GOD’S GRACE

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”  Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT

     God’s grace is His undeserved favor.  He offered us forgiveness for all our disobedience, which is counted as sin, without us having to do anything.  The power to believe in God is given by God, but a person must utilize that God-given power or it is of no benefit to them.  There is nothing we could ever do to earn our way into heaven. Sadly, some religions teach that it is your good works for the Lord that enables you to achieve heaven as your ultimate eternal destination. That teaching is a contradiction to what Paul clearly states above.

     Salvation is the forgiveness of sin; a universal truth that is available to all mankind. No good thing can earn us salvation..  You can’t earn it; you certainly cannot buy it because it’s not for sale. It is a gift.  Like any gift we are offered, we must take possession of it and then we must open it or it is of no use to us.  If it were merely our natural abilities that were required to achieve heaven then some would have an advantage over another. It applies to everyone and is available to everyone

     "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.” (Isaiah 42:8) Scripture is clear, God will not share glory with anyone or anything.  Neither man nor idol shall be given praise in God’s economy. God alone brought forgiveness into being as His remedy for man’s sin problem. God alone is the One who can administer it, for our sin is against Him.  Once we are forgiven our sin is cast into the sea of forgetfulness and remembered against us no more.  This doesn’t mean the Lord is forgetful, it means He chooses to not remember our sin against us ever again.  Don’t take God’s grace for granted. Live for God. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resources: Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible; The Asbury Bible Commentary.