Grace

Do we start out good and become bad, or is it the other way around?

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. - Ephesians 2:1-10 

The good news here, I believe, is that it doesn't matter.

Whether we started out good and screwed up somehow, or started out bad and in need of salvation, God's grace is offered to us, and we don't have to do anything to get it.

In fact, Paul tells us in his letter to the Church in Ephesus, that it is our faith alone, and not the work we do that saves us.

Our lives are so much better when we choose to believe, because we know we have eternal life with Christ.

The hard part for us is not our salvation.  We can justify that, regardless of what we have done in our lives.  The hard part is to accept that God's grace is offered to people we think don't deserve it.

Ah.  That is where we become the judges.

Jesus tells us not to judge, but to love one another.  That is easier for some than others.

So, this message of God's grace is a powerful one.  Powerful and difficult.

If we can look on someone who we find troublesome and see God's grace fall upon them the same way it does on us, will that help us love one another?

Or will we shake our heads and walk away confused?

I guess God knows we have trouble understanding His ways.

More to come...