Only through God's mercy

"he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" Titus 3:5

You can read: Titus 3:3-8

            I suppose that we often try to work to find favor from others.  This could be finding favor from our spouses, maybe even from our superiors at works, the clients we deal with and so on.  It may not be a conscious effort such as bringing a client to a good restaurant, it could be as simple as making a few tweaks in a deal so that everyone comes out a winner, but still, it kind of still falls into the category of trying to find favor.

            Maybe we also make efforts to try and find favor from God.  Maybe we think that when we do certain things, God would see and reward us.  One thing is for sure though, our salvation was not us trying to get God's favor, it was God, who reached out to us.

            Many people still don't quite understand what that means; God's mercy and grace.  We were the ones who were sinners, yet, God provided a way for us to be reconciled with him.  I recall the lyrics of one of my favorite songs by Philips, Craig and Dean, it's called Mercy Came Running.  The chorus goes like this:

Mercy came running, like a prisoner set free

Past all my failures, to the point of my needs

When the sin that I carried, was all I could see

When I could not reach mercy, mercy came running to me.

            God's mercy.  Your past.  Their meeting?  The cross of calvary.