Read a Personal Reflection on the Sermon
by Jojo Pamplina

One can say that the sermon this Sunday was back to basics as it was about God’s plan of salvation for man. The sermon focused on the reading found in Ephesians 2:8-10. It says that “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Pastor Sonny Naz gave a new way of presenting the main verse which I believe is very familiar to every Christian believer. Instead of highlighting the differences of the words: Grace, Faith and “Not by works”, he emphasized that they are all imperative if one is to claim that he or she is indeed saved. The aforementioned words cannot be treated separately; on the contrary they compliment each other to become the formula of God’s perfect plan for man to be saved from His wrath brought by our sins.

By nature, we humans have a different view on certain things, depending on our cultural background, education and personal convictions. However, all Christians should have a common belief with regard to the gospel of man’s salvation. The bible is very clear and it teaches us that no man is worthy enough to gain salvation by his own merits, thus we need God’s grace to attain it. Through the faith that God gives us when we ask him to rule our life, we are able to follow him and this is manifested in our good works to God, our self and our fellowmen.

Nothing is required from man to be saved, as God gives it freely to everyone who believes. However, when one is saved, his life should bear fruit with good works as a testimony that God has indeed saved him by His grace.