I was thinking more about the lack of grace in the world, and how deeply the concept of “undeserved favor” goes against our human nature. How many times have I heard “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”? We are all skeptical of something we didn’t earn, something we don’t deserve. “Where’s the catch?” we ask.
We don’t naturally “get” grace.
People who hear the good news of free salvation by grace through faith for the first time are waiting for the catch. “Nah,” they say, shaking their heads, “I’ve still gotta do something. I’ve gotta at least pray a prayer, or get baptized, or go to church, or be kind to my neighbor. There’s no such thing as free lunch, you know.”
Free lunch? Maybe not. Free salvation? Yes, it’s true.
Others try to sneak works in the back door. “Well, it’s free, but if I go out and murder someone, then I’ll lose it.” Sounds to me like you’re just trying to pay your way after the fact. You can’t. Jesus already paid for every sin (and all of ours were future at that point). He paid for the pack of gum you stole in 1st grade. And if, God forbid, you take a life some time in the future, he paid for that sin, too.
“For the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23a
Jesus paid that wage when he died in our place. As he hung on the cross, among his last words were:
It is finished [paid in full]” John 19:30
Grace is not deserved and, amazingly, it’s free because of the cross. The payment has been made.
Believe it, and you will know grace in a graceless world.
Made for Eternity 