Why is grace so hard for a religious person to accept?
Grace is hard for a religious person because years of rules, law-keeping, and self-effort become deeply ingrained, making free, unearned acceptance seem contrary to human thinking. Such a person must be cleansed by God's power to grasp that salvation is received by believing, not by doing anything to earn it.
Les teaches that Saul of Tarsus was a Jew’s Jew, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, educated at the feet of the greatest rabbi of that time, so he was saturated with Judaism. Being more religious than many peers, and human, he had rules and law-keeping drummed into him for years; Les says it takes the power of God to cleanse a person of all that. Les highlights the stark difference between Judaism’s rules, regulations, and law keeping—and Phariseeism—and stepping into the grace of God to receive everything free for nothing without lifting a finger. That flies in the face of human thinking, yet that is where salvation begins: saying, Lord, there is nothing I can do, but believing He has done it all, died and rose from the dead. After that, God expects a life of service, not resting in saving grace and doing nothing.