SALVATION: THE FREE GIFT, NOT OF YOUR WORKS. THE MORE YOU TRY, THE MORE YOU DIE.

This is the shortest sermon you will ever read, and that’s exactly the point.

Listen carefully: you cannot earn salvation.

Not by being “good enough.”

Not by going to church every Sunday.

Not by apologizing over and over.

Not by crossing every “t” on your spiritual résumé.

If salvation could be earned, Jesus died for nothing.

Paul said it straight:

“You are saved by grace through faith, it is the gift of God, not of works, so nobody gets to brag.”

Yet here you are, still trying to impress God with your effort, your sacrifices, your “good behavior.”

As if the King of Glory is flipping through your accomplishments, saying,

“Oh wow, you did three good deeds this week, come on in!”

Stop it.

That’s pride. That’s religion. That’s your flesh talking.

God didn’t give you a ladder to climb. He gave you a cross to die on and an empty tomb to rise from.

When you try to earn what God already gave freely, you’re saying:

“Thanks for the blood, Jesus, but let me add something to finish the job.”

Newsflash: that’s not faith. That’s arrogance.

The more you try to save yourself, the more you die inside.

Because you’re carrying a weight only the cross could lift.

You’re sweating for a door that’s already open.

Salvation isn’t a paycheck.

It’s a gift.

It costs you nothing.

It cost Him everything.

The Gospel is not:

“Do better. Try harder. Earn it.”

The Gospel is:

“IT. IS. FINISHED.”

Finished before you were born.

Finished before your first sin.

Finished before your first prayer.

You don’t earn salvation. You receive it.

You don’t climb to God. He came down to you.

And here’s the best part:

The moment you stop trying to earn it, the moment you stop performing, the moment you quit pretending to be your own savior

THAT’S when you start to LIVE.

Grace doesn’t make you lazy.

It makes you free.

Free to love God without fear.

Free to obey from joy, not obligation.

Free to live righteously because you WANT to, not because you’re afraid of losing points.

Salvation is not a contract.

It’s not a reward system.

It’s a gift.

Blood-bought. Heaven-sealed.

Delivered by the hands of a Savior who didn’t wait for you to get it together.

So stop trying.

Start trusting.

The more you try, the more you die.

The more you trust, the more you LIVE.