[But God] . . . even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
I am not feeling well this morning and focusing enough to write coherently is a struggle. I will offer a few disparate comments.
Note "grace" is bolded. Grace is the motivation of the giver and the gift; the cause and the result; the past, present, and future; the engine and the action. ". . . in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in HIs kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." As if grace weren't surprising and exceedingly rich now, more is to come.
Why do we struggle so much to accept grace and live as if this salvation is a transaction rather than a transformation? Our pastor alluded to the reality that we spend so much of our life learning into that truth, perhaps because in everything else we have to earn whatever we get--except from our parents when we are babies. Older children often have to achieve approval through obedience and grades and performance, but not as babies. I don't want to infantilize anyone, but maybe contemplating that baby-state might help us with grace.
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