GraceBaptist Church

If you read all the passages in the Bible that mention grace, you would find that many of them are talking about God giving us wisdom, guidance, and strength to live a godly life that is a blessing to our family, friends, and neighbors. This is a gift He gives us, not something we earn or deserve. Religiosity generally gets this backwards. It tries to do good in order to earn God’s favor. This can be a real drudgery. It leaves you in doubt as to whether you’ve done enough; and it’s what makes hypocrites so common.

God’s plan is to make us genuinely holy from the inside out, as we yield to His leading and enablement. It’s a merciful rescue that fills us with joy and gratitude.

For example, the great commandment calls for us to love the Lord supremely (Matt. 22:37), and the second commandment requires us to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matt. 22:39) These are not easy if you just grit your teeth and try, but God makes this life a reality for believers who walk with Him in simple, yielded trust. (Gal. 5:16)

Many of the rest of the passages that describe grace teach us of the Lord’s promise to give us eternal life in the first place. All of us begin life as broken people, insisting we go our own way independently of God. This self-mindedness is called pride, and it is the core sin we experience. Pride makes us so spiritually out-of-joint that it brings into our lives every other evil compulsion we feel.

This bad news is eclipsed by the good news of God’s grace. Forgiveness, cleansing, eternal life, and peace with God are all promised by God as a merciful gift. This is not a gift that is earned, but it must be received by individuals who will lay down the arms of their rebellion against God and trust Him to forgive based upon what Jesus did at Calvary. The Son of God took our guilt upon Himself and received the penalty that was due us. Because of His gift, we can go free, free from our guilt, free from sin’s power to drag us down.

You can make this choice right now, if you are willing. You don’t need to go to some special location or engage in some special ritual. Here are some passages that will show you that these things are true: John 3:16, Romans 6:23, John 5:24, 2 Corinthians 5:19–21.