As I was praying about what to write this blog on, the word “grace” came to my mind.

God gave us the free gift of life through His grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” There is so much packed into these two verses, but we will focus on the grace portion. He willingly chose to die for us, forgive us, and wash us clean by His grace through our faith in Him. His grace has nothing to do with what we do. We cannot earn it because He already gave it to us. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” His grace is sufficient for us. The word sufficient means enough, or adequate. His grace is enough for us. His grace is adequate for us. Sometimes we try to earn His blessings and favor, or even try to earn His love and grace, by the things we do. He already gave it to us. It is ours in Christ Jesus!

I’m thankful for His grace. I cannot earn it by works. In Isaiah 64:6, He says our good deeds, or our righteous acts, are like filthy rags. That is a very humbling reality: no matter what good I do, even if it is for Him, it does not even come close to His good. And He has been so good to us. Hallelujah! Amen!

In 2017, I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Germany for the 500th year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. We sang special music written by Josh Bauder, based on the five solas: sola scriptura (Scripture alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), sola fide (faith alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone). One of my favorite pieces we sang, was “Grace Alone”. I want to share some of the lyrics with you here. I hope they are a blessing, and a great reminder of His grace for you. Here are the lyrics (same as the hymn), along with a link to the song with choir and full orchestra.

“Grace taught my heart to pray,

And made mine eyes o’erflow:

‘Twas grace which kept me to this day,

And will not let me go!

Saved by grace alone!

This is all my plea:

Jesus died for all mankind,

And Jesus died for me.”

Here’s the link for the piece: Grace Alone – YouTube

Blessings,