007: By grace you have been saved
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. - Ephesians 2.8-9
I love Paul’s ability to clearly and concisely state huge truths. I’m also annoyed by it because he is so much better at it than I am. These two verses are heavy with theology yet Paul makes this such an easily understandable two sentences to read.
Paul says in the first sentence that we are saved through our faith, which is only available to us because of God’s grace. This is the Gospel…in one sentence. I’m astonished every time Paul does this, and yes, he does it often. Just think about what Paul is explaining here. God in his grace, sees the doom of our own creation, a doom that we rightly deserve, and a doom that is the direct result of rebelling against him, and decides that he will offer us a way out of it, with no strings attached. Instead we must simply confess with our lips and believe in our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God. That’s our faith.
And just to make the point clear, because both God and Paul understand how humans can twist things to make themselves look better, the second sentence serves to make it painfully obvious that anyone who has received this saving faith through the grace of God did not accomplish it by their own effort. This saving faith is a gift from God, a gift only he could give, a gift we could never earn if we worked every second of every day for eternity.
Thanksgiving was just a few days ago and Christmas is just a few weeks away. This is the time of year where it is hard not to think about what you are thankful for and what gifts you would like to give and receive. It may be a cheesy segue but I hope we can each consider the greatness of the gift that God has for us and thank him for it. We didn’t earn it, we don’t deserve it but God is there with open arms waiting for us to receive his grace, his forgiveness, and his love so that we can come to faith in him and be with him forever.