Galatians
5:1,7-9 For
freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again
to a yoke of slavery... You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying
the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven
leavens the whole lump.
Grace literally means that which we do not have to
earn. It has two great aspects to it. It comes for nothing, for no cost to you.
And it comes when we are helpless and least expecting it.
Grace does not merely help the person who helps
himself. That is not the Gospel. That is not grace. The Gospel is that God
helps the man or woman who cannot help themselves. Grace is for those who do
not deserve it. If you deserve something and you get it, that is not grace.
Then there is another thing about grace. God helps
the person to help himself. Everything the man accomplishes comes from God.
Grace is given to the man who is so weak and helpless he cannot take the first
step. That is the meaning of grace.
We can never know the fullness grace has. A river is
as free as it is full. Someone floating down the river may have an idea that
when they get a little farther along they have got to pay a toll to go further
on. So instead of going all the way down the river they shrink back. They never
get to see and experience the beauty of the river further downstream.
The blessings we receive from God’s grace to not
stop at our conversion. They continue as we continue to live in Christ.
Shrinking back from trust in God each day blocks us from receiving more that
God has intended for us. God has not set aside the other blessings for a special
group of Christians. They are available to all His people. God is no respecter
of persons. What He offers to the least of these brothers, He offers to you and
to me.
