#133 STANDING WHERE GRACE HAS PUT YOU 9-14-26
It is stabilizing to know where you stand. The Christian life is not a life of constantly wondering whether God will accept us tomorrow. Through Jesus Christ, we have been brought into a position of grace. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand” (Romans 5:1-2). We stand in grace. We walk by faith. And we sit in heavenly places with Christ. Our circumstances may change, our emotions may fluctuate, and our earthly situation may be uncertain—but our position in Christ is secure (Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 3:1-3).
Think about that word stand. Paul did not say that we occasionally visit grace. He said we stand in it. Grace is not a temporary shelter for the spiritually successful; it is the ground beneath the feet of those who have trusted Christ. When we stumble, grace is there. When we fail, grace calls us back. When we are weak, grace supplies strength. When we are accused, grace reminds us that there is “no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). We are not standing on our record. We are standing on His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9).
Then the Bible says we walk by faith. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith means I do not have to see everything to trust the One who does. Abraham went out “not knowing where he was going” because he trusted God (Hebrews 11:8). Moses endured “as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). Faith does not deny the storm; faith remembers who is in the boat (Mark 4:37-41). Faith does not pretend the mountain is small; faith remembers that God is greater than the mountain (Matthew 17:20; Jeremiah 32:17).
And then comes one of the most astonishing truths in all the Bible: we sit with Christ in heavenly places. God “raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). Notice the position. We are not merely struggling underneath everything that happens to us. In Christ, we have been given a higher position—a heavenly perspective.. “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above” (Colossians 3:1). We can look at earth from heaven’s perspective because our life is now “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
That changes the way we face tomorrow. I can stand because grace is holding me. I can walk because faith is leading me. I can sit because Christ has already accomplished what I could never accomplish for myself. Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The work of redemption does not begin every morning because I have to earn it again. I wake up every morning already loved, already invited, already accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6-7; Romans 8:32-39).
So when Satan reminds you of your past, remember where you stand. When fear tells you that you cannot make it, remember where you stand. When failure whispers that God is finished with you, remember where you stand. “Having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free” (Galatians 5:1). “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Your confidence is not in your ability to hold yourself up. Your confidence is in the God who is able to keep you from falling (Jude 24; 2 Timothy 1:12).
You do not have to live today trying to become someone God might someday accept. In Christ, you have already been brought near (Ephesians 2:13). You have peace with God (Romans 5:1). You have access to grace (Romans 5:2). You have been made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5). You have been raised with Him (Colossians 2:12-13). You are seated with Him (Ephesians 2:6). Now live from that position. Stand in grace. Walk by faith. Set your mind on things above. The ground beneath you is grace, the road before you is faith, and the destination of your heart is Christ (Romans 5:2; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Colossians 3:1-4).
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Father, thank You that my standing does not depend upon my perfection but upon Your grace. Teach me to walk by faith when I cannot see, to stand when life shakes me, and to keep my heart fixed on Christ and the things above. Let me live today from the security of knowing that I am Yours. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
BDD
