Grace means you can't

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” (1 Cor. 15:10)

“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God...” (2 Cor. 1:12) 

 

Misplaced Grace

Everyday when I come home from work I place my car keys on the corner of the counter.  It’s a habit. It’s a good habit, since I can easily find them the next time I need them. Every once in a while, though, my keys are misplaced and everything is put on hold until I can find them. If the right thing ends up in the wrong place, it’s of little to no use. We can often misplace the grace of God in our lives. While we might begin our day fully aware of our need for God and His grace, we end the day spent because our own wisdom and strength couldn’t get us through it. This is because of the tendency of our hearts to gradually wander away from the full awareness of our need for Jesus and his work of salvation into a foolish reliance upon ourselves and our own works. We were not saved according to the wisdom of God to then go and live according to the wisdom of men, as if we had found our own way from spiritual death to eternal life. Therefore, we can never forget the grace that gave and gives us life. If we forget and misplace grace we forget and misplace the cross of Christ. 

 

Displaced Grace

It is often the case in marriages that time together is displaced by otherwise good things. Computers, iphones and tvs all compete for the valuable, limited time that exists between getting home and going to bed. It is right when you use a phone to make a call. It is wrong when you use it and ignore the person sitting right in front of you. A good thing purposefully used in a bad way can cause considerable damage. The grace of God can often be displaced by many good things. For example, diligence is honorable. Laziness is shameful. But diligence cannot replace our inability to do what only God can do. We displace God's grace anytime we are persuaded we need anything more than God or that God's will can be done in anyway apart from God. This subtle shift occurs as I might begin to think that study is the power of a sermon or a good strategy is the key to church growth. With countless other examples in our lives, we must continually ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts in order to guard our hearts, so that we might always and only come to Jesus as the source of power and fountain of living water. There has never been and there never will be a substitute for God's grace.

 

In the end, grace means you couldn't, but Jesus could. Grace means you can't, but God can.