God's greatest idea
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Despite our best efforts, it is hard in our culture not to expect certain things—to feel as if we deserve favor because of who we are.
The Founding Fathers didn’t see it that way. They were so bold as to declare that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The authors of the Declaration of Independence were clear that these Rights were not deserved, but rather endowed or provided to us from God.
What these men were describing was grace. And grace is so much bigger than a beautifully written document.
Grace costs God everything so that it could be given freely to us.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God –
~ Ephesians 2:8 NIV
The Bible tells us that through His mercy and by faith, God found a way to bridge the gap of a broken relationship. Max Lucado calls this God’s best idea. “Of all his wondrous works, grace, in my estimation, is the magnum opus,” he writes. And he has a point. We’ve been saved by grace, shaped by grace, strengthened and emboldened—all by grace.
Maybe that’s why we call it amazing.
Even if it can’t be fully explained or understood, grace is an awe-inspiring offering for each of us to discover. It is as unique as our fingerprints. Grace ensures a future beyond the greatest hopes of the greatest men.
In his book, The Grace Awakening, Charles Swindoll tells the story of the great Scottish preacher George McDonald, who was describing to his son the glories of the future. His little boy interrupted and said, “It seems too good to be true, Daddy.” A smile spread across McDonald’s whiskered face as he answered back, “Nay, Laddie, it is just so good that it must be true!”
Jesus told Paul, “My grace is sufficient.” It is immense, magnificent and undeserved. It also comes with a great responsibility. We must share this grace with one another. We can do this by being kind, forgiving and helpful, even when it’s underserved. The grace tank is always full.
Grace: God’s greatest idea. A gift given with so much love that nothing can ever add to it and nothing can ever diminish it. It is that good. And it is ours.
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Originally Posted: Feb 23, 2012
Comments
According to the Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible (Abington), most modern scholars agree that Ephesians was probably not written by Paul, but rather by some devoted follower. It was probably also not written specifically to the church at Ephesus, but rather as a circular letter to the Christian community at large. So, it was not a sales pitch, but rather an attempt to share the author's thoughts with a larger community, many of whom might already agree with him.
The quoted verse about grace is actually a little out of line with the thinking in most of the letters attributed to Paul - Paul believed in salvation through grace, but also believed that access to that grace comes by asking for it, not just by a one-sided act on God's part.
It's interesting that you seem to be one of the most (if not THE most) prolific commenters on this site. Perhaps you are feeling a tug from some nameless place within? You might find that it will be more rewarding to bring your questions to a face-to-face session with some small group in your local UMC. In my experience, its ability to be accepting of people from a wide variety of backgrounds and at all stages of belief and struggle with faith is one of the hallmarks of Methodism. And also in my experience, the Internet is a sadly unsatisfying place for spiritual discussion.
Keep in mind that the letter attributed to Paul, from which the passage is quoted out of context, is a sales pitch to a foreign population, much the same way a GOP candidate proselytizes to the people of a small mining town about the saving ways of a free market. Additionally, if you buy into the notion that "it is just so good that it must be true," consider that statement next time you watch recaps of the tsunami in Chiba prefecture Japan. Was that the work of a graceful god, and if so, the notion of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness endowed by a such a creator proves wholly false, and is instead more in keeping with the vengeful, wrathful god of the Old Testament (the same one that tricked a man into almost murdering his child and drowned millions of people.)
See my comment above - accidentally posted as a reply to the article, rather than a reply to you, which was my intention.