For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Paul is reminding us that good works (giving to charity, volunteering for the soup kitchen, being active in the parish, etc) are not what defines us as good Christians. We do these things because we are Christians; we are not Christians because we do these things. It is God’s grace that saves us, not our own actions.
This can be a challenging concept. If I’m saved through my faith alone, through God’s grace alone, then what’s the point of struggling so hard to live the Christ-like life? Is a man who never does “good works” just as good a Christian as I am?
The answer to the first question is somewhat moot, in that my faith and the gift of God’s grace are what compel me to into that struggle to begin with. It is how I express my faith, and it is how I respond to the incredible gift of grace. As for trying to compare myself with those who do more or who do less “good works” than I do, that’s an impossible task. I must acknowledge that God’s grace manifests itself differently in each of us, and that another man’s expression of faith and response to God’s grace may not be visible to me. It may, in fact, be profound in ways I can’t begin to imagine, simply because I am not him.
Accepting the concept of grace is, itself, a leap of faith. It is also about trust—trusting in what God calls me to do without trying to judge that calling against those of others.
