6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ Romans 10:6-10 (NASB) See verses 8-10 on the site.
We are still in January, but Easter is coming. Of all the markers we celebrate as Christians, Easter was the one I had the hardest time understanding when I was a small child. It seemed so wrapped up in chocolate bunnies and Easter baskets, Easter egg hunts, dressing up in new clothes for church, et cetera….
My mother tried to help me see the Biblical connection with our Lord’s Resurrection, but I failed to make sense of it until I was older. I saw it as a teen and young adult but did not really “get it” until God had mercy on me, a sinner, and resurrected me unto new life as a Christian.
Even so, when God took me through spiritual boot camp in 2004, I found through it that I had also made the mistake after my salvation of attempting to be pleasing to God via obedience by my own will power (law keeping and/or works righteousness). After all, the Christian culture I was part of back then was that salvation was some sort of reward for believing and that that believing was within one’s own faith and was manifest via one opening the heart to Christ or believing the Gospel by “making up one’s mind,” et cetera. It is no wonder that those in that form of Christianity struggle so with the true nature of Christ’s Resurrection and the true impact it has on believers. One of the key passages God opened up to me during that that He used to line me up with His Word, His Truth, the true purpose of the Gospel, and how it works was Ephesians 2:1-10. Here are vv 8-10.