No one spoke of God’s grace more than Paul. He accredited everything that he had and everything that he was to the grace of God.  As Christians, we should all feel the same way that Paul did.  Without God’s unmerited favor, we would be nothing.  Religiously speaking, there is not a single thing that we have that we have earned or that we deserve.  We should all say with Paul, “But by the grace of God I am what I am…” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Sadly, there is much confusion about the subject of grace.  This is due to two extreme positions:  (1) Some believe that we are saved without any action on man’s part.  (2) Some believe that we are saved by good works alone.  Both of these positions are scripturally wrong and lead to unhealthy thinking.

The first position leads to a denial of God’s plan of salvation, causing one to fail to keep simple commandments from God and deny clearly stated instructions.  For example, Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized is saved…”  Since this demands action on man’s part, those who hold the position that we are saved without any action on our part, have to deny the words of Jesus.

The second position leads to living in fear, causing those who hold the position to doubt whether or not they are really saved.  It robs Christians of the true joy that comes from having the hope of heaven.  So, then, what does the Bible teach about being saved by grace?

By God’s grace, we are given what we do not deserve, and not given what we do deserve.  We deserve the wrath of God, but instead, by the grace of God, we shall escape it (Romans 5:9).  We do not deserve to be saved, but because of the grace of God, we are (Ephesians 2:8-9).  We are saved because God did for us what we could not do for ourselves.  He provided for us a sacrifice for our sins.

Under the law of Moses, the people had to offer animal sacrifices for sin (Leviticus 1:3).  Those sacrifices, however, could not take away sins (Heb. 10:4, 11).  It was man who sinned against God, and it was a man who had to pay the price for sin.  The problem was no man qualified to be such a sacrifice.  Since God only accepts sacrifices that are without spot or blemish, and since all men have sinned, man was left without an acceptable sacrifice, that is, until God, by His grace, provided one.  God sent His Son to be our propitiation so that we could be redeemed (Romans 3:21-25).  He provided a body for His Son for our sanctification (Hebrews 10:5-10).  We did not deserve it, but, by His grace, our heavenly Father provided the sacrifice we needed anyway, without which we could not be saved.

Providing the Lamb was not enough.  For mankind to be saved, blood had to be shed.  There is a poster that can be seen in some doctors’ offices that says, “There is no substitute for blood.”  What grace it took for God to watch His Son be tortured on the cross!  Can you imagine a father watching his son die when he has the ability to stop it?  That is what God did for us because there was no other way for our sins to be removed.  We needed the blood of His Son and God knew it.  So, He watched as His Son was cruelly treated by man, hung on a tree, and suffered an agonizing death, without which we would be lost forever.

Why are we saved by grace?  It is not because there is nothing for us to do.  After all, Noah was saved by grace, even though he had to build the ark.  Jericho was given to the Israelites by grace, even though they had to march around the city.  Naaman was cleansed by grace, even though he had to dip seven times in the Jordan.  In all those cases, God did for man what he could not do for himself.  We are saved by grace, even though we must obey the gospel (Romans 1:16), for God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.