Galatians 1

SCRIPTURE
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.  6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

OBSERVATION
From the very inception of the church till now believers have struggled with this understanding of the gospel - the Good News that tells us we have been saved from death, hell and the grave by the grace of God.  It just doesn't seem right, surely it must be the grace of God and the works of man?  But we are not saved by works, not by anything we do, but because of what God has done for us.

UNDERSTANDING
The issue of salvation; being saved from the wages of sin and being restored to relationship with God, is not something we work for, it is something freely given by God.  After salvation there then comes the fact that as people transformed by the grace of God we choose to live in a way that pleases God.  This living out of our love for God does not save us, it is simply the outflow of our changed life because of the salvation of God.  Many people confuse the two thinking that only if you do "godly" things then you are saved.  Actually it is because we have experienced the grace of God we want to do what pleases God.

There is great freedom in understanding the difference

LIFE APPLICATION
Father thank you for your grace that saved me. Thank you for being my Savior, and now I surrender my life to You choosing to live in a way that honors and pleases You.  I choose to live in a way that reflects the fact that I am "in Christ."  I am a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.  I want my life to reflect the love I have for You.