Most of us can remember times when we received an extra-special birthday or Christmas gift that we knew we didn’t deserve. The gift was given not because of anything we did or because of our good behavior; it was given simply because of the giver’s love for us. God is like that when it comes to giving good things to those who trust in Him. He loves us more than anything, and He wants very much to show us His grace.

Grace is unmerited, undeserved favor. The world doesn’t understand it, and therefore operates under a “do good, get good” mindset. Living this way is exhausting and burdensome; God wants more for us than simply toiling endlessly to earn acceptance from others. “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:28-30, MSG). When religion tells us there are multiple requirements to fill before we can please God, God tells us He’s already pleased with us.

We may not accept that we can receive good things we didn’t earn from God if we don’t know His nature. Many people grew up in churches that preached a message of punishment for failure to do the right things. Jesus Christ took all our punishment on Himself when He went on the cross. God is no longer angry; He is instead offering us the olive branch of forgiveness. “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins” (Romans 3:23, 24, NLT).

The Gospel of Grace is the complete opposite of what most of us have learned in church. When the Old Testament Law of Moses was given to the people, its many rules and regulations were impossible to keep; the result was guilt and fear. Jesus replaced the law with grace, and shifted the focus from following the rules through self-effort to simply believing in God’s favor toward us.

Before Jesus’ death, salvation rested on performance. When the rich young ruler asked Jesus how to get into heaven, Jesus’ answer was based on the law. “And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?…Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother” (Luke 18:18, 20). After Jesus’ resurrection, everything changed. This was evidenced by the answer Paul and Silas gave to the jailer when he asked them the same question. “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:30, 31).

The world is still stuck in the law, but we don’t have to be. Accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and trusting in His love and forgiveness, positions us to receive good gifts that we don’t deserve. This allows Him to reveal His grace to us.