Morning Devotional

April 13, 2005
"The Woman at the Well" (Part 7) 
    by Don Emmitte

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Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." "But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, "and this is a very deep well. Where would you get this living water? And besides, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his cattle enjoyed?" Jesus replied, "People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water. But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life." "Please, sir," the woman said, "give me some of that water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to haul water." (John 4:10-15 NLT).

The Samaritan woman made the same initial mistake that many well-meaning people make when they are first introduced to Christ. She was trying to figure out how she could work her way into the Kingdom of God. She wanted to know what she could “do” to receive Living Water. Salvation is first and completely an act of God working on your behalf through the person of Jesus Christ. You can do nothing to receive salvation. You’re only action is to turn to Jesus Christ and accept His free gift of salvation.

The most common response I hear to why God would accept you into Heaven is usually a “works” statement. Some will say, “Well I try to be a good person.” Others say, “I was raised in the church.” Still others say, “I’m better than most people.” Those answers are not sufficient for salvation. The only answer to that question is a faith that is securely in the person of Jesus Christ. Salvation is Jesus plus nothing. The Apostle Paul expresses it very clearly:

God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Grace… it is central to the gospel. As a concise definition of grace, this serves well: simply stated, grace is unmerited favor. It is undeserved on the part of the recipient. It is unearned and unearnable. God does not owe it to anyone to stop justice from taking its course. He is not obligated to pity and pardon; if he does so it is an act done, as we say, “of his own free will,” and nobody forces his hand. “It depends not upon man’s will or exertion, but upon God’s mercy.”  Grace is free because it is self-originated and proceeds from the One who was free not to be gracious. Only when we realize that what decides each man’s destiny is whether or not God resolves to save him from his sin, and that this is a decision which God need not make in any single case, can we begin to grasp the biblical view of grace. If you are trusting in anything to get you to Heaven except Jesus, your trust will leave you thirsty!