The greatest gifts come from the benevolence of grace.
“It is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith.” Ephesians 2:8 TEV.
My thoughts and comments marvel at “God’s extraordinary grace.”
Diligent people have an almost incurable work ethic, which comes with the assumption that the measure of reward correlates to your measure of effort. The belief that you will receive what you earn and get what you deserve seems inbred. But is it not true that sometimes you get more than you deserve while at other times you receive less than you earned? Paul observed, “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as a debt [owed].” Romans 4:4 NKJV.
Gratefulness seldom results from your own efforts and hard work; true and enduring gratefulness results from recognizing the unmerited grace that has been shown to you from God and others. “If by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace.” Romans 11:6 NKJV. The greatest gifts come from the benevolence of grace. You don’t earn grace; you simply, joyfully, and gratefully receive it.
“In our union with Christ Jesus, God raised us up with Him to rule with Him in the heavenly world. He did this to demonstrate for all time to come the extraordinary greatness of His grace in the love He showed us in Christ Jesus. For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift.” Read Ephesians 2:5-10 TEV. Grace is God’s initiative of your salvation; faith is your response in acceptance of His gift. See Romans 5:1-2 NIV. “For without faith it is impossible to please God, for He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 NIV.
The Apostle Paul marveled at what he could only describe as, “the extraordinary greatness of [God’s] grace,” whereby you and I have been saved by God’s grace. You and I could not deserve such an invaluable, indescribable gift nor could we ever earn it by our efforts. Paul recounts the shameful history of himself and ourselves, “spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sin . . destined to suffer God’s anger.” Ephesians 2:1-3 TEV. Paul then describes our indescribable God, “God’s mercy is so abundant and His love for us is so great . . He brought us to life with Christ. It is by God’s grace that you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5 TEV.
Neither your worthy achievements can negate your need for God’s grace nor can a shameful past remove you from the reach of His grace. Because of God’s love, we each require and receive His grace when we reach out in sincere faith to the Savior Who died for our sins. Don’t hesitate. If you need grace today, reach out in faith to Jesus. “He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25 NKJV.
Salvation, as are all gifts from God, is by extraordinary grace received in obedient faith. “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 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, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:4-7 NIV.
Today, I pray for you to embrace grace in its fullest measure.
Christian Communications 2016
facebook.com/everydaylife.allenrandolph