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According to the labels, the secret of good barbecue is the sauce you put on it. But what is God’s secret for changing guilty people into people who are fit for God’s presence? The Apostle Paul gives us the secret in his letter to the Ephesians 1. He writes, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.” According to Paul, the secret is this: God takes believing sinners and unites them to His Son. And because His Son is acceptable to God since His Son is perfect, God counts us as perfectly acceptable to Himself. Human minds cannot fully grasp all that God does for us when we accept Jesus the Christ as our Savior. Still, it compels us to love Him with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
