Like most years, I'm once again reading through the Bible and for the past few years, there's one particular passage of scripture that jumps out to me and it has to do with Noah. God regretted His creation of mankind because the whole world had become corrupt and full of evil. He decided to destroy all living creatures. Yet, we see this statement regarding Noah.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (Genesis 6:8 NKJV)
Grace is God's unmerited favor. Grace is not something that can be earned. Grace is a gift from God, simply because He decides to give it. Up to this point, we don't read anything about Noah doing all the right things. We don't see him praying or making sacrifices. I really see this verse as being the reason and the answer as to why Noah then began to do the right things.
This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9 NKJV)
Why was Noah a just man? Because he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Why was he perfect in his generations? Because he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Why did Noah walk with God? Because he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God's grace came first and then Noah's actions followed suit.
So often, we seem to think if we can just become holy enough, if we just lay aside enough of our sin, we can somehow earn favor from God. The truth is, none of us are capable of doing that. We might overall live a good life and find ourselves as better than others, but that will never make us holy. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
It is only through faith in Jesus, believing that He died for us and rose again that we can be made holy. It is His redemptive sacrifice that has made us righteous. Yet, I still see many Christians attempt to live a blameless life in order to find favor from God. When we understand that His favor has already been extended to us, it begins to change the way we conduct ourselves. Christians who continue in sin often fail to understand the full extent of God's love and grace. The more we can grasp that, the more it will compel us to do the right thing.
There have been times in my life when I was greatly focused on the lists of "do's" and "don'ts", and I would inevitably break the rules on the list each time. Once I began to focus on His love and on His grace given to me, my actions began to follow suit. The control over me switched from flesh to spirit. That war ended and the victory parade began.
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