This past weekend, Americans lost one of the greatest examples of grace that lived in this great country! Chuck Colson went on to be with his Savior on Saturday, April 21, 2012. A legacy not of broken political dreams and laws that were broken to cover a Presidential administration, but of lives that were brought to Christ behind the bars of jails, prisons, correctional facilities, and penitentiaries all across the world! All shapes, sizes, and backgrounds of criminals––men and women were redeemed to have a new life in Christ, all because of Grace!
This week two words have been on my heart a lot––GRACE and FAITH! They really go hand in hand. Grace gives us the ability to live out a life full of FAITH! Faith is the megaphone of a life changed by GRACE! Grace gives FAITH a chance! Faith gives GRACE fuel to grow and live in a world that needs to be changed!
Eph. 2:8-10 “God saved you by his grace when you believed (through Faith). And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
“Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift of God to overcome sin. Grace is power, not just pardon.” (Pleasures of God, John Piper pg. 244)
Take the Grace that God has given you this morning, and live with Faith and by Faith! Remember, “Faith without Works is Dead!” When you stop living the life of Grace – Faith dies!