Salvation Requires Humility

I don’t care if you founded churches, founded missions, had great ministries, gone to church all your life, read your Bible, prayed. If you’ve never walked in humility, you don’t know what it is to walk a worthy walk. That’s what God’s saying to us, because the worthy walk begins with all lowliness. You can’t even be saved without humility. In Matthew 18, Jesus said, Except you become as a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. And then he said you must humble yourself as this little child. You can’t even be a Christian unless you come in humility.

Until you come to God and say, I’m a sinner and I deserve nothing, and I’m worthy of nothing, you can’t be saved. You can’t go into God’s presence and say, God, it’s me. You know, the one you’ve heard so much about. Would you? Here’s my press release. I have my master’s degree, my doctor’s degree, and I have a Benevolent Merit award from the… See? No, you approach God in humility as a sinner. That’s the only way to be saved. There’s no other way into the family of God, and there’s no other way to walk once you’re in there.

That’s the only way. That’s the only standard. In Luke chapter 18, and I think it’s verse 13, I’ll read it to you, you don’t need to look it up, and the tax collector. Remember the publican and the sinner in the temple. Standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote on his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me as a sinner. I tell you, said Jesus, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be what? Exalted.

Humility is the standard of salvation. Now, let’s go back to Ephesians and look at the text itself. We know now that the Bible emphasizes humility as over against pride. And people, it isn’t easy in our society. Really it isn’t. You know, I see, I see, and I look at our society, and I see the temptation in my own life to just continually pile up stuff that exalts me, that lifts me up. You know, having a better this and a better house, or a better car, or better clothes, or more recognition, or fancier stuff of one kind or another to sort of put me up.

And then you get the mentality that starts looking down and despising people underneath you. It’s so wrong. And you forfeit God’s blessing. You don’t walk worthy. You’re not going to know his blessing. So he calls us to the worthy walk in verse one. He says, I beseech you. Really? I, the prisoner of the Lord, that you walk worthy of the vocation to which you’re called. That’s the call to the worthy walk. Now, this morning, I want to share with you the characteristics of the worthy walk. The characteristics of the worthy walk. And I can’t get into all of them.

There’s five of them here. We’re going to look at just one this morning. The characteristics of the worthy walk. Now, I want you to realize something as we look at this verse two and three. He says, now you’re going to walk worthy. And all of us are saying, OK, I want to walk worthy. How? He says, all right, here’s five ways, five keys, lowliness, meekness, long suffering for bearing love and unity. Those are the five characteristics of a worthy walk. And the goal of it all, verse three, is the unity of the spirit. Now, the most important thing Paul wants us to know is that God wants unity in the church.

He wants unity in the church. The unity of the believers is critical. The first three chapters of Ephesians emphasize it. We are one new man, one body, one family, one household, one habitation of the spirit. This tremendous emphasis that Jew and Gentile are one in Christ, we’re all one. Very important. And it’s important because of this. In John 17, verse 21 to 23, Jesus prayed to the Father and he prayed a very explicit prayer. This is what he said. Father, I pray that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.

Why? In order that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Verse 23, I in them, thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that thou hast sent me. In other words, the whole concept that Christ is the Son of God is wrapped up in the unity of the church. Do you see it? That as we are one, we manifest Christ to the world. Thank you for joining us in this exploration of salvation requires humility. Until next time, remember to keep the faith, stay strong and continue to shine your light in the world.

To hear these daily devotions of your daily bread, please log on to goddessgovernment.com. Goodbye, and may your faith always lead the way. [tr:trw].