The cross is pointless, grace is worthless and faith is empty if the gospel is dependent on you.
It is, and always will be our desire to dumb down the gospel of God. Grace is so foreign to our way of thinking that our natural desire is always to follow our own good works. We claim that our works are grounded in grace, but ultimately if we are honest, we all pursue our good works seasoned by grace.

To understand what it means to be saved, you must understand your condition outside of salvation. We are condemned, fallen, sinful people who worship ourselves while rejecting God. Jesus Christ did not come to condemn the world because our actions and nature have already accomplished it. Left alone we are men and women who have made a mess of things. The hope of the human condition is dead, killed by its own lustful desire for sin.
Grace means God works when we didn’t deserve it.
Grace means God sent his Son because he is love.
Grace is the work of God in spite of human idolatry.