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The good news is not that God so loved the world that he gave his Son as an example of the good life, that whoever follows him will be changed. It is: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

We are not called to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ so that we will be transformed. No, we can imitate Christ because first we are promised, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom. 10:9).

The good news does not hinge on words like do or change, but on the powerless, irrelevant, and frightening word faith.

Faith is frightening because it speaks of the death of the self. It seems weak and useless because it undermines any role we might play in this salvation drama. For faith is not an attitude we conjure up, like a cheerleader rousing a crowd, to show God we really mean it. It is not mere intellectual assent that shows God we are thinking soundly. Faith is not even a repentant and contrite heart that we work up to impress God with our humility. Faith is the unexpected realization that something remarkable has happened in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ: our annihilation and our start over.

More remarkable still: There are no conditions. No bargains. No back room deals. Pure grace. Grace as a gift. No strings attached!

It is the no-strings character of grace that demolishes our usual view of change. The free gift must remain absolutely free if we are going to be transformed in the way God calls us to be transformed—if (as Jesus says) we really are to surpass the legalistic righteousness of the Pharisees, if (as Paul exhorts) we really are to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, the first of which is love.

If grace is in any way, shape, or form a deal, a quid pro quo, a bargain, a contract, then we will always be obligated to do our part. It would then be our duty to do what God says. It would turn Christian ethics into another law, and therefore into another burden, into "Alienation: The Sequel." God is not looking for people first and foremost to do or be good, to fulfill the law—in Christ he's already fulfilled it (Matt. 5:17)! He's looking for people who will love—love God and neighbor.

But love cannot be created by contract, no matter how righteous the clauses. If a "grace contract"—to speak absurdly—is to remain in force, God would do his part, and then we would be obligated to do ours, or vice versa. A contract is about mutual obligation. It has nothing to do with love. Only unconditional grace can transform a hardened heart into a grateful heart. Only a free gift can sabotage any notion of the quid pro quo. Only an utterly merciful act of love can fashion a new creation capable of love. As theologian Karl Barth puts it, "As the beloved of God, we have no alternative but to love him in return."

Now, this does not address the issue of why in this life we know grateful, purity-of-heart love only in fleeting moments (more of this in my next column). Still, it does suggest that the Christian life is not grounded in moral improvement—but in the reality that he who is forgiven much, loves much (Luke 7:47)—and that our first prayer is not a plea for changed behavior but "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Ps. 51:10).

Mark Galli is senior managing editor of Christianity Today. He is author of A Great and Terrible Love: A Spiritual Journey into the Attributes of God (Baker).

Previous SoulWork columns are available on our site, including:

The Scandal of the Public Evangelical | What we really have to offer the world. (July 2, 2009)

Chaos Theology | Finding hope in the midst of the terror of creation. (June 18, 2009)

Does Twitter Do Us Any Good? | How the movement of the Trinity can help us decide. (June 4, 2009)

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July (Web-only) 2009, Vol. 53