When you start to think that you’re absolved of all your sins not by virtue of your brainpower or your goodness or your good works, but by something entirely outside yourself, the unearned goodwill, benevolence, and favor of a God who decided to take an interest in your case and to invest heavily on your behalf at His expense—that’s humbling. At the same time, it should give you confidence that the God who saves you even when you are least worthy of being saved is capable of love on a scale that you can’t imagine. To bring up our efforts as a means of gaining God’s favor distorts our understanding of the God we worship.
But if our efforts don’t gain God’s favor, what are they for, and how (since we’re still very much prone to sin) do we go about living? Paul now moves in 2:10 to focus on “good works.” It is tempting at first glance to think that verses 8 and 9 are about grace and verse 10 is about works, as though grace sets up an account with God, and works put the money in the bank. But this would be to miss something very important that we easily neglect: God is the source of our entire salvation, from start to finish. Or, as one commentator puts it, “It is grace all the way.” So what does that mean, exactly? Read more
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