Eph 2:1-10; Lk 15:11-24. Dan Kroon. It's a word we use so often. It's a concept we know so well. It's a truth we hear over and over again. Grace. Mercy. God's undeserved favour. Amazing, incredible stuff. And does the need to hear it ever decrease? Does the importance of the message ever die down? Does the truth of God's grace ever get old? No. Never. Jesus preached it, lived it, and fulfilled it. Paul reiterated it and proclaimed it. The Reformers revived it and defended it with their lives. Grace. The word, the truth, the gospel, which says you yourself are nothing; you're worthless; you have no merit – but God loves you anyway. As John says, it's not that you first loved God, but that he first loved you and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for your sins. Sola gratia – by grace alone – is our joy to dwell on again this Sunday morning.
