The Power of Grace

The Power of Grace

Romans 5:1-5

One of the most significant and maybe most complicated topics we could discuss as Christians is the existence of God’s grace in our lives, and our deep need of it.

Even defining Grace can be elusive. How would you describe grace, God’s grace even, in your life? Is it exemplified in the forgiveness someone has extended to you? Do you understand it only within the Gospel account of Jesus’s death and resurrection?

What does Grace even do? I start my understanding of grace with a simple definition, Grace is “God’s unmerited favor.” God’s grace is something we can never earn, but is offered to us without price or condition. God’s grace is an extension of God’s love and thus it is unconditional.

We believe, as Christians, that there is no single thing we can do to save ourselves from sin. Sin creates distance between us and God. And while we could certainly live a life full of doing good deeds, and doing our best to avoid any actions that are “sinful” none of that can actually save us. Only God’s grace can!

God’s grace for us is an extension of the same forgiveness Jesus extended to the Roman soldiers when he said, “forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.” We need grace because sometimes the harm we are causing ourselves or others escapes us. But grace isn’t a get out of jail free card. God’s grace is the promise that redemption and repentance are always available to us when we fall short.

And, my friends, we always will manage to fall short. John Wesley describes the work of salvation that is endemic to God’s grace as a journey toward “christian perfection in love.”

We are always a work in progress, and that work won’t be completed without God’s grace.