God Never Plays Favorites
By Rick Warren
“[The promise] is not only for those who live under the law of Moses but for anyone who lives with faith like that of Abraham.” Romans 4:16 (NCV)
God doesn’t play favorites—regardless of your background, status, or sin. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a religious person, a formerly religious person, or if you have any religious background at all.
Romans 4:16 says, “[The promise] is not only for those who live under the law of Moses but for anyone who lives with faith like that of Abraham” (NCV). Who are these people who live under the Law of Moses? The Jews. The Jewish people were given the ways of God before anyone else.
Have you ever thought about why the Jews were called God’s chosen people? Does God love them more than he loves the rest of us? No. They were chosen for a purpose—to spread the message to everybody else that there is one true God. They were kind of like the missionaries to the rest of us.
Now God has taken that task and given it to the church, which includes everybody who puts their faith in Christ, regardless of their background. God says his salvation is available to anybody who opens up his or her heart in faith: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13 NIV). There are no quotas in heaven. The Bible doesn’t say only really good people will be saved if they call on the name of the Lord. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
The sad thing is many people still try to work their way into heaven, even though they know God offers his gift of grace. They think they can make themselves good enough—that they don’t need God’s gift of salvation through Christ.
You may have done some really nifty things in life. But if you think they’re going to get you into heaven, forget it. The only way any of us gets in is by receiving God’s gift of grace, which is available to every person.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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