THE GIFT CALLED GRACE

Are you familiar with the gift called grace? For those who have been Christians for a while now, I am sure you are very familiar with the word Grace. We use it a lot in churches and Christian communities. But do we even know what it means? Or even how it is accessed and applied? Do you want to access it and experience it’s benefit in your life? Today I want us to look at it and hopefully by the time you are done, you will have a better understanding of grace.

Definition

Grace is defined as the unmerited Favour and Mercy granted by God towards human beings. Favor is defined as being approved and held in regard. Grace is translated as charis which means graciousness towards someone. Therefore grace can be defined as the art of being approved and held in high regard. And the approval from God does not come from having done something. Rather it can only be received. Favor and grace cannot be earned, they can only be given freely. And grace is available to you through the finished work of the cross. There are instances of people in the Bible who received Grace from God.

• Noah received God’s grace because although God initially wanted to destroy the whole of humanity, He saved him and his family by sparing their lives. God saved Noah by instructing him to build an arc which protected them from the floods.
• Abraham and Sarah received God’s grace. Despite Sarah’s doubt when God told her she would have a son, God gave her a son. When Abraham and Sarah had Ishmael, God did not cancel out His promise to them of having Isaac, He still fulfilled the promise. When Abraham lied and said that Sarah was his sister, God did not punish them, He was gracious to them. Both Abraham and Sarah were flawed, and yet God still fulfilled the promise of Abraham being the father of many nations. The nation of Israel was born through Abraham. The fulfillment of their promise did not stem from their good deeds, it was through God’s grace.
• God was gracious to the Israelites, despite their rebellion and wickedness. He was merciful to them and even protected them from their enemies and granted them victory against their enemies. The Israelites were not the best at keeping God’s commandments. In fact, we are told they rebelled against God many times, yet God was gracious to them. Even when he was angry at them, He still punished them. He did not give them the punishment they deserved. That my friend is the meaning of grace.
• You and I have received God’s grace in our lives through Jesus Christ. God’s grace is for everyone who has received Jesus Christ. It is not earned but freely given to all.

The Concept of Grace

Cannot be earned through our good works

Ephesians 2: 8-9. For it is grace through faith that has saved you. Not through your own works that you should boast. God’s grace gives us the confidence that we can rest in receiving God’s grace and not have to strive to get it. Most of us struggle with the concept of receiving, maybe it is because we are conditioned to think that nothing is free. We often think that we have to earn everything. And while that is true to the world it is not true in God’s kingdom. God does not operate the same way the world does. His desire is for you and me to live in abundance and experience the fullness of who He is. But because of disobedience and sin we fail to access His grace and fullness. The kingdom of God however is different because Jesus already gave us everything we would ever need in this life to thrive. In the book of Ephesians, Paul reminds us that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings through Christ Jesus.

Romans 11:6 tells us it is by Grace not work because if it was not by grace then grace would not work. We get to access His grace in Jesus. This is as simple as saying yes to Jesus and giving Him your life and boom, you access God’s grace. If keeping the law could release God’s righteousness to us, the anointed one would have died for nothing.

God is perfect. And in His perfection, there is nothing that you and I can give Him to earn His approval. This is why Jesus came to earth. And through His death and resurrection you are assured salvation.

Receive salvation through grace

Salvation could not have come to us if there was no grace received, to begin with. The love of God is what led to us being saved. His mercy on us and him not wanting us to perish but receive His salvation through Jesus Christ. Grace enabled us to gain salvation.

Because of God’s grace to us, Jesus died on the cross, made a public spectacle of sin. By grace, Jesus paid the handwriting of requirement, and that is why we do not receive the punishment we deserve because of our sins. It was grace that led Jesus to pay the price for our sins yet he was perfect and had no sin in Him. Grace has set us from the bondage of sin and death. We were on our way to hell, but grace saved us and Jesus translated us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. http://bible.us/1/gal1.3,4,5.amp

The foundation of the gospel is grace, and that is why in Galatians we are told that God is the one who calls us by His grace, and in love, He chooses us to be His. We have also received total cancellation of our sins because of Gods cascading gift of His grace. Grace has justified us through Jesus.

Through grace we are empowered and find our identity

Grace transforms us and empowers us to live a life pleasing to God. Ephesians 1 tells us He has given us every spiritual gift in the heavenly realm through Christ. It also says that God had a plan to adopt us all along into His kingdom through Jesus. All this is so that we can become His children. Now, this is obviously unmerited mercy and favor. We obviously are not perfect that God would want us to be His children. We are not perfect, yet a perfect God wants to adopt us and He planned that before the beginning of time. He had already created an avenue for us to escape sin through His Son Jesus.

Grace also gives us power because, in our weakness, He is our Strength. We do not need to be strong on our own. Instead, we can use God’s grace and all this is accessible because of His grace. God’s grace also enables us to have an abundance of every good deed.

It is through God’s grace that you and me receive the Holy Spirit as our helper. He empowers to live a Holy Life. God gave us a requirement to live a Holy life. Then He sent His Spirit to empower us to do the same. We also receive gifts and the fruit of the Holy Spirit to help us reflect Jesus more. The Christian journey is one that has a marking scheme to begin with. You are given a blueprint on how to live before you start the journey. Then you are given a go’s to help keep you on track. How cool is that?

God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace so that you will have more than enough of everything- every moment and in every way. He will make you flow with abundance in every good thing you do.

2 CORINTHIANS 9:8. TPT.

Conclusion

Grace releases all forms of wisdom, practical understanding, and the mysteries of God. We cannot boast in our own wisdom, rather we should allow God’s wisdom, revealed through the Holy Spirit to be where we draw knowledge from. Because of His grace, we have the precious Holy Spirit as our seal of redemption and eternal life. The grace of God empowers us in every imaginable way. Without His grace, we are nothing.

Allow the grace of God to cover you and abound in every area of your life because in His grace there is favor and mercy. Through the grace of God, we can come boldly to the throne room of God to receive grace and mercy in our time of need. Through His grace, we receive the forgiveness of sin and are empowered to move from glory to glory. You are redeemed and ransomed. Jesus buried your shame and set you free.

Grace will lift you when you don’t think you deserve it. It will rescue you from you and take you to heights you never even thought to dream of. Grace gives you what you don’t deserve! Receive His grace and thank God that He loved you enough to grant you favor and mercy even when you did not deserve it. Do not allow the price Jesus paid for you to go to water. Just receive and rest in His grace in Jesus.