Some people have a hard time with grace, specifically God's grace. They think if it is is free it will be misused. People will just take advantage and do whatever they want. To help with this I want to look at a couple of facts about God's grace.
First, grace is not free, but it cannot be earned. Because it does not cost us anything, we think of it as free. It cost God everything. At the same time it cannot be earned. Ephesians 2:9 says it is "not by works." It does not matter how much we do, we cannot earn grace.
Grace is not free it is a gift from God. Gifts always cost the giver something. The gifts we value the most cost the giver the most. I am not necessarily speaking of financial cost. I was at a birthday party one time and I saw the birthday child open a gift that was a used toy. The giver did not have money to buy a new toy so the child brought one of their favorite toys.
Jesus stressed the idea of the value of a gift in Mark 12 when he pointed out the widow who gave all she had. Some of my most prized possessions have very little financial value. They have value to me because of who gave it to me and what it cost them. People do not usually misuse gifts they value. Grace is not any different. When people understand the cost and value of the gift, they do not misuse it.
First, grace is not free, but it cannot be earned. Because it does not cost us anything, we think of it as free. It cost God everything. At the same time it cannot be earned. Ephesians 2:9 says it is "not by works." It does not matter how much we do, we cannot earn grace.
Grace is not free it is a gift from God. Gifts always cost the giver something. The gifts we value the most cost the giver the most. I am not necessarily speaking of financial cost. I was at a birthday party one time and I saw the birthday child open a gift that was a used toy. The giver did not have money to buy a new toy so the child brought one of their favorite toys.
Jesus stressed the idea of the value of a gift in Mark 12 when he pointed out the widow who gave all she had. Some of my most prized possessions have very little financial value. They have value to me because of who gave it to me and what it cost them. People do not usually misuse gifts they value. Grace is not any different. When people understand the cost and value of the gift, they do not misuse it.
Gifts are only gifts if we did not purchase them. If I buy something from you it is not a gift. If I gave you a brand new sports car you would not be able to brag about the car. Even if you said "look at my car!" people would naturally ask "how did you get it?" You would have to answer "Brandon gave it to me.?" You would be pointing people towards me. It is the same way with God's grace. I cannot say "I made myself right with God!" It is a gift, so I have to say, "look at what God gave me!" All the attention is pointed towards God. All the things I do are not to earn God's grace or favor. The good works I do are to point people towards God (Ephesians 9:10).
The gift always says more about the giver than the receiver. What does the gift of grace tell you about God?
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