Salvation by Grace

Our own strength is not enough to save us. We find hope and peace in our hearts only through Christ. What Paul writes in Romans chapter 5 may surprise us. Many might have thought he would talk about what we need to do to earn God's grace. But Paul wrote about what God did while we were still far from Him: "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly... But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (verses 6, 8). Note how important timing is here. Christ did not wait for us to fix ourselves. He did not wait for the day we would become worthy of His love. Even when we had nothing to offer Him, He came toward us. It was this step He took toward us that gave us the opportunity to approach Him. This is exactly what grace is. Grace is not a reward given to people who finally get their lives in order; it is a saving hand extended to those who do not have the power to save themselves. Paul says that we were weak, ungodly sinners and enemies of God. He is not trying to shame us with these words. On the contrary, he emphasizes how far God was willing to go in love toward us (verses 6, 8, 10). As a result of this, we have been reconciled to God through our Lord Jesus Christ and have peace with Him (Colossians 1:19–20). This is not a fragile peace that can be easily broken. This peace is based on the work of our Savior, not on our limited human ability to maintain it. The good news of the Gospel is not that we have finally become the kind of people God can accept. The real good news is that God, who chose to reconcile us to Himself, loved us from the very beginning.