I celebrated my 62nd birthday a few days ago. Maybe celebrated is the wrong word for it, but you know what I mean. Frankly, I'm feeling a bit surprised that I made it this far. Looking back, the path of my life is littered with lots of presumption, ignorance, and self-interest, along with many glaring instances of failing to put even the most obvious of two's with another two. I have fallen very short on God's scale. Sometimes I haven't even been very high on the human scale. And that's just the little bit I'm aware of. There should be no doubt that He's protected, forgiven, blessed, and carried me -- and you -- many more times and at much greater depth than any of us are aware. We just don't get it, at least not by much, and we see only a very small portion of how good He is to us.
And that makes me think of grace, the Saving Grace that results in our eternal salvation. What does it cost?
Without getting too high-falutin with the words and logic, here it is, as plain and simple as I can make it. By the way, High-Falutin = fancy, highbrow, self-important, and deliberately showy. You know, putting on airs. It comes from the Dutch word verlooten, for stilted. I do come from a long line of Dutchmen, so it's okay for me to use words like that, especially about myself.
Discussions about the cost of grace often end up in arguments about Faith and Works. Avoiding that for now, my conclusion is that Saving Grace costs me absolutely nothing and yet it costs me absolutely everything.
Can't have it both ways, you say? Follow along, I think you'll change your mind.
Here’s the scoop, straight and to the point. A little more explanation is at the end of this posting, but I want to make these two statements up front.
Saving Grace costs me absolutely nothing.
Saving Grace is a free gift of God. I cannot earn it, not even a little bit of it. I cannot trade my effort or works for it. I become a benficiary of this saving grace when I have faith that He is giving it through His Son and that what He gives is fully sufficient. And even my starter faith is somehow a gift from Him.The fact is that a human being cannot EVER save himself/herself, so Saving Grace MUST be a total gift. That's the only way.
Saving Grace costs me absolutely everything.
Saving Grace really is a free gift, but it's also the ultimate "gift that keeps on giving." If I have truly believed to the point of having saving Grace active in my life, three things take place: I have been transformed, I am being transformed, and I shall be transformed. All the way. And so shall you. When it's all said and done, nothing of the old will be left.
In Review
The first principle is that Saving Grace costs me absolutely nothing. Grace and works don't mix, can't mix, won't ever mix. If I work to receive something from God and conclude that because I've worked for it I've earned it and therefore God OWES ME, I couldn't be more wrong. The fact is that my fallen nature won’t allow me to fix myself and change my very essence, all of me, from the inside out. That's the kind of change that has to happen, and only God can do that. He changes the things we do by changing the very essence of what we are. I can't do that for myself.
God is never in debt to any man. If I get something from God and think He owed me because I earned it, I'm totally wrong. Whatever of His blessings come my way come because He is kind and gracious, not because I so-called "earned" them. I must recognize that I am not ever going to earn earn anything from God and cannot ever possibly earn anything from Him. Whatever good comes into my life comes because He is kind and gracious. He is NEVER in my debt.
Now let's look at the next part of my earlier statement: Saving Grace costs me absolutely everything. The second principle is that, Yes, He loves me just the way He finds me...but He loves me so much more that He refuses to leave me the way He finds me. (Thank you, Lord!) The same applies to you.
If I have true faith, I will be changed. Some all at once, some bit by bit over the years, and the rest when I pass from this world. If I'm not being changed, I don't have true, saving faith. If you're not being changed, you don't have true, saving faith, either. The sooner we can grasp this, the easier things become: He REFUSES to leave us the way He finds us. If you are truly His, you will be truly changed.
There are many Bible passages that reflect this aspect of the cost of grace. I'll limit the references to just a few.
And that makes me think of grace, the Saving Grace that results in our eternal salvation. What does it cost?
Without getting too high-falutin with the words and logic, here it is, as plain and simple as I can make it. By the way, High-Falutin = fancy, highbrow, self-important, and deliberately showy. You know, putting on airs. It comes from the Dutch word verlooten, for stilted. I do come from a long line of Dutchmen, so it's okay for me to use words like that, especially about myself.
Discussions about the cost of grace often end up in arguments about Faith and Works. Avoiding that for now, my conclusion is that Saving Grace costs me absolutely nothing and yet it costs me absolutely everything.
Can't have it both ways, you say? Follow along, I think you'll change your mind.
Here’s the scoop, straight and to the point. A little more explanation is at the end of this posting, but I want to make these two statements up front.
Saving Grace costs me absolutely nothing.
Saving Grace is a free gift of God. I cannot earn it, not even a little bit of it. I cannot trade my effort or works for it. I become a benficiary of this saving grace when I have faith that He is giving it through His Son and that what He gives is fully sufficient. And even my starter faith is somehow a gift from Him.The fact is that a human being cannot EVER save himself/herself, so Saving Grace MUST be a total gift. That's the only way.
Saving Grace costs me absolutely everything.
Saving Grace really is a free gift, but it's also the ultimate "gift that keeps on giving." If I have truly believed to the point of having saving Grace active in my life, three things take place: I have been transformed, I am being transformed, and I shall be transformed. All the way. And so shall you. When it's all said and done, nothing of the old will be left.
In Review
The first principle is that Saving Grace costs me absolutely nothing. Grace and works don't mix, can't mix, won't ever mix. If I work to receive something from God and conclude that because I've worked for it I've earned it and therefore God OWES ME, I couldn't be more wrong. The fact is that my fallen nature won’t allow me to fix myself and change my very essence, all of me, from the inside out. That's the kind of change that has to happen, and only God can do that. He changes the things we do by changing the very essence of what we are. I can't do that for myself.
God is never in debt to any man. If I get something from God and think He owed me because I earned it, I'm totally wrong. Whatever of His blessings come my way come because He is kind and gracious, not because I so-called "earned" them. I must recognize that I am not ever going to earn earn anything from God and cannot ever possibly earn anything from Him. Whatever good comes into my life comes because He is kind and gracious. He is NEVER in my debt.
Romans 4:4-5 - "Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness"
Romans 11:6 - "And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work."
Romans 8:31-32 (Amplified Bible) - "Whereas Israel, though ever in pursuit of a law [for the securing] of righteousness (right standing with God), actually did not succeed in fulfilling the Law. For what reason? Because [they pursued it] not through faith, relying [instead] on the merit of their works [they did not depend on faith but on what they could do]."
Romans 11:35 (Amplified Bible) - “Or who has first given God anything that he might be paid back or that he could claim a recompense?” (This is Paul quoting from Job 11:35)If you want to look up some more verses, try Romans 5:12-17 which also discusses the free gift of grace.
Now let's look at the next part of my earlier statement: Saving Grace costs me absolutely everything. The second principle is that, Yes, He loves me just the way He finds me...but He loves me so much more that He refuses to leave me the way He finds me. (Thank you, Lord!) The same applies to you.
If I have true faith, I will be changed. Some all at once, some bit by bit over the years, and the rest when I pass from this world. If I'm not being changed, I don't have true, saving faith. If you're not being changed, you don't have true, saving faith, either. The sooner we can grasp this, the easier things become: He REFUSES to leave us the way He finds us. If you are truly His, you will be truly changed.
There are many Bible passages that reflect this aspect of the cost of grace. I'll limit the references to just a few.
Matthew 16:24-25 (Amplified Bible) - "Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also]. For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].
Romans 12:1 (Amplified Bible) - "I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship."
2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."Saving Grace costs you nothing; Saving Grace costs you everything. And that's a fact. Or two.
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