FREE? HOW CAN IT BE?

 

 

OCTOBER 26, 2023

 

2 Corinthians 12:9

 

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

 

2 Timothy 1:9

 

9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time …”

 

Ephesians 2:8-9

 

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.

 

What was the Reformation, really? What Luther, Calvin and the other Reformers devoted themselves to was nothing less than a recovery mission. They were recovering the rich, powerful, message of free grace in Jesus, or as they put it “Grace Alone.”


Grace is a gift most of us do not know how to receive. We have been so flooded with the societal systems of give-and-get and work-and-earn that grace is a concept that is hard for us to grasp. Yet it is grace alone that has the power to transform lives. Grace alone has the power to bring freedom. By grace alone we are rescued.


Many of our most beloved Worship songs involve the word Grace: Amazing Grace, Grace Greater than All My Sin, Your Grace is Enough, This is Amazing Grace, and on and on. WHY? What is so compelling about Grace that we are driven to sing about it? Why do we ask God to tune our hearts to “sing His grace”? I believe it is because Grace meets a need that we cannot meet in any other way.


Just for a moment consider the thoughts and actions of the human heart, that we witness in our selves, and in others. Just follow a news feed for a day and you will read many stories of the distorted thoughts and actions of the human heart. Even the absolute best works we could do are “like filthy rags,” as Isaiah 64:6 puts it. This makes me think that if our salvation depended on the good, we do, no one would be set free from the “sins that so easily entangle” us. The Reformers found Paul’s words in Ephesians and elsewhere clear: our salvation cannot be bought or earned by us; as a gift it comes by grace alone.


Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “But [God] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” What great comfort we hear in these words of Paul. And what amazing love our heavenly Father has for us, that he would give his all sufficient grace to us.


Our God is one who comes to us, who stepped toward us, and lays down his life that we might live through him. In his grace, all God asks of us is to have a heart open, willing, and receptive to him.

Let us remember, that God’s grace is entirely sufficient for us. In fact, it is only in living by his grace that we are made strong. Your heavenly Father says, “My power is made perfect in weakness.” Christ demonstrated through his ministry that he works powerfully when people simply acknowledge their need of him. From the woman desperate to touch his garment, to Zacchaeus the tax collector, to the paralyzed man lowered through the ceiling, God works incredible miracles in the lives of those who come before him with all their brokenness and need. His power is made perfect in those who simply cry out to him in desperation. Grace ALONE. God’s unmerited favor to us through Jesus Christ.


Yes, “… it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

 

LET US PRAY

You know, Lord, how much I like to pay my own way. Help me remember and be continually amazed that salvation is a gift from you. I could never earn it. Amen.