True Grace, Stand In It

We all like a people who are extremely gracious and forgiving. When we do something outrageous, they take it in stride and lovingly embrace us. It's hard not to like that kind of person. In fact we find ourselves bending over backwards to work with them. Yes, we like gracious people! Why is it we so easily overlook the grace of God? Perhaps it is because we always think we owe something to that loving person who has been so forgiving of us. We say to them, "I owe you one." And we fully expect that loving person to collect on that debt. But the problem is, we really don't understand true grace. True grace does not collect on a debt you feel you owe. And just the opposite is true too. God is in no way obliged to love you or forgive you. The fact of God's love is rooted in His grace. And when you ask God to forgive you of your sins, He does so, not because He owes it to you, but because He is gracious. You see, God gave His only Son to die on a cross almost 2000 years ago to pay the penalty due to people like you for their sins. When Christ died, He did not pay for His own sins. He was perfect. He was sinless. Christ paid for the sins of others! So when you ask God, He forgives your debt for sin, not because He owes you anything but because of Christ's sacrifice to pay for your sin. That's grace! "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

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