To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves…we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace (Eph. 1:6-7 NIV).

Would you like to know the best summer traveling tip my family has found? Waffle House cheese grits for 35 cents! Now, I’m not talking about just a dab of grits, but a whole heaping, huge bowl of delicious grits. That’s almost as good as free!

But then I read the fine print: 35 cents with any full entrée. And that got me thinking. Isn’t that how many of us view God’s grace? Almost free—but surely you must do something else to get it, right?

I mean, if God really offered grace freely, then it would be available to all no matter what they have done. Surely that can’t be fair or right. Can it?

Well, it is not fair, but it is right. In fact, it’s better than fair because it’s a result of God’s mercy. And, it is right because it is from God’s heart.

God’s grace is free because Jesus paid its price for all of us. Receiving his grace is not a consequence of qualifying for it, but of acknowledging that we could never qualify by our efforts or achievements.

Now anyone – regardless of things past or present – can receive grace by faith that God provided it entirely through the work of his Son and that it is really, entirely free. We don’t receive grace by doing a little more or a lot more of anything.

We confess that we need God’s rescue from sin and rest in our Heavenly Father’s assurance that Jesus paid all that was necessary for our redemption.

Prayer:
Lord, thank you for offering redemption from my sin by the offer of entirely free grace received by faith alone in Christ alone.