TotD: Grace

Grace, as in the Grace of God, not the Church, not Grace Campbell and not Grace Cronin... All very confusing!

So I have been thinking about Grace today as the online Bible College course I do is focused on grace today.

I want to talk about defining grace because of lot of people do and everyone comes up with something a little different than anyone else.

CEF, specifically Mags Adamson defines Grace as

God's
Riches
At
Christ's
Expense

that is a definition I love because in one sentence, which is an acronym, you get the cross and the promise if you trust in the work done at the cross. It is used for talking to children about growth as Christians and sometimes even evangelistically. For those purposes it is a really good definition. However, and I mean this with no offence, it is a limited definition. What I mean is grace is so much more than what God blesses those who believe with, scripture also talks about general grace given to all people. For example rain falling and the Sun shining are examples of general grace given to everyone, whether saved or unsaved so then there is grace that falls out of this definition.

Louie Giglio, of the Passion Movement who has all those DVDs such as 'Indescribable', 'How Great is Our God', etc. He defines grace as 'God at work'.
When I first heard this definition I wondered about it and thought 'why just this?' It seemed too simple. I was confused by it but in one of his DVDs, I think it's either 'Symphony' or 'Fruitcake and Ice-cream', where he says that he defines grace as God at work because it means it's not me at work.
That makes it a little more genius because grace is God at work. It is Him working when we realise there is nothing we can do for our salvation or even for His work. We are weak and He is strong. It is not by our works but by His work that anything happens in our lives. Louie Giglio's definition is great in that sense but it still feels limited.

The Bible College Course I am doing (www.onlinebiblecollege.com, found by Andy) defines grace twice. It says no one definition is enough for us to begin to grasp what grace is. The first definition is God doing what we did not deserve and the second is God doing what we cannot do ourselves.

The course goes on to give a few opposites of grace. The first is debt. If it was not for the grace of God at the cross we would still have the "wages of sin" upon us and be indebted to God (which we are for His grace but in a different way). The second is self-effort. We need to realise, as Philip Yancey said once, "there is nothing you can do to make God love you more; there is nothing you can do to make God love you more." God's love for us is not dependent on us at all! Self-effort is the spiritual ewquivalent of giving God the finger. The third, and final definition for the opposite of grace is law. I'll talk about that one in a different blog I think as it would take up a lot of room in this one.

Both of those definitions, from the Online Bible College, capture the definitions of Louie Giglio and Mags Adamson. God's Riches At Christ's Expense is there and so is God at work. The first definition is one that really stands out in a way that the others do not.

God did things for us that we do not deserve, God is still doing things for us that we do not deserve. Every breath I take I do not deserve (general grace) but by the grace of God, He allows people to continue to breathe. Every good moment in my life I do not deserve, I deserve only punishment for my sins. Yet, God, in His mercy and grace has given me a life full of happiness, friendships, joy and love.
I do not deserve to be loved, but again God in His grace loves me and because He first loved I love Him and other people and other people love me.
I am a sinner, of the worst kind, I do not deserve the life He has given and the promise I have of eternal life in Heaven after this good life is over. I do not deserve that, I deserve the pit of Hell but God, in His grace, says: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1 ESV). That's insane.

I pray that as I look to serve my Lord and my God, the author of my faith and the procurer of my salvation that I will realise this verse as a reality in my life and not just a piece of knowledge in my head:
"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
(2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV)