I'm saved by grace
Nothing else. Not my works, not my faith. Not my ability to go to church when I don't want to, or my ability to pray when I really don't feel like it. Not my love for anybody whom I meet or have only heard about.
It's like I've just been struck by lightning you know. I've heard the gospel so many times, but is it now that I am only truely understanding it? I am saved by grace, nothing else! I used to think that of course, but I also, contradictorily, believed that we had to try our hardest to follow God and not sin, otherwise we were not saved.
How much of my sin did Jesus die for exactly? If I believe that I have to try hard to get to heaven, then he can't have died for all my sins, and if that is the case, then what guarantee do I have of my salvation? I don't have any. Of course Jesus died for all my sins, past, present and future!
Its like I've just realised, that my works, and my faith, are a result of God's infinite grace! I was completely dead to sin, nothing in myself desires God, the only reason I can come to God is because he has extended his grace toward me. Me "being a better christian" doesn't make me better in God's sight. Jesus died for all my sins, how can I be any closer to God? Sure I can understand him better, and I yearn to do that, but can God accept me any more? Of course not. Grace truely is a gift from God, given freely, without any payment in any way from us, there is not a single thing that we have done on earth which has made God give this to us.
I guess I'm just writing this down because it's like it's just dawned on me. It's an amazing thing this gospel, I'm sure that without God's grace I'd be a terrible sinner, hold on, I am still a terrible sinner, sometimes I don't see how God can still love me despite it all, but I guess that is part of the miracle of grace.
May God bless you all.
6 comments:
Interesting (and insightful) post. It puts me in mind of my own situation -- your inspiration (that God's grace is given freely, and that our acts are thus immaterial to our salvation) is almost the exact opposite of the inspiration I was given! Let me explain -- I hope you don't mind me getting a little personal.
I have long felt uncomfortable and conflicted when I ask God for the strength to resist temptation and stay close to Him; conflicted because there are some (sinful) things that I feel that I ought to do as a well-rounded citizen of the world.
I've long believed in the adage about not judging a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes, so I feel it would be negligent on my part to avoid certain opportunities. I do not want to be the old man condemning those he does not understand.
When a something like that came up in the past, I felt wrong about asking the Lord to keep me away from it; but also wrong in asking Him to lead me into anything that wasn't "above board". I normally wound up asking, simply, that I do the "right thing". No specifics. I'm sure that He knows what short-term, long-term and eternal-term effects that any given course of action might have, and so I submit myself to His judgement.
When one of these situations came up recently, I realised recently that I was effectively asking the Almighty for the spiritual equivalent of a "hall pass"; I was asking to be exempt from the rules. I realised how arrogant this was, and I felt ashamed. Still, it took a great deal of resolve to accept that I could not carry on that way and that I must take responsibility of avoiding and resisting temptation to sin.
If I had read your post last week instead of a "Grace To You" sermon transcript I stumbled upon, I would have found that your expression encouraging my existing belief -- that in balancing sin, intention is more important than deed.
As it stands, though, I cannot identify with your message today. Perhaps one day I will come to realise that salvation is not a "carrot and stick" matter, but one entirely of love. I think that there is much study, and much reflection, between that day and today.
Yeah, i know what you mean. I've spent the best part of the last ten years trying to make it up to God when there is no need for that.
We are saved by grace, the gift of God GIVEN.
But that doesn't mean that i rest on my laurels with a free ticket to heaven, I now understand my job as a christian to preach the gospel & grace of God in order to bring as many people with me when i meet th Great Almighty.
Thanks for the inspirational blog.
Can you clarify what the other guy was on about?
I think, and I'm not sure, but he feels like to be a well rounded person, that he has to sin, he has to experience what everybody has to make any judgements.
I guess that's a hard issue, if we're freely given grace, then why not sin? It does say in the bible we will know a christian by his works, but what that means, well, works are in NO WAY required for salvation, but if God is truley working in your life, then you WILL show works. Does that make sense?
Also remember, that we all have the power to say no to sin, it's just the desire we lack.
Good blog we are all saved by grace PRAISE GOD. I believe when we truely experience grace it frees us from both Legalism and Liberalism.
Good blog we are all saved by grace PRAISE GOD. I believe when we truely experience grace it frees us from both Legalism and Liberalism.
I'm Saved By Faith, very good blog and Andrew Brown very good comment but just moments before I read this blog, I asked God a question. I said God I'm confused. Are we saved by grace or by works? I said I'm confused because your word said that we are saved by grace and not works lest any man should boast, HOWEVER it also says in your word that many shall come to you at judgement time and you shall say to them when I was hungry you never fed me, when I was lonely you never visited me and so forth. Well God if we are saved by grace then why look at our works at judgement time? This is the question I asked just before I saw this blog and Praise God he answered my question through you Andrew when you said,"but if God is truley working in your life, then you WILL show works. Does that make sense?
I guess there are more than one ways that God can speak to us.
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