When I was about seven, mom baked grandma’s banana bread recipe. She read her mother’s shaky cursive on a soiled index card and followed the measurements down to every last quarter teaspoon.
She poured the ingredients into a bread pan and slide it into the 350 degree oven and waited. And waited. And waited. The loaf didn’t rise. So, she cooked it longer. About five times as long. Finally, she pulled out a crisp, burnt log of banana, sugar, nuts, butter, vanilla.
She checked the recipe again. Where was the flour? The flour! Grandma didn’t write down the amount of flour because she knew all her loafs took 2 cups of flour. Mom threw away the pan with the brick of a loaf.
Of course, she cried. But this memory is one of my favorite because my cooking genes do not fall far from her kitchen. Just a couple months ago I poured heapings of Old Bay seasoning into ground meat, thinking it was taco seasoning.
Oh dear.
We all know that cooking a recipe requires the right ingredients, or it just doesn’t turn out.
The same is true of the gospel.
Ingredient of Grace
I think one of the gospel ingredients most often skewed is the ingredient of grace. We sometimes treat grace like it’s an optional shake of salt, rather than the flour holding all the butter and sugar together.
But maybe it’s because grace just doesn’t make sense.
- It’s not something we earn
- It’s not something we make
- It’s not something we offer
Grace is a gift. And gifts often don’t make sense. That is why they are a blessing.
Seana Scott
What is the Ingredient of Grace?
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
Grace is unmerited favor.
- Grace is a part of how we are saved. “For by grace you have been saved.”
- Grace is a gift. Not something we work for.
Grace is Irreplaceable
Grace and salvation are two main ingredients of the gospel. Together, these are the gift God provides for us through Jesus Christ.
But sometimes, I replace grace.
I replace grace with my idea of what I should do to please God.
- If… I volunteer at church.
- If… I am a perfect mom for the day and don’t yell.
- If… I am productive.
THEN… I will please God.
What are your ifs? What do you start to subconsciously default to in order to earn God’s favor?
Grace is irreplaceable. There is no other recipe for a right relationship with God
Embrace Grace.
REFLECT:
Have you accepted the grace of Jesus Christ for your salvation?
READ THESE SCRIPTURES for the story of the Gospel, then share your decision to believe in Jesus with a Christian you know, or talk to a pastor at your local church.
