The Slippery Slope of Taking Advantage of God's Grace
As Christians, we are blessed with a self-renewal that can only come from putting our faith in Jesus. All mankind falls short of God's glory, and the penalty of sin is death. But we didn’t have to endure that penalty. Instead, Jesus, the man who lived a sinless life so that we didn’t have to, sacrificed for us. It is because of this sacrifice that there was a victory over Satan. He paid the sinners' price, and since he was a man without sin, he rose from death, proving that death can be defeated.
Biblical Context
Ephesians 2: 1-10 reads, “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers of the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. We all used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature, we are subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (it is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of grace and kindness towards us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece.
He created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
A Love We Could Never Earn
We, by nature, are the children of wrath, but God is rich in mercy, allowing this great love to stay with us. We have been saved and are raised with Him so that in the coming of ages, He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us. But we don’t love Him to get something from him—the truth is, we never could earn His love. It is a gift of God, not a result of work; we were dead in our sins and had no power to overcome them.
Because of his grace through our faith in Jesus, we are accepted by God, loved by God, and made new by God. Therefore, everything we do should flow from that grace.
Toeing the Line Between Grace and Discipline
Grace is glorious, but it can also be dangerous. Too often, grace can be used as a license to sin or satisfy our fleshly desires. The human heart tends to want to use grace as an excuse for complacency instead of as a motivation for faithfulness. Our commitment to being faithful to God should not stem from what we want from Him. Our faithfulness should be rooted in the understanding that we have already received everything we need in life—godliness and life beyond the grace of Jesus.
