Earned and Unearned

           Every now and then I get an “earning” report from my bank. Every month the report comes of how much interest I have earned over the past month. I get reports like I earned $0.06 for the last period so I guess I could say that I am not on the road to being a wealthy person. Then one of my plastic cards will tell me how many points I have earned towards my first prize which may include something like a cheap umbrella where my 40 points is going to accumulate with other months earnings towards the 10,000 points to get the prized umbrella. In some places, a “pay check” is called your “earnings.” Some people, probably just a select few, have large earnings while most others have just enough to get by from day to day. There is one unusual thing that we get that is not something we earned, but something that we didn't earn. Ephesians 28-10 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

       Grace is something that you can't earn no matter what you do. You can be the richest person in the world or the poorest person in the world and you still would not be capable of earning grace. Richest don't buy grace and poverty doesn't deserve grace. Grace is God's love that is given freely to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation. All the money in the world would not be able to purchase grace for one sinner. There have been a couple of definitions of “grace” over the years such as the acronym, God's Riches At Christ' Expense” or Unmerited Favor. You soon are able to get the idea that grace is the most valuable thing in the world and it is certainly something that is undeserved or not merited. The Apostle Paul gave us the comparison right in the passage for today. He mentions that we are “saved by grace” and then goes on to make it even clearer when he says, “Not of works.” God has given you a balance sheet which says, Earnings equal zero, Grace equals 100% and because of that grace, you have the most useful and most important possession that money can't buy nor work can produce. It is called “eternal life.” When the Philippian Jailer asked Paul and Silas what he must do in order to be saved, the answer was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ...” Many think that they can “help” God by doing some good works that will add frosting to the cake. That is not the case. We cannot add anything to that which God has freely provided. As the passage goes on, it does make reference to works but that they are the result of that great salvation. Because we have been saved, we desire to do that which is righteous and good. Because we have been forgiven, we seek to please God in all that we do. Since we have been saved by grace, we seek to praise Him with our imperfect voices as we scream out to God with thankful hearts for the free gift of salvation. We cannot thank Him enough for what He has done for us. As Romans 8:1 says, “ There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Praise God today for His grace.