{"id":8831,"date":"2023-03-20T08:22:11","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T13:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joanndownsalo.com\/?p=8831"},"modified":"2026-07-24T05:46:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T10:46:54","slug":"access-by-faith-into-his-grace-romans-52","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=8831","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Access by faith into His grace.&#8221; Romans 5:2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ever try to win God&#8217;s love? Exhausting isn&#8217;t it? I mean, how do we think we&#8217;re ever gonna reach that goal? And even <em>if<\/em> it were possible; what would be our litmus test? Would all our pain and suffering stop? Would our conscience never bother us? Would the complaining in our head shut up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Is human faith even strong enough? It feels like my faith is shaky at times\u2014I question God. It would seem: <em>If I just visit that grieving friend, make a point to be polite, show up for church on a regular basis, put a few dollars in the basket more often\u2014I would feel more confident. <\/em><strong><em>I could be sure God has reason to love me.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sounds ridiculous right? <em>But these are real things we think about.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let&#8217;s dig deeper into <em>faith<\/em> and <em>grace<\/em>. What do they even mean in scripture? Words like these get used every day in ways that don&#8217;t pertain to God at all. Faith can be simply wishful thinking: &#8220;I have faith you&#8217;ll recover.&#8221; &#8220;I have faith in my country.&#8221; We&#8217;ve had a million objects of faith that didn&#8217;t pan out. So, when we hear it being spoken, or read it in scripture\u2014it barely holds water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Truth is, <\/strong><strong><em>biblical faith<\/em><\/strong><strong>, points to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.<\/strong> The kindness of God is revealed to spiritually blind eyes\u2014<em>and hope sees for the very first time.<\/em> Like new life coming through the birth canal, there&#8217;s no turning back. Oh, we&#8217;ll cry and crawl, make mistakes and fall. A few of us will even deny we saw at all, but underneath that ugly lie a spirit survives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And what of&nbsp; <em>grace? <\/em>In scripture <em>grace<\/em> has zero to do with poise and elegance. It&#8217;s not a name we give to a son or daughter. Grace isn&#8217;t something we offer up to God; our attention, our petitions, our reverence. <strong><em>Grace rains down from heaven. Grace is the gift of Jesus to every broken and contrite heart who believes they can&#8217;t live without Him.&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A poor mouth opened in faith\u2014grace will surely save.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever try to win God&#8217;s love? Exhausting isn&#8217;t it? I mean, how do we think we&#8217;re ever gonna reach that goal? And even if it were possible; what would be our litmus test? Would all our pain and suffering stop? Would our conscience never bother us? Would the complaining in our head shut up? Is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143625079,"featured_media":20240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[54418],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bible"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pacmrQ-2ir","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2527,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=2527","url_meta":{"origin":8831,"position":0},"title":"Jesus: The Way to Heaven","author":"Jo Alo","date":"October 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a friend. She is very kind and thoughtful. Gracious and generous. We laugh about silly things, and always look forward to seeing each other. I love her. She believes Jesus was a great prophet. A holy man. She believes that he was God's son. She says that she\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Jesus&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Jesus","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?cat=8329"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_6324.jpg?fit=961%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_6324.jpg?fit=961%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_6324.jpg?fit=961%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/img_6324.jpg?fit=961%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4320,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=4320","url_meta":{"origin":8831,"position":1},"title":"What God Wants From Us","author":"Jo Alo","date":"December 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve little interest in Christmas. I\u2019m excited about Christ. If it were up to me, we wouldn\u2019t have a tree. But I love the man who carries this stuff up. Meticulously picking each piece out. Humming and singing as he goes. Gathering and printing addresses. Stamping and mailing cheer wishes.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christmas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Christmas","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?cat=723213696"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/img_7049.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/img_7049.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/img_7049.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/img_7049.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11309,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=11309","url_meta":{"origin":8831,"position":2},"title":"&#8220;For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.&#8221; 1 Corinthians 4:20","author":"Jo Alo","date":"July 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The world is all talk. Jesus\u00a0is all power. The easiest thing in the world is to counter attack, consider ourselves experts, act like we have all the answers. Human behavior takes no extraordinary power. But when reviled, how will we ever keep loving? When persecuted, where can we find peace?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Holy Spirit&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Holy Spirit","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?cat=33380"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/anuja-tilj-je1mquo0-ie-unsplash-4.jpeg?fit=913%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/anuja-tilj-je1mquo0-ie-unsplash-4.jpeg?fit=913%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/anuja-tilj-je1mquo0-ie-unsplash-4.jpeg?fit=913%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/anuja-tilj-je1mquo0-ie-unsplash-4.jpeg?fit=913%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11702,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=11702","url_meta":{"origin":8831,"position":3},"title":"&#8220;I trust in Your word.&#8221; Psalm 119:42","author":"Jo Alo","date":"September 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I knew the Holy Spirit's answer had been a firm, \"No.\" I prayed for wisdom, and she answered. And yet, when I closed the Bible, I did it anyway. Trust in God goes beyond learning what God has said. Anyone can learn and regurgitate Scripture. The devil spouts Scripture. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;trust&quot;","block_context":{"text":"trust","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?cat=57610"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/krrcd87tqmgruqaoxagbg_thumb_3eba.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/krrcd87tqmgruqaoxagbg_thumb_3eba.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/krrcd87tqmgruqaoxagbg_thumb_3eba.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/krrcd87tqmgruqaoxagbg_thumb_3eba.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2604,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=2604","url_meta":{"origin":8831,"position":4},"title":"The Cost of Dreams\/The Riches of Faith","author":"Jo Alo","date":"October 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The book is finished. The memoir I've been writing: Divine Surprise. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A book I believe God called me to write. It\u2019s done. No\u2026it hasn't been published. It hasn\u2019t even been edited for errors or flowability or whatever it\u2019s called when a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;dreams&quot;","block_context":{"text":"dreams","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?cat=1547"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_3774.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1178&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_3774.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1178&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_3774.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1178&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_3774.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1178&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_3774.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1178&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2609,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=2609","url_meta":{"origin":8831,"position":5},"title":"I Don&#8217;t Want To Change the World, I Just Want To Keep Changing","author":"Jo Alo","date":"March 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I was twenty-four when my knees bent to Jesus. Bringing a boatload of baggage into my born-again life. Married six years with two littles, I had a heap of bad behavior to reorganize. Cigarettes and swearing had to go. Movies, TV shows, music\u2014all required revamping. Bible reading and morning prayer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Life&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?cat=124"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/dsc_0046.jpeg?fit=1196%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/dsc_0046.jpeg?fit=1196%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/dsc_0046.jpeg?fit=1196%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/dsc_0046.jpeg?fit=1196%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/dsc_0046.jpeg?fit=1196%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/galina-nelyubova-BWE-T13sEpI-unsplash.jpeg?fit=4500%2C2500&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/143625079"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8831"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20238,"href":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8831\/revisions\/20238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}