Grace is the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ in the life of a Christian. Jesus died for each us. He paid for our sins, past, present, and future. Christ's grace lays the foundation for our faith in Him and our repentance. It is as if Jesus is telling each one of us to have joy and be happy since His mercy has satisfied the demands of justice for everyone who has come unto Christ through faith in His name and repenting of our sins. At the point in which we decide to rely wholly on His merits and trust in Him alone, he causes a change in our hearts. We are filled with joy, receive a remission of our sins and have peace of conscience. We have entered by the gate. From this point on we walk the strait and narrow path back to the presence of God. We are no longer in rebellion. He is now the author of our faith and later on will become the finisher of our faith. We are now perfect in Christ. We still have our weaknesses. As we let God order and maintain our lives we advance from grace to grace, overcoming our weaknesses. We deny ourselves all ungodliness. We believe in Jesus' ways and strive to act accordingly. And, all this is on the foundation of grace. And, this personal knowledge gives us joy. All our sins are paid for! Our love for our Savior, or Rescuer makes the process of recreating ourselves in the image of Christ, a joyful process. Jesus is with us every step of the way, as if we are walking hand in hand with him.
In the past I believed that I earn my way to heaven by keeping the commandments. There was no joy in keeping the commandments because my foundation was wrong. Sure, I believe in Christ and His atonement. But, I don't know how to apply it. I believe that I must do all the commandments before grace kicks in. Inadvertently, I don't realize that I am giving lip service to Jesus but really don't believe Him. Somehow if I just keep the commandments as I perceive them I will eventually get there. The sins that I am still doing are not covered by Christ. Christ goes into pain every time I repeat the sin. I start getting frustrated. I can't seem to overcome certain sins. My paradigm isn't working. Without first building on the Rock, establishing the foundation of Grace, I delude myself into thinking that my works will save me. I become self-righteous, judging others that don't keep the commandments I keep. Trusting in and relying on Jesus sounds absurd. Too easy. Too gentle. And, foolish. How can do that and still be self-sufficient? And, self-made?
My heart starts breaking. I become contrite. My current way of thinking isn't bring my joy and happiness. I am stressed and judge myself and everyone else as bad. I am always comparing. I finally turn to God and look to Jesus. I want His mercy. I want His love. I begin to realize that I need Jesus in my life. I turn to Him with full purpose of heart. Something starts changing inside of me. I start feeling joy. I like it. It tastes delicious. Upon thinking and feeling this way, immediately doth the great plan of redemption come to me. I have finally started to build my life on the Rock of Christ, the foundation of Christ's grace.
I have realized that Christ's atonement not only made it possible for everyone to resurrect to a kingdom of glory but His sacrifice made if possible for me to progress and continuously recreate myself in the image of Christ. The Way becomes easy. I am in a state of daily gratitude for my Jesus. This was His plan all along! For me to walk with Him, relying on Him, my weakness being changed one by one and my light becomes brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
And, if I die along the path of change, no matter. The point of this life was to find the path and get as far as I could before I die. We just continue on the same path after we die. We are saved.
