Reflecting on the Your Response to Grace
/Over the past few weeks we’ve been working our way through Romans 5-6 and exploring the basic Christian message in three parts: problem, solution, and implications. Basically, the Bible teaches that the problems in the world and the problems in ourselves are caused by sin—not just doing bad things, but the failure to live up to God’s intention for us. This puts us in a state of shame, guilt, judgment, and condemnation before God. But in his love, God has pursued us and provided a way for us to be justified (pronounced righteous) through Jesus and his obedience. Now we are made right with God as a gift, by his grace. We can’t do anything to earn his favour or to make it go away.
But should we just go on sinning, knowing that God will forgive us each time? Of course not. The purpose of grace is to empower us to live a new life, not just to offer us forgiveness. But too often we grow lazy or passive, waiting for God to override our free will and magically make us more obedient. We fail to realize that we have choices to make every day about who we serve.
We also fail to realize that God’s incredible gifts to us call for a lifetime of grateful response. Because of their culture, early Christians would have automatically known that grace called for gratitude, and that this gratitude would need to be expressed in more than words. Gratitude is what connects the message of grace with growth in the life of the Christian.
If you’re spiritually stuck, or feel like you’re taking grace for granted, find a quiet spot, perhaps with a journal or notebook, and consider the following questions:
Do I live each day with a sense of God’s graciousness—that he is good, kind, on my
side, accepting, loving, merciful, etc.? Do I sense his delight in me as his child?
Do I believe that his grace is unchanged, even when I mess up and wander away?
Have I received justification (being pronounced righteous) as a gift, or am I trying to do it on my own?
How has God showed me his grace in concrete ways throughout my life?
How was Christ’s death on the cross a personal expression of God’s grace to me?
Do I believe that I’ve been set free from sin and empowered by grace to live a new life?
Do I regularly express my thanks to God for his grace(s) through words?
How have I demonstrated my gratitude to him through my actions, past and present?
What kind of grateful response does his grace call for on my part?
