Romans 11:6 NET
And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
Grace is not a doctrine.
It is the person of Jesus Himself.
Grace is undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Jesus took what we deserved (punishment, judgment, curses, death, etc.) so that we get to take all that He deserved (blessings, favour, etc.).
Grace is the Gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ: we get to receive all the goodness of God through Jesus’s perfect obedience, not by our performance at all.
but what did I do to deserve this goodness?!
Nothng. It’s undeserved favour, not by your obedience/disobedience.
On the other hand, what did Jesus do to deserve your bad?
Nothing. It’s undeserved as well. In fact, He took your bad despite all His perfection.
As much as it was unfairly bad for Him, it is unfairly good for you. We do not deserve God’s goodness, yet we can undeservingly receive it. The Gospel of Grace is that good!
Only freely receive His goodness, never working/striving for/deserving/meriting/earning it. To simply believe and receive what He has finished at the cross is the greatest honour we can give to Him.
To work for (trying to deserve) God’s goodness dishonours Jesus’s finished work, and grace is no longer grace.
To rest (not deserving) in Jesus’s finished work allows grace to freely flow in our lives 🙂
Amen!