Mark: Journeying With JesusSample

What makes Christianity unique?

It is the only belief system which says that the good things we do don’t count in our favor when it comes to being accepted by God.

It’s good when people try to live honest, selfless lives. There’s nothing wrong with those things in themselves. But according to Jesus, the good things we do won’t make us acceptable to God. How then can we be right with God?

Mark 10:15

“Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Little children are entirely dependent on others for all they have. They can’t make any contribution. And they receive all they have as a gift. They don’t earn the love that their parents show them. And, Jesus says, that is what it is like to follow him.

We could never be good enough for God, on our own terms.

We could never do enough to make things right with God, on our own efforts.

We don’t deserve it. We cannot earn it.

But in Jesus, we can receive forgiveness from God as a free gift. This is the free gift of grace.

Ephesians 2: 8-9

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast."

Grace means that, although we are more sinful than we ever realized, we are more loved than we could ever have imagined. Grace means that we are freed from the painful effort of trying to earn our favor with God, and constantly falling short of it. And God’s grace makes a difference to how we live our day to day lives. Do you hear that radical change in perspective?

REFLECT | How has grace made a difference to your view of God?