The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Man, because of his sin, has been given a death sentence. Without the intervention of God, man sits on death row awaiting the time for his sentence to be carried out. By God's graciousness, man's death sentence has not only been negated, but his guilt has been canceled. Clean! And the beautiful part, there is in God's scheme of things no double jeopardy.

          Undoubtedly, if salvation was left up to human wisdom or some group of persons to design it would have justice at the heart of it. Man would probably build salvation around merit. It would be a reward for some adequate response or regenerative process on man's part. Happily, salvation has not been left up to man's ingenuity.

          God, Himself, chose to define the terms of salvation. If man got what he deserved, it would not be salvation. So, God, with infinite love, created a means whereby grace, not justice, was at the heart of salvation. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9).

          GRACE ... what an exciting concept! The Lord does not want me or you to get what we deserve! What love!

          What does being saved by grace mean, do we have it, regardless? Can the grace of God be resisted? In other words, does noe have to be saved if he chooses not to be saved? "The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men" (Titus 2:11). Are all saved? Is this grace irresistible? No, all men are not saved, and no, God's grace is not irresistible. God's grace and man's volitional capacity must work in concert. An individual is not saved regardless of his feelings or desires in the matter.

          If that be true (and it is), God's grace must be accepted by each individual who is saved. Saving grace is accepted by the "obedience of faith" (Ephesians 2:8; John 1:11,12; Romans 16:26). Obedience is a crucial constituent part of faith (pisteuo). He who authored salvation, designed obedience to be the means of man's acceptance of that grace. Obedience is evidence ... evidence that one has accepted God's gracous salvation. "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;" (Hebrews 5:9). It moved Christ to say, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:16).

          Once saved by grace, does that mean that the Christian can then sin and not have that sin laid to his charge? "What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:1,2). God's grace does not make sin right, nor does it make it acceptable to Him. One cannot allow God's graciousness to be a cheap excuse for his staying cozy with sin. God's grace is not to be seen as a way Christians can stay on friendly terms with worldliness.