Grace and Then Something More

I read the story recently about a food company that couldn’t understand why their instant cake mix wouldn’t sell. It was a wonderful creation. However they discovered that consumers felt uneasy that the only requirement was simply adding water to the mix. People thought it was too easy. So after giving considerable thought to a new marketing strategy, the company changed their formula, which required the consumer to do something more -adding an egg. This little tweak led to instant success. When thinking about it isn’t this how many Christians look at grace. The thought of God making it so easy to attain and sustain salvation reaches beyond our comprehension.  Surely there is something more that you and I should do.  Yet, Paul so descriptively spelled out our obligation in Ephesians 2:8-9.  ^“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” We read this but are tempted to reply, “Yes Paul I hear what you are saying but surely there is something more to it.  It must take adding the ingredient of church attendance, bible reading, praying, witnessing and the spice of good clean living.” The truth is most us have real difficultly when it comes to doing nothing, especially in the spiritual realm.  We are plagued with insecure adrenalin that forces us to believe that our salvation must take some effort on our part.  Yet, if more proof is needed one only needs to read the last words of Jesus while on the cross.  Gasping for his last few breaths he cried out “It is finished.” In essence He was saying “the package is complete, all ingredients have been included, and you need only to believe.” Nothing can be added to it or taken away. The directions are simple and clear it’s all grace not--grace and then something more.