By grace.....

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace....
In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul makes it very clear that there is something very special about the grace of God. Grace is a gift. The act of grace is a gift. God "graces" us with salvation. We receive the gift of salvation "by grace" and "through faith." It is through faith that we receive the gift of God. It is through the "act of believing" that God bestows the wonderful gift of salvation. There is nothing that we do to earn it or deserve it. Romans 5 teaches very clearly that God saw our sin and still sent Jesus to die for us. Romans 8:1 and following also teaches us that because of God's grace, we who believe, are free from condemnation. Now here is where it gets good! You see...we deserve death and hell, but because of God's grace we are not condemned. Some people say that a great way to remember the definition of grace is: God's Riches At Christ's Expense. It's true -- Jesus paid the price and then "graced" us with His lIFE. Amazing, huh?

God