Saved by Grace!

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast." When I attended a Catholic school in India they taught me a lot about what it meant to be saved by grace. This was 30 some years ago. During that time, in that school system if you worked really hard but failed to pass in a test by a few points, the teacher could decide to give you those much needed points and pass you. They called it grace marks. So if the passing score was 70 and you scored 65 the teacher would take a red ink pen write grace mark and give you those five points to pass you. According to Paul, we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). What Paul means is that we have all failed to make the passing score in God's test in life. Mother Teresa might have scored a lot more than any one of us, but even she ended up with a few points short of the passing mark. Therefore, what you need is the grace mark that God offers through the blood of Jesus. And when you passed in such a way in that school in India you did not go about with a proud face or went home with any sense of pride, but with humility knowing that it was by grace that you have passed. The same is true of our salvation as Paul points out, it is a gift, not our own doing so that no one may boast.