Just this week someone asked me if grace was a one-time thing. He was having a discussion with someone who thought that grace was only given to help us be saved and then we were on our own.

I would hate to live with that mindset. That would mean that the new life to which God calls us would be something we have to do without any help! But that is the opposite of what God tells us in His Word.

Ephesians 2:6–10 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

When God’s grace reaches out to save us, those who believe live in a state of grace. That means it is ongoing, from now on. Those who have put their faith in Jesus by the power of God’s grace have the certainty that He will continue to be gracious to us. Grace is God’s doing, something He gives and keeps on giving. It is always available, especially during difficult times when we tend to be more aware of our need for God. We will find grace each time we go to God.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

2 Corinthians 12:9  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

That “power” is God’s grace, an ever-present reality in the lives of His people. God’s grace is what keeps us connected to Him even when we stumble and fall.

John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

And we have the assurance of God’s Grace through the means He uses to bring it to us. You are constantly being renewed and forgiven by God through the the sacraments and the preaching of the Word. You are reminded of and strengthened in God’s Grace when we read the Word, when we remember our Baptism, and each time we receive the body and blood of Jesus in, with and under the bread and wine. These means assuring us that His death was our payment for sin and strengthen our connection to Him.

I like the way the hymn writer tells us God’s grace is new each morning:

It is Thy work alone That I am now converted;
O’er Satan’s work in me Thou hast Thy pow’r asserted.
Thy mercy and Thy grace That rise afresh each morn
Have turned my stony heart Into a heart new-born.

The Lutheran Hymnal #417 stanza 2