Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
The whole idea of grace is very foundational in our Christian formation. For instance, our text today declares that the way by which we have been saved is grace. Seeing that grace is pivotal in our obtaining salvation, then we must seek to understand it. And the beginning point for this is by seeking out to understand what grace really means.
Grace has a dual meaning. The first one, and the most common one, is that it is unmeritted favour. This means that God bestows His favour upon us not based on any merit of our own – no action or works on our part. In other words, we receive goodness without any good on our end. Or put differently, it is something you can’t earn or work for. It is merely granted. The second aspect of grace and which proceeds from the first is the fact that grace means divine empowerment. That God gives us heavenly resources in our earthly sojourn. This helps us in our battle against sin and in our Christian service. This is how Paul understands grace in its dual nature:
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10).
For the Christian, therefore, grace saves, grace strengthens, and grace sustains.
Reflections
1. What was your own understanding of grace prior to today’s devotion?
2. Having this understanding of grace, how ought we to order our lives?
