Galatians 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

March 6th, 2010 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Paul opens his letter with two words that he always puts together in this same order. Grace is listed first and then peace because grace must be experienced first.  This is especially meaningful in this Galatians letter because it was the Gospel of grace that is under attack. The acrostic for G-R-A-C-E is helpful, “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” The constant need for more and more of God’s grace is something the 19th Century evangelist D. L. Moody understood well. He said, ‘A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God’s boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it.’  We know that no one has any legal rights to heaven, because Scripture clearly says so. Romans 3:23 “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ No one deserves or merits heaven but through the great exchange of Jesus’ life on the cross for ours, heaven becomes attainable. Trying to earn salvation is a treadmill that many have tried to live and ended up exasperated and discouraged. This old story illustrates the difference between trying to attain salvation by keeping the law and the free salvation God gives to those who accept His Salvation that comes to us by His grace. A husband and wife didn’t really love each other. The man was very demanding, so much so that he prepared a list of rules and regulations for his wife to follow. He insisted that she read them over every day and obey them to the letter. Among other things, his “do’s and don’ts” indicated such details as what time she had to get up in the morning, when his breakfast should be served, and how the housework should be done. After several long years, the husband died. As time passed, the woman fell in love with another man, one who dearly loved her. Soon they were married. This husband did everything he could to make his new wife happy, continually showering her with tokens of his appreciation. One day as while was cleaning house, she found tucked away in a drawer the list of commands her first husband had drawn up for her. As she looked it over, it dawned on her that even though her present husband hadn’t given her any kind of list, she was doing everything her first husband’s list required anyway. She realized she was so devoted to this man that her deepest desire was to please him out of love, not obligation. “LORD, please keep us in Your grace constantly throughout this day.”