There is a balance between God’s part in our lives and our part. There are many ministers who teach that God is in absolute control of our lives. They miss the fact that we have a part.
So what is God’s part and what is ours? This is where a lot of people miss it in their Christian lives.
Take healing as an example. The Bible is clear that it is God’s will to heal every sickness and disease. Are we just supposed to wait on Him to do it or is there something we are supposed to be doing?
Many Christians fail to receive. The main reason is that they are waiting on God to do what He has instructed them to do. I have also seen that another reason is that many are trying to do God’s part.
If we are going to successfully live the Christian life we will have to correctly develop a clear understanding of what is God’s part and what is ours.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
The faith we were saved by is a gift from God. It comes as we hear His Word (Romans 10:17).
Paul said that we are saved by grace through faith. It requires a combination of both and not one over the other.
Most of the body of Christ seem to be divided into different groups. Some focus on grace. These say that everything that happens is up to God.
“If God wants you to be healed than He will do it.”
This is an extreme form of grace teaching. It takes away our responsibility.
Others focus solely on faith. These say that everything in our Christian lives is up to us. These focus on fasting, praying, and bombarding heaven.
We must discover the proper balance. Paul tells us that we were saved by grace through faith. Both were required.
If we take grace by itself, we will end up in a ditch on one side of the road.
If we take faith by itself, we will end up in a ditch on the other side of the road.
In a sense this can be compared to sodium and chloride. Both chemicals are considered poisonous and could kill us. Mixed together in a proper ration they will become salt which we must have to live.
Grace must be balanced with faith. This is what Paul is telling us in Ephesians 2. It has helped me to think of grace as God’s part and faith as mine.
The Strong’s concordance defines grace as unearned and unmerited favor. I think of it as being everything that God is and has which has been made available to me unconditionally based on the redemptive work of Christ. If we have to do anything to be worthy of grace then it is not grace.
Grace will never be performance based. It is something God has done for us independently of our works.
And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
John 1:16
God poured His grace out on the world through the Lord Jesus more than two thousand years ago. It came before you and I were born!
Jesus only died for our sins once. He is not going back to the cross. In God’s mind we were saved before taking our first breath. Salvation is His free gift provided by His grace. Our part is to receive this gift by faith. Many do not and leave this world to face an eternal separation from their Creator.
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 2:2
Jesus died for every person who will ever walk on this planet. This includes every unsaved man, woman, or child.
Every unsaved person’s sin has been paid for. They just have not received the free gift of salvation.
People do not go to hell today for their individual sins. These have been paid for by Jesus. It is the rejection of His payment for our sins that send people to hell.
Grace has provided salvation which is a free gift from God. Faith is how we receive what God has provided.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.
Titus 2:11
Jesus paid for the sins of even the most evil individuals who walked this planet. God’s grace provided salvation equally for the most evil dictator and the kind lady who lives a good life but has never received the gift of salvation.
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