God saved us–not by anything we did in our own righteousness–but because He is gracious and merciful and gave us the righteousness of Christ.

—Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, eliminates any kind of personal boasting. Notice that Paul says in verses 1-2 “We ourselves were this way…”

–Salvation by free grace in Christ humbles every single person, when he or she realizes that their sins were so heinous Jesus had to die on their behalf in order to satisfy God’s justice.

–Salvation by free grace in Christ also emboldens every person, because he or she realizes that Jesus was willing to die for them!

–Salvation by free grace through faith in Christ edifies each person, because each person-no matter his or her circumstances in the world-knows that they have the hope of eternal life and a complete inheritance with Jesus!

–Salvation by grace through faith propels each person to good works, because we respond out of love and joyful obedience. Grace frees us to pursue God as a result of being his beloved child, not because we are trying to crawl our way back to Him.