The Gift I Can't Earn

Dear reader,

A few yes ago, I had a conversation that really shook me up spiritually. A preacher friend of mine and I were discussing salvation, and it hit me how deeply we misunderstand God's grace.

I've been thinking a lot about Ephesians 2:8-9 lately - "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, that no one should boast." These words keep echoing in my mind.

My friend believes that salvation is this fragile thing - like you can lose it if you mess up too much. But that doesn't make sense to me. If salvation depends on my performance, is it really grace at all?

It's like I'm constantly trying to pay a debt I can never repay. But that's not how God works. Salvation isn't a transaction. It's not a credit card where I'm constantly making payments or risking repossession. It's a gift. A complete, unconditional gift.

This doesn't mean I get to live however I want. Good works still matter. But they're not my ticket to heaven. They're my way of saying "thank you" to God for what He's already done. They're a response to grace, not the cause of it.

I'm learning that my worth isn't in what I do, but in what Christ has already done for me. There's such freedom in that. I don't have to perform. I don't have to prove myself. I can just rest in His love.

Grace means I didn't earn this. I can't earn this. It's all His doing. And isn't that just mind-blowing?

Sometimes I still catch myself trying to "be good enough." But then I remember - I'll never be good enough. And that's exactly the point of grace.

Just grateful today. So very grateful.

Until tomorrow

Chaplain Mark