We are saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus (Acts 15:11). What does this mean?
First of all it means that our salvation does not depend on anything else like our family heritage, church traditions, our good living or works of charity (see Ephesians 2:7–9). Our salvation is God-given as a gift. You can do nothing else but accept it thankfully.
So stop trying to get to heaven on your own efforts. For it is by grace alone!
The Bible also says that the law was given through Moses but grace came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). See the law showed us our absolute inability to live up to God’s holy standards.
But Jesus came to show us the forgiving love of God. He accepts us as we are and lives his life in us so that his grace enables us to live the way God wants us to live. That is why it is written, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another (John 1:16).”
So stop trying to gain acceptance with God. Instead just go to him as you are. Each time. Every single time. For it is by grace alone!
There are two ways in which the lesson on grace can be understood in practical life.
One, the grace of God is not a license to sin. We should never forget that God’s grace is not cheap; instead it cost God the blood of his Son Jesus on the cross.
Therefore remove all thoughts in your mind that grace allows you to live your life in sin and then say a prayer for forgiveness and be happy. No. That is not grace. Instead grace is God enabling you to defeat the power of sin in your life. Grace came to help us say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions (Titus 2:11, 12).
So trust God to help you resist the devil. Realise that it is he who gives you the victory over sin so that you are enabled to defeat the ever repeating cycle of doing things that you do not wish to do (Romans 7:14 to 25). For it is by grace alone.
Two, the grace of God is real in life’s difficulties. Each one of us will have a situation in life over which we struggle in prayer. We want that difficulty to be over. But sometimes God gives the answer he gave to Paul when he prayed thrice for his thorn in the flesh to be removed.
Jesus said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness”.
So trust God to bear the difficult situation in life confidently. For it is by grace alone!