PODCAST
The Gift of Grace
April 28th, 2013
Ephesians 2:1-10
One Christmas my parents gave me a Lionel train set with trestles, track-changers, real smoke, and steam engine sounds. I thought I was in heaven. What a gift! Imagine if, a week after Christmas, my parents said, “Mark, you’re going to need to pay us back for that train.” Sounds crazy, right? If they made me pay for it, it wouldn’t have been a gift.
One of the most disastrous misconceptions about Christianity is the idea that God’s favor is earned: that, when the judgment comes, as long as one’s list of “good” deeds is longer than the “bad,” then all will be well.
This could not be further from the truth. Such a belief is not found in Scripture. Paul assures us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9; emphasis added). God’s grace is a gift we cannot buy.
Author: Mark A. Hendrickson
