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God First, Man Second

I'll admit it. I probably think different than other people. I'm really ok with that. For instance, yesterday I was part of leading a membership class at our church. I was looking forward to it.

That's not a typo.

It wasn't because there was a free lunch involved, although it was delicious. It wasn't because there was the potential for new members, which means growth for the church, although that is good on several levels. It was because one of the sessions I got to teach was on the way of salvation.

The focus, for our church and the class, was on God's grace being the crucial ingredient through every step of the journey. We teach prevenient grace, saving grace, sanctifying grace and glorifying grace. Yeah, that's a lot of grace.

So I started it all with one of my personal faves;

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works so, that no one can boast. ~Ephesians 2:8-9

I like this because I like grace. But I also like when it becomes painfully obvious just how much this isn't about us. It does that right here. This grace is not from you. You can't work enough for it. You can't brag about it. All you can do...is accept it.

Praise God.
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