Tag: unmerited grace

Ephesians 2:8-9 ” 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.”

It is simply by God’s unearned and unmerited favor that we have the chance to be saved.  It’s by His absolute free expression of His loving kindness towards us that we may come into a right relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ.  This divine gift…the gift of eternal life is not to be taken lightly, or with a casualness that doesn’t fully take into account the terrible price Jesus Christ paid for our freedom.  The gift of salvation can not be bought with a price…for what Jesus did for mankind was priceless.

II Peter 3:18 ” But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

But grow in grace and knowledge…what does that exactly mean to you?  Is your life a shining example of Christ’s love within?  Do you exhibit the same virtues and excellence you have on Sunday at Church as in the Board Room on Monday?  Does the holiness you strive for follow you everywhere, or just to certain places?  Growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord is a process…hopefully, an ongoing, ever-growing process…so that when people look at you…they just see Jesus.

Psalm 73: 21-22 ” When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.”

The Psalmist realized that anguish and despair changes us…that bitter suffering and grief makes us numb, irrational, and at times irresponsible for word or deed…even when addressing God.  The Psalmist freely admitted that he was far from the person he usually was.  And we, like the Lord, must remember then that grief effects everyone and that the same grace and mercy  He extends, we must also.

Acts 15:11 “No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved just as they are.”

The most wondrous thing about coming to Jesus is that we don’t have to do anything but accept His unearned and unmerited grace. We don’t have to get to a certain point of “goodness” in our lives, or do a certain amount of “good works” before He’ll accept us…No, rather, as the old familiar hymn goes, “Just as I am, I come.” It is truly by grace we have been saved…the only thing we have to do is say…Yes.