybe I should say right-side-up. I bought a Bible and read it from cover to cover, and God took hold of my heart. My wife and I gave our lives to Christ and vowed to follow Him all our days. My mother, although relieved to see me change my behavior, continued to believe that the real key to heaven was good works. One day I was in the kitchen at my parents’ home, reading John 6:28-29, and I came across these words, “Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent.'” I ran into the living room shouting, “Ma, Ma, look at this!” She read it, reread it, and believed it. From that moment on, she placed her faith in Jesus Christ. The person depending on good works never knows where he or she stands with God. How many good works are necessary? People who do not understand the grace of God will go to great lengths to try to please God. I met a lady in an oriental temple who had burned off her index finger to show God she would do anything to gain His favor. Christian, what a message we have for people burdened by their efforts to please God! Prayer Lord, thank You for Your grace in which I stand. Amen. To Ponder “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 2:8-9).