It is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:5 (NIV)
Grace is more than God making salvation possible. It’s more than God opening a door and then standing back to see who will come through. By nature nobody would come through. An open door is no different from a closed door to a dead man.
Grace means more than God making your salvation possible. Grace is God saving you. Here’s what has happened to you if you are a Christian. “God, who is rich in mercy, made [you] alive with Christ, even when [you] were dead in transgressions” (2:4-5). This is what the Bible says happened.
Yes, but how did it happen? Jesus tells us: “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). What did Jesus mean when He spoke about “crossing over from death to life”? Death is where we all begin. But it need not be where we end. Jesus holds out this marvelous offer: “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me will not be condemned.”
The Son of God has life, and He gives life. New life, eternal life can be yours if you will hear His word and believe the Father who sent Him. How can a person who is spiritually dead hear the word of Jesus and believe?
Jesus gives life to people who are spiritually dead. “Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it” (John 5:21). Death is the end of all hope for us, but not for God. The Father raises the dead. And, in the same way, the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it.
How would you explain God’s grace to someone who has never heard of it?
