Grace is one of the most astounding things we have obtained from God. Sin came through this world by one man. And God so did it that salvation also came to the world through one Man (Rom. 5:12-19). Our faith is what links us to this salvation. In Christianity, we are not working towards pleasing God or trying to earn our salvation by piling up good deeds. The work of salvation was completed through Jesus. He suffered everything we ought to have suffered and presented us with the rewards of salvation. Therefore, we pile up good deeds because we have been saved. We have become pleasing to God because we have been saved through Christ.

The beauty of Christianity is that we work from a place of rest. For every believer, this is a burden-easer. It means ease to the struggle. The struggle to be righteous before God was real. But now, we have the righteousness of Christ (1 Cor. 1:30). Before Jesus, even matters as crucial as hearing God had to be done through an intercessor. However, since the completion of Christ’s sacrifice of love, we have obtained freedom to walk towards the throne of grace (Heb. 4:6). The veil separating us from God has been torn from top to bottom and we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit for eternal life. (Matt. 27:51; Eph. 1:13)

It is an assurance. Works alone can save no one. The scripture makes it clear to us that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works lest any man should boast (Eph. 2:8). That means doing good things alone is not assurance of eternal life. But the moment we identify with what Jesus did on the cross, the moment we believe in the completeness of cross, we come into the assurance of eternal life. Choosing not to believe in what the cross stands for means you put some trust in the arm of flesh. It means you believe that Jesus did not do enough and you can do a little more to earn God’s approval. But we know well by now that nothing we do can make us earn His approval and the arm of flesh will always fail.

What this doesn’t mean is freedom to sin. That we have come into salvation not by the things we have done or not done but only through our faith does not mean we can do what we like (Rom. 6:1). Rather, this extension of God’s grace is an empowerment to live above those fleshly desires (Tit. 2:11-12). It doesn’t mean we should knowingly and intentionally engage in sin since we are “saved already”. A once sick person who has been healed and discharged from the hospital doesn’t go back to the hospital bed, lie down and say “I have been healed already”. That would be absurd. A university graduate doesn’t go back to a nursery school, sit to take classes but say “I’m a graduate already”. It would become a cause for concern. Likewise, if we are laying claim to salvation (rightfully by faith) we must live like those who are saved. We must not go back to our former lifestyle that says otherwise.

It does not mean we can do the barest minimum. Many believers have lost the will to improve themselves because of the assurance of salvation. This is wrong. It is not enough to say “I don’t lie, I don’t steal, I don’t commit adultery and I believe in Jesus”. We must do more than this. We must express the goodness of God that we have received through good deeds and love. We must put away wickedness and strife from our midst. We must love one another. Jesus tells us that the world will know we are His by the love we have for one another (Jhn. 13:5). The finished work of Christ that we now live in does not mean our own work on earth is finished. It only means that we do not struggle in this regard. After all, scripture tells us to work out our salvation in fear and trembling (Php. 2:12). Furthermore, faith without works is dead (Jam. 2:17 NKJV).  

The beauty of Christianity is Jesus Christ. He brought us grace and salvation. Through His sacrifice of love, we can say we are saved. We can say we are children of the Most High. We can say we are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21).