Grace is the main theme that ties all of Scripture together. It is expressed in the promises of God throughout the Bible and is embodied perfectly in the person of Jesus Christ. His prayer is that the Lord would bind his heart, and His grace would be present all the days of his life.
On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. It refuses to play by our rules of reciprocity, fairness, and evenhandedness.
The world often operates on the idea of Karma. Karma teaches that what we do will come back to us. If you are good, good things will happen to you. If you are bad, then bad things will come your way. Grace refuses to play by these rules. In an interview he did back in , U2 lead singer Bono had this to say about grace and karma:. Grace defies reason and logic. When we read the Gospels, we see that Jesus spent time with those people whom the rest of society had cast aside as too far gone to save.
He sat at the same table with prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners Matt , , dining with them and teaching them parables. He did not reject them like the Pharisees wanted him to do Luke but rather came to them in truth and love.
It is one-way love. Grace is not just the basis for our right standing with God, but all of life is grounded in grace. Grace enables and powers everything in the Christian life.
Grace is the basis for our identity in Christ 1 Cor. Our holiness is from the grace of God 2 Tim Grace gives us strength for living 2 Tim. Our hope of eternal life rests in the grace of God Rom. We are saved by grace through faith, not by works, but for good works Eph.
Through his grace, God calls us to be a part of his mission, a part of what He is doing to bring about redemption and restoration to the world. The people of Israel would sin, God would punish them, the Israelites would repent, God would rescue them, but the people would once again forget and fall into sin.
Jesus came to earth and lived as a man, experienced life, but ultimately died for our sins. He then rose again defeating death and after he ascended sent the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts. Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. This salvation that is offered to us, and to all including the Israelites who kept turning away from God, is grace because there is nothing we have done to earn salvation. When we were still sinners stuck in our sin, enjoying our sin, God showed us grace. We see grace in other ways throughout scripture.
An example of this is when David shows grace to Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan, and Jonathan is the son of Saul. Saul had been the king of Israel for many years, but had become distant from God and no longer listened to what God had to say.
Saul sought to kill David when he found out that David would be king instead of his son Jonathan. You may think that being hunted after would make David upset at Saul, but even when the opportunities presented themselves, David did not harm Saul.
After David had become king, he asked if there were any living relatives of Saul left, the answer was yes, the son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth. While David was king and could have done anything he wanted, he chose to show kindness to Mephibosheth. David showed kindness to the relative of his enemy, not because of anything that Mephibosheth had done, but out of grace.
We know that Paul writes a lot about grace in his letters to the various churches in the New Testament. Paul writes of his need for grace every day all the time.
We also need grace every day all the time. In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul talks about a thorn in his side. There was something that he labeled a thorn in his flesh, he pleaded with God three times that he should take it away.
This thorn made him less dependent on himself and more dependent on God and His grace every day. We can look at this word grace all day, and even read throughout scripture as God shows grace, but it becomes so much more prevalent in our lives when we accept it for ourselves and live in the grace given to us by God. Grace is important because the gospel is important.
The gospel is important because it is our salvation from being forever separated from God because of our sins. Grace is entwined in the history of the world. God created us and loved us, but we sinned but he kept showing his love to us even as we continued to turn away from him. When Jesus came and died on the cross and through grace we were saved we know that it is not on our basis that we were saved, but truly as a gift because God loves us.
Grace will impact our own lives every day. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.
Grace is an important, and vital part of the process to become more like Christ. Grace is essential for salvation and therefore essential for our lives.
Rather, He wants us to become more like His Son and work for the furtherance of His Kingdom right here, right now. But remaining sin leaves us lame and weak and unable. God's grace intervenes to give us power and strength. It's gives us the ability to do what we're called to do but what we could never do on our own. There will be a day when you and I will be fully restored to who we were meant to be. There will be no more sin; there will be no more struggle.
Everything will be restored, and we will worship in the presence of this amazing God of grace. It's helpful to know what grace looks like and what it does, but if you don't know how to access it, you'll be left feeling discouraged.
So very quickly, to finish this Article, I want to give you two things to consider:. Your greatest problem in life exists inside you, not outside you. If you convince yourself that your problem is in your relationships, your location, or your situation, you'll quit seeking grace and you'll try to find an easy way out. But if you humbly admit that you need help, you'll become excited about the different variations of grace that God provides.
Stand under the common fountains of grace. By this, I mean pursue resources of grace - attend your worship service, join a Bible study or small group, make time for personal prayer and devotions, and seek counsel from older and more mature Christians.
If you want to get wet with the grace of God, stand under a fountain and trust that the Lord will send the water!
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