For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God—not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8–10
I owe Tim Damm a debt of gratitude. I am confident that he has forgotten our conversation from ages long past, but it is a significant factor in who I am today.
We were fifth-grade classmates when Tim was sharing his latest Sunday School knowledge. It seems that getting to heaven, and avoiding hell, was dependent on keeping the Ten Commandments. He assured me that if I didn't keep the Commandments, I had a 'devil of the spirit' and was hell-bound.
I had trouble sleeping for some time after that conversation. How could I keep commands from God when I had no idea what they were? It only was worse once I found a copy of the Ten Commandments. I wasn't sure if I would ever sleep peacefully again.
How could God give such commandments, expect us to keep them perfectly enough to merit heaven? What kind of God would do such a thing? Did He get some perverse pleasure out of asking the impossible, then punishing us when we failed?
It was because of this hopelessness of ever saving myself that when Pr. Jolivette shared the Gospel in confirmation class; I could hardly believe it possible. Trying to save myself was beyond anyone's ability. The path of the Law had no hope within it.
"By grace, you have been saved, Jolly explained. God has done the work of salvation, and if that were not enough, He has given us the faith to trust this promise. The gates of heaven opened, and I could enter without fear.
I owe Tim a debt of gratitude, for if he had not preached the Law to me before I heard the Gospel, I might have labored under the foolish notion that my salvation was somehow dependent on my choices. I did not have to accept Jesus. He had already chosen me.