There is no such thing as a free lunch. Yet the Bible tells us that we are saved, not by our own efforts, but by grace. Sounds like a free lunch to me.
Here’s our problem. The first part of the problem is that we have a need to justify ourselves. We want to prove that we belong. We are driven to demonstrate that our lives matter. The second part of the problem is that God is holy. God cannot justify us without compromising his integrity, because we are sinners. Thus we are stuck. We need to know that we are good enough, but God, in his honesty, knows that we are not good enough on our own merit.
Here’s the solution. The first part of the solution is grace. God does indeed give us a free lunch. We are saved not by any effort on our part, but by the generous grace of God. It is not what we do, but what God has done for us. We are justified by grace. The second part of the solution is the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is God loving us while we are still unlovable, calling us his friend while we are still his enemy. God changes our status before him. He calls us righteous, even when we are not. That indeed makes righteous, because God is sovereign of the universe, and if he says it, it is so.
In our sermon this Sunday we will talk about how we are justified by grace.