Friend, I’m sure you agree with me that most human interactions are transactional in nature. We exchange value for value and favor for favor. I do something for you, and you do something for me in return. Often, whether openly acknowledged or not, this creates a cycle of indebtedness to one another. I am moved to do something for you because you recently did something for me. I may become unwilling to do more for you because you have not recently returned my favors, so I decide to withhold future favors from you until the reciprocal exchange resumes. In such a dynamic, it is difficult to prove that my motive for engaging with you at all is my love for you rather than my hope for some selfish gain.
I’m writing to tell you, and I want you to believe it, that unlike you, me, and others who look at our fellow man from a perspective of earning and deserving, Jesus always considers us with unconditional love. How wonderful that he does not withhold himself from us until we are obedient and worthy. This is most true when you sincerely ask yourself what can you give him that is fair repayment for what he has done for you? The honest answer is a big nothing. You, as am I, are a sinner who always falls short of the glory of God. Try as you might to live a life without sin, you will always be broken and unworthy. And just as you did not create yourself, neither can you fix yourself. That is why grace is such a wonderful thing. Grace, unmerited favor, is the expression of Christ’s unconditional love for you. It is when, even if you are doing the very things you should not do or refuse to do the things that are asked of you, you continue to be loved by your Savior and receive his blessings, though you do not deserve even one. Christ’s abundant grace should be most reassuring to you because it means you are not required to merit his favor. Indeed, you cannot earn your salvation. Instead, grace is an unmerited gift of divine favor that first results in your salvation and then continues to operate in you to bring about the righteous nature that God desires in you.
Friend, grace is getting what you don’t deserve and not getting what you do deserve. It is grace that saved you, grace that sustains you, and grace that keeps you from falling. You nor I would be saved if grace were not undeserved favor and were it not a constant in the heart and nature of God. More than this, as though salvation alone is not enough, grace is also the holy influence that works within you to change your prideful thoughts of merit after achievement to thoughts of thanksgiving and praise for what you have received, that you have been saved for an eternal life where you will enjoy infinitely more than you deserve. Think on this, and often, for your right relationship with God depends on you seeing grace for what it is, a priceless gift from him. I pray your awareness and appreciation of grace will stir up gratitude and obedience, resulting in a life that brings increasing pleasure and glory to the Lord. Amen.
