Standing in God's Grace! - Romans 5:1-2

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Many of us think of grace only in terms of the free and unmerited gift, which led to our salvation through Jesus' death on the cross for us. And, of course, this is where God's grace begins as he offers us the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.  But grace doesn't end there. 

In Leon Morris' commentary on Romans he says this which I think captures this idea. 

"Grace (God’s undeserved favor towards us) is not only the way salvation comes to us, it is also a description of our present standing before God. It is not only the beginning principle of the Christian life, it is also the continuing principle of the Christian life. “We stand translates a perfect tense, used in this sense of the present, and with the thought of a continuing attitude.” 

Many Christians start with grace and then go back to the Law and continue to get stuck in shame and guilt all the time. Standing in grace means that you are constantly aware that you are worthy of God's love and the gift he gave us through His Son. The Holy Spirit also gives us the gifts of grace through spiritual gifts and the fruits of the Spirit, which manifest God's grace in our lives. 

Sometimes we only see grace as the card we play when we have sinned! But if we continue to look at it that way, we will likely stay stuck in habits that characterize our old way of life. I think standing in grace is constantly being reminded of Jesus' unconditional love and living each day in the real life connection with this love through His Holy Spirit. 

We can become "grace-full" people both towards others and ourselves, as we stand in God's grace. We can become the kind of people who will be a true witness to the transforming power of Christ's love by His grace. Let's face it the world doesn't need to be told how sinful it is, but needs to see examples of Christians from whom grace flows.  Jesus led this way, shouldn't we?

It is grace that saved us and grace will lead us home!  Keep standing in GRACE!



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