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But God loves us deeply. He is full of mercy. So, he gave us new life because of what Christ has done. He gave us life even when we were dead in sin. God\u2019s grace has saved you (Ephesians 2:4-5).

On the weekend of October 22, Walter Decker, a 99-year-old Hamiltonian, climbed the 1,776 steps to the top of the CN Tower in Toronto. It\u2019s the third time he has made the climb. He does it to raise money for the United Way. His climbing began 10 years ago as a distraction from his grief after losing his wife.

Since then, Decker has been climbing up the steps of the Hamilton Escarpment three times a week. He does 30 to 50 push-ups each morning when he wakes up. His story is inspiring. Many of us can resonate with his ambition. Even if we are not gifted with that drive, we wish we were. We idolize that ambition. It is the cultural sea in which we swim.

This is a culture in which we aspire to have the energy and ambition, the single-minded purpose to journey from rags to riches. This is a culture in which we revere those who have the undistracted and unswerving mental tenacity to add degree after degree to their name. This is a culture in which we idolize those who have the eye-on-the-ball concentration to hit home runs during the world series.

But such goals, athletic prowess, financial abundance, academic acclaim, and others like them, have little to do with living in the resurrection life, to the praise of God\u2019s glory. You see, the disciplines that lead to competitive ambition are commonly pursued without conscience, without love, without compassion, without humility, without generosity, without righteousness, without holiness. The ambitions and the successes that our culture treasures can all be pursued while ignoring the values by which Jesus calls his disciples to live. Likewise, many Christians ignore them to our shame and Jesus\u2019 shame.

I mention all of this, not to denigrate Mr. Decker. I know nothing more about him then what I mentioned here. Nor do I say all of this to lament how evil our culture is, nor to lament that many Christ followers are indistinguishable. Rather, I say all of this to highlight the radicalness of the gospel. If it was radical among the Ephesians, it is no less now. I am, of course, speaking about the doctrine of grace: \u201cWe are saved by grace alone\u201d \u2013 sola gratia \u2013 as it become know in the days of the Protestant Reformation.

Grace alone means that God loves, forgives, and saves us not because of who we are (our identity) or what we do (our accomplishments), but because of the work of Christ. None of our energy and ambition, nor single-minded purpose, nor undistracted and unswerving mental tenacity, nor eye-on-the-ball concentration are helpful for our entering the resurrection life. God declares us righteous for Christ's sake. It is a gift, and only a gift.

Our greatest barrier to experience God\u2019s great loving salvation is our own need to accomplish stuff, to be productive, to shore up our self-identity by showing off our life\u2019s trophies, including our spiritual success. To find redemption, we need to let all this go. In his book, Practicing Resurrection, Eugene Peterson calls this \u201cacquired passivity\u201d. Passivity suggests \u201cinsipid, spineless, no-good, lazy, lacking gumption, couch-potato, good-for-nothing, shiftless, hangdog\u201d. Not things we aspire to be known for.

If grace is a free gift from God rooted totally in his mercy and love, then it simply cannot be earned or acquired by our work and scheming and effort. It can only be received. But that goes against the grain. We want to deserve it; to do something we can show off to God. But there is nothing. Not until we have stopped trying and laid back in total surrender do we discover that grace holds us up.

This is freedom. Our sin no longer separates us from Him and no longer places us under his judgement. We can rest in the arms of Jesus. His love surrounds us. His grace fills us. His mercy will lead us home. Our spiritual activity is no longer a striving to get God\u2019s attention, but a joyful response to his grace. They are acts of love to the God who loves us even though we were rotting in the grave.

This is the resurrection life. This is \u2018acquired passivity\u2019, to simply receive. Once we catch a glimpse of it, we proclaim with the apostle:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:17-21).