Emphasis Preaching Journal

The theme of grace pervades Paul's writings. It is as though he is afraid he cannot remind us often enough that it is "by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God." And maybe Paul is right! For lurking behind and underneath all of our slick affirmations about God's grace "doing it all for us," is the deeply entrenched notion that we are really doing it ourselves. We have not yet come fully to terms with the dynamics of grace as a free gift. We have not yet given up the belief that we can do it for ourselves.