Are you walking in life’s valley, desperately wondering if there is any hope in sight? How do you make sense of bad things happening to seemingly good people? Perspective Number Four is: Grace. Due to our sin against a Holy God, we deserve death, but instead He gives us life. In essence, He brings good to bad people, namely us. Consequently, when trying times come in to our lives, we must recognize God’s amazing grace that will one day deliver us from all evil in eternity.

Each of us is saved by grace, which is the unmerited favor, or undeserved love, of God. This grace is appropriated to us when we respond with faith in Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

None of us can trust in ourselves for an eternal relationship with The Almighty. This comes only from God in Christ where He meets our need with His loving deed: “[God] has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:9-10).

God’s amazing grace has a purpose: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). In Christ, each of us is God’s workmanship, poeima in Greek, the origin of the English word, poem. We are God’s masterpiece, designed to enact deeds of love to advance His kingdom in the hearts of everyone we meet.

In Christ, God leverages our grace to draw others to Himself when we surrender each moment, both good and bad, to Him: “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Colossians 4:5-6).

Praise God in the valley. This week, pray: “Heavenly Father, please help me surrender each moment to you. May my heart and my words be filled with grace, your undeserved love, so everyone I meet will be drawn to Jesus.”

Episode 398: Restoration Theology | Soteriology: The Study of Salvation from mitchkrusetv on Vimeo.