The Gift of Grace

I’ve been a Christian for over 50 years, so I have to admit that I don’t often think about the salvation side of God’s grace.  When I trusted God at the age of four to save me from the eternal death I was destined for because of my inherited sin nature, I had not yet acquired a long list of sins or any understanding of the shame and guilt that could have characterized my life if I had not chosen to follow God.  All but the first four years of my life has been wholly permeated by the concept of grace, so I struggle to understand what it would be like to live any part of life without it.  I have had to learn from others about the depths of God’s saving grace and the effects it can have on a life.  Adults who are new Christians always bring a refreshing dimension to my walk of faith because they have a perspective I have never experienced.

So today I’m looking a little closer at this aspect of God’s grace.  In order to understand how it works, we have to remember that all of God’s character traits operate in conjunction with each other: his grace, mercy, love, holiness, and righteousness are interconnected.  God’s mercy is the compassion that moved him to provide a Savior, and his love is the motivation behind everything he does toward man.  But grace couldn’t operate until God’s holiness and righteousness were satisfied by a sufficient answer to sin.  Grace rules out all human merit because no amount of human effort can provide a sufficient answer to sin (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Only God could satisfy the requirements created by his own character.  All we can do is admit our own insufficiency and accept his free gift of grace in providing a suitable sacrifice that covers every possibility of sin in our lives and bridges the gap between ourselves and a holy God.

Thinking this through again makes me feel like I need to celebrate!  Don’t let a day go by without thanking God for his wonderful gift of grace!