Yesterday we talked about being saved by grace through faith. I felt a couple of things needed some clarification:

1) It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t save ourselves. God does. All we do is trust him to let him do it. But God does not force salvation upon us, either. He respects us that much.

Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. (Ephesians 2: 7-10, MSG)

Grace Song from Luther Opera came into my mind when I was contemplating all this. It’s based on 2 Cor 12:9-10 and Eph 2:8-9. See the powerful lyrics below.

The grace of God is surely all sufficient for me,
for the strength of God is
always perfect in weakness.
When I’m weak, then I am strong.
This is God´s great gift. Amen.

For by grace we have been saved
and even faith is not our own.
It’s the gift of God for us
and not the works that we have done.
Don’t let anybody boast of this, it’s God’s great gift. Amen.

This weakness with contentment I accept in myself,
all my hardships, pains and griefs
that lie deep within myself.
When I’m weak, then I am strong.
This is God’s great gift. Amen.

For by grace we have been saved
and even faith is not our own.
It’s the gift of God for us
and not the works that we have done.
Don’t let anybody boast of this, it’s God’s great gift. Amen.

 

2) God does not take his gift back

The other thing I wanted to be clear about is that God does not take his gift back. I wrote “Unbelief sends the gift back to the Giver”. It does not mean that God would shut us out when our faith wavers. No, God’s offer to save us stands. He is not going to take his gift back. No matter what we do or leave undone we are not out of God’s reach. But. People can refuse his gift. People can wander away. But God does not go away. He does not stop loving us. God does not stop calling us back to him. We can rest assured that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. His offer is valid until the end of the world. Praise the Lord!

God loves you more than you can ever know and he is waiting to shower grace and kindness upon you in Christ Jesus! Open your heart to receive and be changed according to God’s plans for you. Even they are better than you can imagine: Life and more life! Love and more love! Grace and more grace!

 

Gracious God,
Thank you for the gift of grace.
We are in awe of your love!
We open our hearts to receive.
Change us according to your will.
Dwell in us forever and ever.
We praise you forever and ever!
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: Do you feel secure in God’s love and grace?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim as you continue you to grow in grace!