Grace In Others

In the last two messages, we've considered the grace of God in our Salvation as well as in our daily Christian walk. Anytime we add requirements to faith, we have strayed from the true gospel message. We certainly need to be challenged as to what faith really means and how a saving faith will manifest itself in our life, but we must never walk away from Salvation by grace through faith and faith alone.

Galatians 1:6-8
"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!"

This is a serious call - one we cannot ignore. We are challenged in the strongest of terms to continue walking according to the true gospel.

We usually begin this walk by focusing on our own life. We slowly take our eyes off of what we can do and look more upon what Christ has already done; "He must become greater, I must become less" (John 3:30). But there remains another step we must begin to take. This important step is to recognize that the grace which pulled us out of the slimy pit and set our feet on solid ground (Psalm 40:2) is the same grace which works in the life of others. We know we can do nothing to earn or add to our Salvation, but how often do we place "requirements" on those around us?

As an example... In some churches the men always wear a necktie. Though they preach Salvation by grace through faith, they have difficulty with someone who professes to love the Lord but comes to worship in a pull-over shirt and does not conform to the "Law of the Necktie." Likewise, in other churches people worship in shorts and tee shirts. And likewise, though they preach Salvation by grace through faith, they have difficulty with someone who professes to love the Lord but comes to worship more dressed up and does not conform to the "Freedom" we have in Christ. Both groups look at the other and say, "How can they really be saved dressed like that?"

This may seem like a trivial example, but I trust the Spirit will guide as to how this applies in your own life. How about things like hair style or worship style? How about those "sins" which we, in our great wisdom, have identified as indications of true Salvation but which the Bible remains absolutely silent?

We must strive to follow Christ in a surrendered obedience; but, in doing so, we must never pull anyone from the true gospel. We are saved by grace through faith and faith alone - and "we" includes ALL our Brothers and Sisters. Let's follow hard in His grace and diligently seek to recognize God's grace in others.