The Most Important Thing in Life

The most important thing in life is being a Grace Believer. It is more important than having a happy marriage, although it furnishes the platform on which a happy marriage can be built. It is more important than being a wealthy person, although it provides the discipline necessary for increasing effectiveness even in the area of finance. It is more important than good health, although it guarantees a mind safe from the ravages of stress-induced mental illness and emotional upset.

The Grace Believer is, first of all, a person saved by Grace through faith plus nothing (Ephesians 2:8-9). This is the only way any of us can be saved. As a matter of fact, this is the only way that God himself could possibly save anyone. If you and I could contribute even one ounce to our salvation, we could keep on contributing until we had all the ounces necessary, but then Christ would have died for nothing. Christ died for you and me because nothing less than His death could answer to our lost condition. Thankfully, nothing more than His death is needed. Salvation by Grace alone did not originate in the genius of Paul, but in the genius of God. By God's choice it is Paul who communicates this all-important truth to us.

Secondly, the Grace Believer STANDS in Grace (Romans 5:1-2). He cannot lose what he has by being bad because he did not get it by being good. Salvation is not probation. It is the end of our existence as lost people united to Adam in the first creation and the beginning of a new and eternal life united to Christ in the new creation. The God-man, Christ, has paid the wages of sin for the believer and THAT WILL NEVER BE TENDERED AGAIN.

Finally, the Grace Believer is to grow in Grace (Ephesians 4:11-16). Growth is never automatic. Although it may seem to be automatic in the physical realm, the truth is that certain favorable conditions must prevail before growth can take place. Sun, soil, and water are necessary for plants; food, rest and exercise for humans. The Word of God, rightly divided and clearly understood is necessary for all spiritual growth. "Man shall [live] by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

Salvation, Standing, and Growth are all by Grace through faith. But while Salvation and Standing become ours instantaneously, Growth is a process that requires time. The Scriptural encouragement to grow is an invitation to adventure. Growth is really a matter of acquiring more information about the person and work of our Savior. The more we know of what God has made Him to be FOR US and what God has made us to be IN HIM, "the better equipped we are to survive difficulty, minister effectively to others, and enjoy life in the process.

The entire Bible is FOR us, but the Pauline Epistles are TO us and ABOUT us. Therefore growth for the Grace Believer, the believer who lives in this present Dispensation of Grace, comes through understanding these Epistles with their main subject, the Mystery about Christ and His Body, previously concealed but now revealed and spiritually discerned by the spiritual believer. *