The leper brought nothing to Jesus. No offering. No clean record. Just a question: are You willing?
Years later, Paul wrote down why the answer was yes.
He wrote it from prison, to the believers in Ephesus. That city was built around a great temple, and everyone there knew how religion worked: you paid, you sacrificed, you bargained to stay on the gods’ good side. You give, and then maybe you get.
Paul turned all of that upside down in two sentences.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9)
A gift. Not a wage. Not a reward for the good months.
I spent most of my working life as an accountant, so I know how ledgers work. Debits on one side, credits on the other, and everything has to balance. Grace doesn’t balance. That’s the point. God tore the page out of the ledger.
You can’t earn a gift. And you can’t lose it by having a bad week.
Is there something you’re still trying to earn from God?
On Monday: the one leper who came back.
In His grace,
Bruce
Grace. Always grace.
Bruce Mitchell is a Christ-follower, loved by grace and learning to love one another as He commanded. He studied at Biola University and Dallas Theological Seminary, spent most of his working life as an accountant, and founded Agapao Allelon Ministries to share the love of Jesus with anyone looking for grace.
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“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 (ESV)