We put together an impressive resume to demonstrate to a potential employer that we are qualified for the job. We compose an essay to show we are worthy of consideration for the educational scholarship. We put the best version of ourselves on display while dating others so that we might be seen as a potential spouse.
Going to great lengths to convince others of our worth comes quite naturally to us. In fact, much of our lives depend on it. Don’t expect to get hired if you don’t have the required skills. Don’t expect to get accepted into the school of your choice if you didn’t make the grades. Don’t expect to woo a future spouse if you don’t have any desirable qualities or achievements.
Do you see why grace is such a tough pill for us to swallow? Grace – God’s undeserved love – is a gift that is freely given, to a world that is bent on earning. It goes against our very nature that is so accustomed to establishing merit.
The problem is this: while merit alone might achieve much for us in life, the one area in which it can’t make even the slightest dent is in our standing before God. See, God’s standards are quite simple – impossible for us, but simple: he just demands that we never screw anything up.
Ever.
Not in our thinking, not in our speaking, and not in our doing. Get it right… all the time. That’s all he expects. Perfection – literally.
And frankly, that rules you out. That rules me out. That rules everyone out.
But that’s where grace comes in. Grace turns that reality upside down. It rules no one out and counts everyone in.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8 NIV).
We are saved by grace. You don’t get hired to it. You don’t have to apply for it. You don’t have to show that you deserve it. None of us do. None of us could, anyway. That’s what makes it grace.