In Colossians 1:2, Paul says “…grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” It isn’t long in to it that Paul says “grace and peace;” known in the scriptures as The Siamese Twins of the New Testament. Grace and peace – in that order. You’ll never see them switched around. They are in that order because you cannot have peace without God’s grace and, once we have God’s grace, the outcome is peace. Grace, of course, means having the favor of God. So having that favor is one thing, but you need to remember you have that favor. Because if you have the grace of God, you see that it is true, because of the Spirit of God. He has given you the grace. It is important to remember this because, if you forget, you may still have His grace, but what good is it going to do you in difficult situations?
We need to remember we’re accepted in the beloved. I like that acronym about grace that I say often: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense – G-R-A-C-E. He died to give you that grace, so we need to remember that we have the grace of God. Always keep that front and center and in the cross hairs of our focus, because it is foundational to the gospel message. We can’t earn it. It’s unmerited faith, it’s a gift; and we might say it’s the working parts of the salvation engine.
In Ephesians 2:8 it says “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” His favor cannot be earned, it’s a free gift. Faith is a gift. We cannot take credit for the fact that we believe. This is key, because when God opened our eyes, faith means we believed what He showed us. He reveals truth to us and then we had to say “Yes, I believe that.” Understanding that, all of us come to the crossroads of decision.
If you’re a believer, you’ve had your Damascus experience, and you know when that was.
If you haven’t, then you need to. You need to say “Yes, I believe.” You need to relinquish yourself to Him. You need to be forgiven of your sins because He died. The only forgiveness that we have is by His blood. You need to come to that decision to know that you’re following Jesus Christ.