Saved by grace

This is a wonderful truth with which we are so familiar. No doubt we can quote 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.' We rejoice in the wonderful free gift of salvation and eternal life that God gave us through Jesus' death and resurrection.  We know we can do nothing to earn it - it comes to us by grace. It just has to be received by faith. All of our sins, guilt and shame was taken away at the cross. Hallelujah!

Yet for many of us, though we agree with all I have written, there is a thread running through our lives of trying to add to our salvation through good works.  There seems to be this underlying thread that secretly believes that if we have done something 'good' God will be extra pleased with us and that if we have done something bad God will temporarily withdraw his divine favour from our lives. Worse still we make one another feel bad when they make mistakes. 

The truth is that God's love and favour towards us never changes - and that is a truth that is very hard to grasp.  Because we withdraw our love and approval even temporarily when others upset us or hurt us, we  have taken on board the lie that God does the same.  It is a wonderful truth that God is never disappointed by us.  He is never looking at us with a pained expression wishing we had done better. 

God is constantly working with us to draw us into being more like his wonderful son Jesus.  It is a life long process and he doesn't expect us to get it right first time.  He knows it will take time and every 'failure' on our part is a step nearer and a learning opportunity for us.  But God is totally committed to us on this journey and never turns his back on us till we sort our lives out. 

We know our good works can never earn salvation but nor can they impress God and make him extra pleased with us.  Let us rejoice in the truth that Jesus' work on the cross was complete and by grace - something that has cost us absolutely nothing - we have all of God's love and favour both now and for eternity.  

The Protestant work ethic is strong but its hold needs to be broken so the truth of 'saved by grace' can wrap us in the Father's arms of love and acceptance.