Then Why Am I Living It?

The story of God's covenant with Abraham reveals a revolutionary truth about grace - it's entirely one-sided, with God taking full responsibility for its fulfillment while Abraham slept. This pattern challenges our natural inclination to contribute to our salvation and spiritual growth. Like consumers who preferred adding an egg to instant cake mix, Christians often feel uncomfortable with grace being completely free and try to supplement it with religious obligations and moral efforts. The attempt to mix law and grace creates significant problems in the Christian life.

As Paul explains, focusing on rules and requirements actually stimulates sin rather than preventing it. This approach leads to a cycle of failure and frustration, ultimately resulting in either pride or despair. True transformation occurs when believers focus entirely on Christ's finished work and allow His life to flow through them, rather than striving in their own strength. Living under pure grace means trusting in Christ's work rather than our performance, resting in God's unconditional acceptance, and allowing His Spirit to transform us from within. This approach doesn't lead to lawlessness but rather to authentic godly living as described in Titus 2. The key is releasing our attempts to earn or maintain God's favor and instead resting in the sufficiency of Christ's life working through us.