“You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:1-9

{Joe always went to his local barber, Verks for a monthly shave and haircut. But one day Verks the barber was ill. So the barber’s wife, Grace, took over. Joe noticed over subsequent weeks that his beard was not growing. The barber, a good Lutheran, explained the mystery. “You now understand that when we are not shaved by Verks,” he said, “you’re shaved by Grace.”}

Saved by Grace through faith. It is what we lean upon when we encounter the close shaves in life. It is one of the fundamental teachings of the Lutheran Church – Justification by Faith through Grace. As the scripture states above, Grace is a gift from G-d. There is nothing we can do to earn such Grace. But, and this is important for us all to understand, G-d doesn’t want our works. Instead, G-d wants an active, loving relationship of faith from each of us.

Martin Luther spent much of his time in the Monastery trying to earn G-d’s love and favor. No matter how much he did, no matter how badly he mortified his own flesh, he could not find the G-d of love he so much wanted in his life. And so he returned to the bible, to scripture, and his life changed.

Now that we are well into the New Year, we are either well into the changes we had hoped to make in 2018, or we have already abandoned them. Thank the Lord our G-d is not as capricious with Grace as we are with works. Justification by Grace through faith. It saves us time and time again.

Pastor Dave