Ephesians 2:1-10
Saved by Grace
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
God's Grace is grace is unmerited mercy and favor that God gave to humanity by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross to save each and every man, woman, and child from their sins, thus securing man's eternal salvation from sin...Followers of Jesus believe that God is full of Grace (and Truth) and it is Jesus' death on the cross that helps us see the Grace of God...So God's Grace is a gift from God; a gift that allows everyone to have faith in God's Son to be forgiven for our sins...Since evil and sin take many forms we often forget the importance of remembering the Grace of God with the way the world is and all the evil around us...Grace is a spiritual Gift from God that involves His LOVE and His Mercy that is given to those who believe in the Father and Son even when we feel that we don't deserve it...
Priest and author Brennan Manning was once ask if he was letting God LOVE him...If I am asked whether I am finally letting God love me, just as I am, I would answer, 'No, but I'm trying....Manning writes, “Do you believe that the God of Jesus LOVES you beyond worthiness and unworthiness, beyond fidelity and infidelity—that He LOVES you in the morning sun and in the evening rain—that He LOVES you when your intellect denies it, your emotions refuse it, your whole being rejects it...Do you believe that God loves without condition or reservation and loves you this moment as you are and not as you should be.”...He continues, “God LOVES you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be.”...Manning further writes, “That in the end, my sin will never outweigh God’s LOVE...That the Prodigal can never outrun the Father...That I am not measured by the good I do but by the grace I accept...That being lost is a prerequisite to being found...That living a life of faith is not lived in the light, it is discovered in the dark...That not being a saint here on earth will not necessarily keep you from being in that number when the march begins.”...
Grace is wrote about by St. Paul, and he uses the term God's Grace as a Gift from God for followers and believers of Jesus and His Father to describe God's unconditional LOVE for everyone, whether or not we have behaved as He wants us to or expects us to...God's LOVE is full of Grace and Mercy and brings redemption for the sinner, and some followers of Jesus believe that salvation does not need to be earned through good works...St. Paul discussed God's Grace this way...In the past we were spiritually dead and did not think much of the Grace of God, because of our sins and the things we have done against God....This is the sin working in us...Man naturally sins...In the past our lives were full of those sins...We have lived the way the world lives, we follow earthly ways...God's Spirit and the Holy Spirit He sends us is now working in those who refuse to obey God, because of His Grace...In the past all of us lived like that, trying to please our sinful selves...We did all the things our bodies and minds wanted...We are carnal and lustful of the flesh and material things...We seek fame, fortune and wealth...Like everyone else in the world, we deserved to suffer God’s anger just because of the way we were...But God who is rich in Mercy, and LOVES us very much...We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against Him...But God gave us new life together with Jesus...We have been saved by God’s Grace...Yes, it is because we are a part of Jesus that God raised us from death and seated us together with Him in the heavenly places...God did this so that His kindness to us who belong and follow Jesus would clearly show for all times to come the amazing richness of His Grace...St. Paul means we have been saved by Grace because we believe and have faith...We did not save ourselves; it was and is a Gift from God...We are not saved by the things we have done or our deeds, so there is nothing to boast about....We are saved purely by God's Grace...God has made us what we are...In Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things He had already planned for us to do...