Saved by Grace

What do you think of when someone says that they have been "saved by grace"? Do you think..."Yesss!! I'm not under the Law! I can do whatever I want now!! PAARTYY!!"...or do you think..... "I'm not really sure what it means...I just know that life is soooo much better off since this age started. I mean, just think of all those sacrifices they had to do in the Old Testament ....*whispers* I'm not very good around blood, you see."....or do you think ...."My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, took my sins upon Himself, so that I might be seen as righteous before God. My debt is paid for because Christ loved me so much that He was sacrificed in my place on the cross."

I would like to believe that all of you would confess the latter of the three possibilities. But then, do we always think of that? Or do we just learn something and then push all the minor details into the backs of our minds and go with the bare minimum? Do you specifically think about all that it means when someone mentions "Christ's work on the cross" or "saved by grace" or even "dead to sin"? Do you think every time about how much Christ suffered on the cross for us, the beatings He endured, the ridicule...all because He loves us (yes, present tense, LOVES us). Do you make the connection between the cross and John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."?

I ask this because I know that I don't. More times than not, I must confess that I respond to phrases such as those with "uh huh, yup, you betcha.." without even thinking about the major events that are attached to those concepts. I hope that this entry will get you thinking about this, just like I am thinking about it... Peace be with you all.

Just a little reminder that I found impacting:

"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, 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 surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

~~Ephesians 2:1-10