The grace of God is not a simple a statement as it first sounds, for it is much more than undeserved favour. Grace is not just a trait of God’s character, it is an action, or power of influence. It is all about relationship and something we cannot earn for it is freely given.
TheTrinity
God is total within Himself and He cannot be detracted from, or added to. Only through the grace of God do we have even a little insight into the magnificence of who God is. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known, 1 Corinthians 13:12.
The three Persons of the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are indivisible, meaning they cannot be separated. They all are involved in the acts of God’s grace.
Grace through Christ
God operates always in grace through His Son, Jesus Christ. It was through the grace of Christ that Adam wasn’t killed the moment he sinned. Thereafter, we see the grace of God at work in all of humanity. Even the unsaved person receives the grace of God through daily blessings of living on this earth. Sadly, the unbeliever doesn’t recognize the good things of this life as being blessings from God’s grace. As sinners in rebellion to God, we deserve only the wages of death instead of the gift of eternal life, Romans 6:23.
Greatest Act of Grace
The three Persons of the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are indivisible, meaning they cannot be separated. Therefore, they all are involved in the acts of God’s grace.
Greatest Act of Grace
God’s greatest act of grace is seen at Calvary. God not only came to earth in the form of a man, but God Himself paid the price to redeem fallen man.
This was not ‘Plan B’ when Adam sinned, but an eternal plan made in the Godhead, for the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the earth, Revelation 13:8.
Different Dimension
God lives in a different dimension to our human existence. Was, is and is to come, Revelation 1:8, are one in God, for he dwells in the eternal now. A W Tozer wrote, God has lived all our tomorrows. Thus, God knows the end from the beginning, Isaiah 48:10.
We were chosen by grace before the foundation of the world. God predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself according to the kind intention of His will. To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved, Ephesians 1:5,6.
God’s Nature
God’s very nature is grace. He provided the free gift of salvation for all mankind, Romans 5:15, when Adam disobeyed God, Genesis 3:15.
Paul is sometimes called the Apostle of Grace, because he uses this word 86 times in his writing. He wrote, we are justified by this free gift of grace, Romans 3:24. Being made fit for heaven depends solely on the grace of God.
God At Work
Moses brought the law, which was good, but man was unable to keep it. Christ brought grace and it is through the grace of the Holy Spirit that we are enabled to abide by the Word of God. This grace is not just an aspect of God’s nature. It is an active force that works in us to mature us into the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ, Ephesians 4:13.
Grace is the power, or influence, that helps us obey God and to live in a personal fellowship with Him, 2 Corinthians 12:8,9. By the grace of God I am what I am,1 Corinthians 15:10. It is God at work in us that makes us what we are, for as a man thinks in his heart so he is, Proverbs 23:7.
One With God
In Christ believers are a new creature, with old things passed away, 2 Corinthians 5:17. God, through His grace, promises the believer a renewal in the spirit of the mind, and a new self in the likeness of God, Ephesians 4:23, 24. So that we might live in fellowship with Him.
It is the grace of God that makes us one with Him. Jesus said, That they may be one, even as You Farther are in Me and I in You, that they may also be in Us. The glory You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one, John 17:21, 22.
Change of Disposition
Grace is the influencing power that changes our disposition, with a practical outcome operating in our daily lives. The old saying is, ‘There but for the grace of God go I’. This is true, for it is by the grace of God we are positionally placed in His kingdom, to become channels of His grace.
God’s grace is not just about God’s free gift of eternal salvation, when we deserve eternal death. It’s all about a loving Heavenly Father who meets our needs in every aspect of our life, before we even ask for help, Matthew 6:8.
Continuous Grace
Peter asked Jesus how many times should he forgive someone who sinned against him. Jesus answered, Up to seventy times seven, Matthew 18:21,22. This kind of graciousness is almost incomprehensible to the human mind. How can we forgive that many times?
As humans our patience wears thin with people and situations that offend us, yet we can never come to the end of God’s grace toward us. The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease. For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness, Lamentations 3:22,23.
Getting hold of the immense grace of God should be the thing that keeps us going no matter what circumstances we find ourself in.
Confidence
It is through Jesus Christ and the grace of God, that He draws us into His presence. Through His grace we are given the Way, John 14:6, that we might have an everlasting relationship with our Creator.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need, Hebrews 4:16. How gracious is the great I Am That I Am, the Creator of the universe? He draws us to Himself, who is holy and above all things.
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