Yet Another Year of Choices
By Barbara Dahlgren
We cannot come to Christ apart from God’s grace because we can’t save ourselves. If we could, we would not need a Savior. The gospel of Christ is all about grace.
Here’s the deal: We are saved by grace. (Ephesians 2:5-7) This grace is a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8) Forgiveness, redemption, and salvation come from this grace. (Ephesians 1:7) Jesus is full of grace and has given His grace to us. (John 1:14-16) While we were sinners, Christ extended this gift to us by dying for our sins. (Romans 5:6-8) Therefore, it is definitely something we did not earn or deserve.
God loves us! In fact, there is nothing we can do to make Him love us more, and there is nothing we can do that would make Him love us less. God’s grace is with us on our good days and on our bad days. One would think this concept would be liberating, but for centuries it has seemed to confuse Christians.
Most early Christians came out of a Jewish background, strongly rooted in works and traditions. They were familiar with the Law of Moses, but grace posed a problem. They were used to trying to earn a place in God’s kingdom by offering sacrifices, eating certain foods, and keeping certain rituals. And they were intent on having Gentile converts adhere to these Jewish traditions, too.
Paul warned the early church against abandoning grace for legalistic doctrines. (Galatians 1:5) Paul encouraged living by grace rather than by works. He exhorted all believers to seek to know Christ through a personal relationship with Him.
Legalism has a certain appeal because we get all the credit. We keep the law. We do it. With grace, God gets all the credit. He forgives. He pardons. He extends His hand to us. He gives us salvation. We don’t earn it; He freely gives it.
Our relationship with God should be based on love, not works. Even the Old Covenant Ten Commandments weren’t really based on love. We can honor our parents without loving them. Not coveting our neighbor’s stuff is not the same as loving our neighbor. Not having graven images or other gods before God is not the same as loving Him. Some might say, “But aren’t these ways of showing love?” Perhaps – but only if the motive stems from love. The New Covenant is all about loving God and our neighbors.
The same law versus grace struggle exists today. People are still trying to earn their way into heaven. They strive to stay close to God by performing certain religious deeds or rituals. Such practices are not necessarily wrong, but even David understood that God didn’t want sacrifices and offerings as much as a heart for Him. (Psalms 51:15-17)
Humans have a tendency to go to extremes. In the matter of grace, they either want to have a list of do’s and don’ts – still trying to earn salvation – or they think since salvation is guaranteed through grace, what they do doesn’t matter.
Does the fact that God has extended us grace and forgiven our sins mean He no longer cares about what we do? No, it doesn’t! Romans 6:1-2 makes that abundantly clear. God did not call us to live an unholy life. (1 Thessalonians 4:7) So living in grace doesn’t mean we just do what we want. This grace should bring forth good fruit in our lives through the relationship we experience with God. (Colossians 1:5-6)
God does not want to guilt us into a relationship with Him. He doesn’t want us to worship, pray, study, and meditate because we feel guilty. He wants us to do it because we love Him and appreciate His gift of grace. The law could not save us (works), so Jesus did what the law could not do. (Romans 8:1-6)
Consider this… God’s grace is always with us. Romans 5:1-2 tells us we stand in God’s grace. In other words, it is with us in our daily walk with him. Living by grace means to be totally dependent on God. God’s grace is our sufficiency. (2 Corinthians 3:5-6)
One final thought…
Grace is not something we do; it is something only God can do for us.
