The Right Mindset

Being a Christian is not being above others but being in God’s grace. There is a common misconception that to acknowledge that we are Christian and to know that we gain eternal life even at the present life, we are holy, righteous, and better than others. We are not. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9. Remember God’s Word, it says, so that no one can boast. We have nothing to boast about. It is all by grace and God’s doing. Because it is by grace, it is a favor given to us which we never deserved. It was given by God because His grace and love can never deny Himself of granting us the good and abundant life.

Living by God’s grace is to live with fear of God and not pride of self. This is the very reminder of Paul to the Christian Gentiles in Rome. When God saved us by His grace, we are just the wild branches grafted into the olive tree. We are not the root. It is the root that holds and enables the branches to grow and bear fruit. None of us is the root. So we do not have any reason to pride ourself or to be arrogant of our standing. “do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.” – Romans 11:18-24. It is God who cuts off and grafts in according to His kindness to us. It is all by His doing according to His great wisdom. Our proper response to this is to continue in God’s kindness for us. We should live in fear of God. “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” – Proverbs 3:7-8. Blessed is the one who fears the Lord (Proverbs 28:14).