How far?

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 

Psalm 103:12 (HCSB) 

God's grace for us is amazing.  His willingness to forgive us is beyond our comprehension.  This little verse from the Psalms is a wonderful reminder of how far God removes our sin from us.  While we sometimes remember the sins of our past, God has removed them from us.  Never to come back to us. 

 How far is the east from the west?  The two never shall meet.  Our sin will never be placed on our back again.  Jesus has taken our sin and He has removed them.

Now the point for us today is this:  If He has removed our sin and He intends never for us to have to deal with it again.  Then we need to leave our guilt and the sin itself alone.  Don't pick it up again!  Stop feeling guilt for what God has already forgiven and dealt with.

Work because of Grace

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. 
Ephesians 2:8-10 (HCSB)

In our Human thinking we sometimes will debate Grace - vs - Works.  There really is no debate when we see what Paul writes here to the Ephesians.  He is clear we are saved by grace.  Salvation is a gift from God.  All the boasting for salvation goes to God.  He is the one who has done the work for salvation.

But also notice we are His creation.  He is created us for works.  In fact in God's wisdom and plan He has prepared, ahead of time, what He would have us do.  There are some general things, like holiness, righteousness and becoming more like Jesus, that are common to us all.  But there are also some specific things that God has created you and recreated you to be as a New creation for Jesus.  God has a very specific plan for you personally.

So the reality is for the Christ follower we are saved by Grace and God has work for us to do.  In fact the evidence of our salvation is in our works. (See James)  The question for us as Christ followers is will we be found living out His grace in our works?