Does being a member of a church or attending worship equate to salvation? Does being saved require going to church ‘x’ times a month? Paul writes that we are justified (or made right with God) only by our faith. Yet in our human nature we often go to the question, “Am I good enough?” Am I good enough to be loved by God? Am I good enough to attend church? Am I good enough to find happiness? Am I good enough too…. Yes, yes, yes, and YES!!!
We are put into good standing in our relationship with God becuase of what we believe, not because of what we do. When we come to trust in God with our lives, job, money, family, time… then we are living in a right relationship with God. Do works or what we do matter? Of course. Later in the Bibe we read that faith without works is dead. As we grow in our relationship with God, we come to see that His great love for us calls us to share that love with the hurting and broken world in which we live. Why? So that they too can come to know His saving love.
We cannot buy or earn righteousness or a right relationship with God. We don’t get saved through membership or attendance, but by living and walking daily with God. When our lives are guided by a trust and belief in God, then we come to live by faith.