This blog on grace stems from the fact that the last blog on grace I made was really about definitions of grace, which although not very interesting, was not very interesting. So this one is a little more about actual grace.
In Paul's writings we are told a bit about grace and how important it is to the Christian and their walk with God.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God..." Ephesians 2:8. Not only is it by grace we have been justified but it is also by grace that we are being sanctified. All to often as Christians we get into this rut where we realise we are saved by grace but then we think that we are changed to be like Jesus by works.
This is, of course, incorrect. For if we are saved by grace through faith then we must be transformed by grace through faith as well.
Romans 5:1-2 gives an indication of this grace that is not just for the moment of salvation: "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
Through Jesus we have entered INTO the grace in which we NOW stand. Not only have we entered into it but it is also where we, as people of God, now stand. It is God's grace that sanctifies us.
We have to here acknowledge the verse from Corinthians that goes:
"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.
This verse tells us two important things; 1. That we will have weaknesses and we should expect them to come, and expect times When everything goes wrong, and 2. That God shows His power in our weaknesses, of which I know I certainly have many. Yet God says that His grace is sufficient for us, when we face troubles and hardships, His grace is sufficient. When things seem too big to handle, His grace is sufficient. When Satan has the gate surrounded, His grace is sufficient. When it seems like the world is falling apart around you and you don't know where to turn, His grace is sufficient.
“Do you find life too difficult for you? So did we, but not now, with the amplitudes of grace there are for us in Jesus Christ, it grows satisfying and successful and exciting beyond measure, becomes another and a richer thing.”- A. J. Gossip.
“Grace, then, is grace,–that is to say, it is sovereign, it is free, it is sure, it is unconditional, and it is everlasting.”- Alexander Whyte.
“Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.”- Abraham Lincoln.
Thank you Lord for you all sufficient grace. I just pray that each of us will grasp what it means for us, stop living on our own strength and rely on you, the God who saved us, to also be the God who keeps us. Lord I pray we would grasp how deep, how high, how wide and how long is the the love of God that surpasses all understanding. Amen
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