Living by grace... saved by grace. The same or different?

We have heard the expressions "saved by grace" and "living by grace" (sometimes referred to as "living by faith") but are these different? If so, what is the difference? Are they similar? How?

They are the same, but also different.

They are the same in that both address God's love for us based on and secured by:

1. Christ! His work on our behalf, i.e. the gospel/good news.

and 

2. Both are received and experienced by faith.

  

How are they different:

Saved by grace addresses 

1. Our sin problem, i.e. our legal status and standing of guilt and condemnation before God prior to being in Christ. Plus, our internal turmoil of guilt and shame (our internal pain and suffering) that comes from this. 

In Christ both are gone. We are now fully accepted and loved by God in Christ and will never be more so than we already are. 

Living by grace addresses

2. Our circumstances/ suffering/ hardship problem i.e. our practical everyday experience. This addresses how our external turmoil and suffering from painful circumstances are used by God to advance us. Nothing, no hardship, no loss, no struggle, can or will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ. 

Summary:

1. Saved by grace – God loves us no matter what our sin, i.e. our inside issue of guilt and shame, which is our internal pain and suffering.

2. Living by grace – God loves us no matter what our circumstances, i.e. our outside issue of circumstantial pain and suffering.

We suffer pain both internally and externally. 

Internally because we rebelled and broke away from the source of love and life, thereby living in a state of guilt and shame with a constant need for assurance that we are significant, important, of value, etc.

Externally because we live in a fallen and broken world due to humanity's rebellious distrust of God - including our own, resulting in the mistreatment of each other. Not only are all men and women broken and inclined away from God but the rest of creation as well i.e. the planet is in bondage, resulting in disease, decay, and death. We always encounter "thorns and thistles" in all our endeavors. 

By God's grace, we are assured that he loves us no matter how messed up our world is both inside and out!

Amazing grace!!!

A primary passage addressing how we are saved by grace – Romans chapters 3-8:25. 

A key verse is Rom 5:8 "... but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

A primary passage addressing how we live by grace – Romans chapter 8:26-39. 

Key verses are Rom 8:38 "... For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

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