Grace is a gift given to us by God Himself. Grace has been described as the unmerited favor of God. This means there is nothing you or I could do to earn or deserve the gift of God’s salvation. We cannot purchase it, we cannot earn it by working hard, and we cannot do some great act that automatically causes us to merit grace. Isaiah 64:6 says, “...And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags...” The very best we can do is unacceptable to a Holy God because all that we do is tainted by our sin. Therefore, the only way we can receive salvation is if God freely gives it to us.
Who made this gift of grace possible? Jesus did! Only Jesus, God in human flesh, lived a perfect life! Only Jesus withstood the wrath of the Father toward our sin that He bore on the cross. Only Jesus rose from the grave by His own power. Only Jesus defeated sin, Satan, and death all at the same time to give us eternal life! This is testified to in 1 Peter 2:21-24 and in 1 John 5:11-13.
Since Jesus has made grace available, then how do we receive it? This is where faith comes in. Only by faith can we agree with God about our sin and accept the gift of salvation in Christ Jesus. Faith has been described as: Forsaking All I Trust Him. Throwing away all I do, all I think, and all I know, and refusing to rely on religious activities and rituals, I must rely solely on what Jesus did for me. That is faith—surrendering all of who I am to all of who He is and claiming nothing but the cross of Christ. The moment I do that, I am “saved by grace through faith.”
