Devotion:
Read Ephesians 2:1-10.
“You were dead…” Paul writes. “But because of his great love for us, God...made us alive with Christ…” How? Through offering us a gift called grace. Through putting our trust (faith) in him by receiving this gift, we are put in a right relationship with God. We are forgiven of our sin (and the sins that are symptoms of it).
John Wesley was an Anglican priest in England in the 18th century. He was deeply devoted to Jesus Christ. He tried to start a movement of renewal within that Church. Though his efforts and methods were rejected at that time, the movement continued to grow and the people involved in it became known as the “Methodists.”
Wesley taught that grace was God’s activity in our life throughout our life. God is active in our life even before we know God. He called that “prevenient grace.” It is grace that comes before, or previous, to our response to God’s activity. When we do respond and seek relationship with God, God accepts with what Wesley called “justifying grace.” It is that gift of forgiveness that puts us right with God. From then on, we live in what Wesley called “sanctifying grace,” God’s continuing activity that seeks to guide us into receiving and sharing God’s perfect love for every person.
So you might say that God’s grace seeks you, saves you and changes you. It’s a life-long gift!
Personal Worship Option:
Reflect on (and give thanks for) the many times God has been active in your life through these understandings of grace.
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