Ephesians 2:1-10
God's Great Gift of 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[a] 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, 5 made 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 is Perfect, and so He cannot tolerate sin...God is Perfectly just, so He must judge man, when He sins...And this creates a logjam...How can man be confronted for his sins by a Perfect Judge for his sins and be with a Perfect God who never sins...In the Eyes of the Perfect Judge (and this is my belief), He must have seen that there cannot be punishment without mercy, or sin without forgiveness...For we know He desires mercy, over sacrifice...And so we did and have learned that there was One Infinite Sacrifice, done with Great Mercy...And we also learn that God granted Jesus authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those who have faith in Him...Now this is eternal life: that we may know God, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent...
God's Grace is one of His Greatest Gifts to us...And through His Son we are able to receive His Grace...And Grace came at a huge price, which was the death of His Son...How Merciful, How forgiving is this?...At Calvary we see the Great Connection between man's injustice behavior and the need for man's forgiveness...Man wants justice but he cannot be just...Man wants forgiveness of his sins, but he lacks the power to be able to forgive his own sins...So Calvary broke up the logjam of man needing forgiveness of our sins and the True and Perfect Justice that God always provides...For it is by the Great Grace we are saved, by faith in Jesus and the One Who sent Him to earth...This gift is not from ourselves, but it is the Great Infinite Gift from God— it is not by any works or deeds we have done, so that no one can boast...For we are God’s handiwork, and when we have faith in the One God sent to earth and the One who sent Him, we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works (for we want to do good works when we have faith), which God has prepared for us to do...
Author Philip Yancey writes these thoughts on God's Infinite Grace...“Jesus proclaimed unmistakably that God's law is so perfect and absolute that no one can achieve righteousness...Yet God's Grace is so great that we do not have to.”...For Jesus, the person was more important than any category or label.”...“A man who admits no guilt can accept no forgiveness.”...“Truly it is an evil to be full of faults,” said Pascal, “but it is a still greater evil to be full of them, and to be unwilling to recognize them.”...“It seems so unfair, to forgive injustice...I am caught between forgiveness and justice.”...“Forgiveness may be unfair—it is, by definition—but at least it provides a way to halt the juggernaut of retribution.”...“Forgiveness is an act of faith.”...“By forgiving, I release my own right to get even and leave all issues of fairness for God to work out.”...“Calvary broke up the logjam between justice and forgiveness...By accepting onto His Innocent Self all the severe demands of justice, Jesus broke forever the chain of ungrace.”...“We live in an atmosphere choked with the fumes of ungrace...Grace comes from outside, as a gift and not an achievement.”...“Jesus gave us these stories about grace in order to call us to step completely outside our tit-for-tat world of ungrace and enter into God’s realm of Infinite Grace.”...
Yancey adds that “Grace is Christianity’s best gift to the world, a spiritual nova in our midst exerting a force stronger than vengeance, stronger than racism, stronger than hate.”...“Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God LOVE us less—no amount of racism or pride or pornography or adultery or even murder...Grace means that God already LOVES us as much as an Infinite God can possibly LOVE.”...“God took a great risk by announcing forgiveness in advance, and the scandal of grace involves a transfer of that risk to us.”...“The Gospel of Grace begins and ends with forgiveness...And people write songs with titles like “Amazing Grace” for one reason: Grace is the only force in the universe powerful enough to break the chains that enslave generations...Grace alone melts ungrace.”...