GraceSample

The gift that comes with a cost

Grace is an undeserved gift (Romans 3:24) out of God’s generous abundance, which is a sufficient guide for obedient living (2 Corinthians 12:9). By grace, we have been saved from God’s wrath (Romans 5:9). We are therefore called to step into the power that this grace provides, and live lives that honour God.

In Romans 5, Paul talks of the law as being incapable of fixing the evil from Eden. It’s actually as if the law could be an agent that activates sin. For example, if I say, ‘Don’t think of a blue cow, ’ you immediately think of a blue cow. It’s our sinful desire to want to do what we’ve been told not to do. The law brought sin into the open. It was a good gift from God. It was created to remind God’s people of who they were created and called to be, but it became part of the problem. We and all of creation need the saving power of God to redeem and restore us. We need grace. We need Jesus.

‘Grace and truth’ in John 1:17 (NIV) might remind us of the Hebrew word ‘hesed’ or the English phrase ‘steadfast love’. It’s a call to remember that God is always faithful to His covenant promises, which find their pinnacle in Jesus.

As we live within the new covenant, we are people justified by grace (Romans 3:24) through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:2). Let’s live today obediently, in this bold assurance.

Written by BREE BOND