I hope that your weekend went well, and that this coming week will be a blessed and fruitful one! We hear a lot about the good news of God's grace. In fact, this is the gospel message in a nutshell. But, if you ask people what grace is and what it does, you'd more than likely get an assortment of different answers.
When one talks about all of the special aspects of God's character, there is one in particular that stands out. It is grace. God's grace is closely entwined to His love, mercy, and benevolence. Some very basic definitions might be: "God's favor to those not worthy of it" or "God's act of kindness upon those unfit for it, or undeserving of it."
God can do many things for us. Among these is His willingness to forgive our sins and generously bless us, even though none of us deserves any of it. The great Princeton theologian Benjamin Warfield said as much about grace: "Grace is free sovereign favor to the ill-deserving."
If we are to attempt any understanding of grace, careful consideration of who we were without Jesus Christ and who we are with Him is necessary. We, that's all of us, were born in sin (Psalm 51:5), and were also guilty of not adhering to God's holy laws (Romans 3:9-20; 23; 1 John 1:8-10).
Along with this, we were enemies of God (Romans 5:6, 10; 8:7; Colossians 1:21) who deserved to die (Romans 6:23a), were unrighteous (Romans 3:10), and were certainly in no position to justify ourselves (Romans 3:20). We were a spiritual train wreck happening in slow-motion; heading toward everlasting punishment.
But then something truly wonderful and special occurred! God reached out to us in grace. I don't have to tell you what a big deal this was. His grace is what saves us (Ephesians 2:8). As I mentioned before, it's the core of the gospel (Acts 20:24). God's "grace" is what gives us victory over sin (James 4:6), and provides "eternal encouragement and good hope" (2 Thessalonians 2:16),
More than once, the apostle Paul recognized grace as the principle reason for his to being brought to Christ as an apostle (Romans 15:15; 1 Corinthians 3:10; Ephesians 3:2, 7), And why not? After all, Jesus Christ is the manifestation of grace and truth combined (John 1:14).
Clearly, grace truly is a gift to us (Ephesians 4:7). We owe nothing in return, there is no cost to the recipient, it is ours forever, and because the giver selflessly and willingly covered the cost for us, this enables us to reap its full benefit free of charge (2 Corinthians 8:9).
The Bible imparts to us that grace is totally unmerited, or undeserved. No matter how many good deeds we do, or how saintly we live our lives, we can never earn it. Sorry to disappoint you if you've been keeping score (Romans 4:4; 11:5-6; 2 Timothy 1:9-19). You can check this out yourself if you like at Romans 5:8-10.
Grace doesn't come to an end once you and I are saved. Our Heavenly Father continues to be gracious to us for the duration of our earthly lives. He is always working within and upon us. However, we can't just sit on our grace. We must also extend it to others. serve them, and use our spiritual gifts to build up the church (Romans 12:6; Ephesians 3:2, 7; 4:7; 1 Peter 4:10).
I'll close today with some final thoughts. We should be filled with gratitude for the loving-kindness, favor, and grace of our God. If not for His grace, we'd all be doomed since all have sinned. Therefore, look to God's grace; and submit to the authority of the gospel for your salvation.
Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 2:11; Acts 15:11; John 6:44; Galatians 2:20
Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for your deep love for us; thank you for your unconditional love! You died for us while we were still sinners. And though we did nothing that was worthy of your sacrifice, you did it anyway because You love us that much. May You continue to demonstrate the magnitude of Your love to our hearts, and the power of Your truth. Amen
Have a blessed Monday!
Hailey
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.