Grace

“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.” Ephesians 2:8-9

The simple gospel. You don’t have to worry about being good enough, doing enough, or measuring up, you only have to receive the gift of God’s grace. It cost you nothing. It cost Him everything.

Grace–God’s gift to humanity. We can be saved from hell and saved for God. You can’t earn it by going to church, taking communion, keeping the Ten Commandments, getting baptized, getting confirmed, giving to charity, living by the “golden rule,” or any thing else other than receiving God’s free gift of grace. All these things are a not the means by which we are saved but they are gifts we get to enjoy and practice.

The beauty of God’s grace is that if we can’t earn our way into Heaven, then we can’t earn our way out of it. If our salvation did not come from us, then we can’t lose it! This is why we can rest in His grace. This is why we can trust in His grace. This is why we can live in His grace!

But God’s gift of grace is not meant to be hoarded, it’s meant to be given away. Are you showing grace to those around you? What about the person who doesn’t like you? What about the person who frustrates you? What about the person who is different than you? What about people who believe differently than you?

Remember, His grace is that He saves us despite our sin. His grace is that He loved us “while we were still sinners” so we can love others despite their sin even if they are still sinning.

Spend some time giving thanks to the Lord for His grace for your life despite your sin. Ask Him to reveal to you people in your life you are not showing grace to because of their sin. Confess your sin of not showing grace to others. Begin offering grace to everyone around you even if they don’t like you, frustrate you, are different than you, or even believe differently than you. Pray for their salvation that they will receive God’s free gift of grace.

I’ll end with one of my favorite old hymns…

"Grace, grace, God's grace.
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within.
Grace, grace, God's grace.
Grace that is greater than all our sin."