To Encourage You

Romans 5:2 “. . . this grace in which we stand.”

The Bible makes it very clear that we are not saved by our good works with the following words: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace, God’s unmerited favor, is the basis on which you have been saved if you are a believer. He didn’t save us because we were such wonderful people, or because we deserved it in any way. None of us deserve the least of His favor. It was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

But just as we were saved by His grace, the Bible tells us that we “stand” in His grace. Although we are believers now and hopefully have our desires in line with our Savior’s desires, it doesn’t mean that now God deals with us on the basis of our “good works” any more than He did before we were saved. It’s all grace. It’s all unmerited. Jesus said our attitude should be like this: “You also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’” (Luke 17:10).

Surely, we can never do enough to repay the Lord for what He’s done for us. Neither can we ever do enough to make up for all the sins we have committed against Him, either before or since we’ve been a believer. It’s all grace, wonderful grace. It’s on the basis of Who God is that He deals with us, not on the beauty (or not) or our own character. God graciously deals with us day after day, meeting our needs, and surprising us with blessings in both good times and bad. He makes all things work together for good in our lives (Romans 8:28) because He is good, not because we are.

Are you thankful for this? You surely should be. May God help us to live a life of gratitude for the marvelous grace in which we stand, a grace we don’t deserve in the least, but which He pours out on us nevertheless. As the New International Version of the Bible so wonderfully puts it “From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another (John 1:16).” Praise God for His wonderful gift of grace.