Topic: Life Before Grace – Charles Stanley Daily Devotional  20 JANUARY 2023

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Life Before Grace

Whether pursuing sin or goodness, people are without hope apart from Christ.

January 20, 2023

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Ephesians 2:1-3

Grace is the unmerited love that God shows to sinful people. He expressed this love through the sacrificial death of His Son, and it becomes ours when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior. Because of grace, we are forgiven by God and adopted into His family. 

Today’s passage describes our life before grace—when we were dead in our trespasses and sins. This means that every one of us is born with no spiritual life, numb to the things of God. Our nature leans away from the Lord and instead toward ourselves and the ways of the world. 

Before encountering grace, Saul of Tarsus (later known as the apostle Paul) was very religious but blind to God’s perspective and plan. He actively opposed those who followed Christ (Acts 26:9-11). With a goal of destroying the church, he sought to eradicate the Christian faith, which he deemed false. He continued persecuting believers until he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6). There he surrendered his will to the Lord and became a true follower of Christ. 

Like Paul, some people are religious and yet lack a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Does that describe you? God offers every one of us grace and salvation today through faith in Him.

Bible in One Year: Exodus 13-15

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