[We] are justified by his grace as a gift.
—Romans 3:24
Sin is a bigger catastrophe than we can conceive, and grace is a bigger blessing than we can comprehend: “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life” (Rom 6:23).
If you prayed every moment of your life, you couldn’t pray enough to earn God’s approval. If you gave every penny you ever earned, you couldn’t give enough to deserve God’s acceptance.
That’s why God sent Jesus to our world: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). The only portal to God’s acceptance is the doing and dying of Jesus on our behalf. This is what grace does!
Our obedience is a response of gratitude and worship, not a frantic attempt to earn God’s favor.
Sin shuts you out.
Grace lets you in.