GOD’S GRACE! PART 1.

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY AUGUST 26, 2023.

SUBJECT : GOD’S GRACE! PART 1.

Memory verse: “Even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, (by grace you are saved.) Ephesians 2 vs 5.) 

READ: Romans 5 vs 1 - 2, 6 - 10:

5:1: Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

5:2: through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

5:6: For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

5:7: For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

5:8: But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

5:9: Much more then, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

5:10: For if, when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

INTIMATION:

The “Grace of God” is defined as God’s free and unmerited favor for sinful humanity. It’s the unmerited favor of God toward man that was made possible by the sacrificial offering of Jesus on the cross. Grace is thus the free gift of God because we cannot, through meritorious works or perfect keeping of law, earn God’s favor and justification. God saves by grace because of our obedient response to Him by faith.

God’s grace is Divine. In this respect there is stress on its freeness and universality, its spontaneous character, as in the case of God’s redemptive mercy, and pleasure or joy He designs for the recipient. It bestows on the part of the receiver a sense of favor bestowed, a feeling of gratitude, and sometimes the desire to be thankful. 

We are saved by grace.  It is noteworthy that the provision that was necessary to revive man from his death in sin was totally based on the initiative of God. The Scripture states thus, “But God manifests His love toward us, in that while we are still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5 vs 8.) No man can righteously live in a manner to earn the mercy of God. We have been made alive with Christ because of God’s grace, not because we have legally earned or deserved God’s love, grace, and thus, His mercy.

God’s grace, therefore, was undeserved and unmerited because no man lived flawlessly in reference to God’s law in order to demand grace and mercy. Therefore, when one thinks of the plan of salvation that has been extended to man, he must understand that such was made possible by God without any obligation on the part of God to do such.

There is no other way to be saved except by the grace of God. Salvation comes to man as an unearned gift of God who has loved man. This favor of God did not come because we lived in a manner to earn or deserve the cross of Jesus. Men could never do enough good works to merit the reward of eternal life. It is only by the grace of God that salvation and eternal life are offered. 

This does not mean, however, that there are no conditions. Therefore, without the condition of obedience, grace would profit no one in reference to eternal life. It is by obedience to the gospel in response to God’s grace we have been saved. The gospel teaches us that we must acknowledge what Christ wrought for us on the cross, confess Him as our Lord and Savior (Be born again) and surrender our lives to Him. And these conditions of salvation are given in order that one step into the realm of God’s continued grace through the cross.

When we realize that our salvation has been made possible by the grace of God, and that we need not trust in the merit of perfect obedience, then our hope is made sure. Therefore, the hope of a Christian does not rest on his ability to perfectly perform law or accumulate meritorious good works. We can have hope because we have faith in the grace of God.

We cannot earn grace. Jesus did not die on the cross because men had meritoriously earned His sacrificial death. He died even though we were in sin. The loving grace of God was thus manifested though we were in sin. The loving grace of God was thus manifested through the cross because Jesus died for the unloving and undeserving. 

We stand in grace. We gain entry into the realm of God’s grace through Jesus in whom we must have faith. It is grace that brings assurance, for upon it we base our spiritual and emotional stability. Upon it we base our salvation. We do not stand on our ability to perfectly keep law, nor on our good works. Christians stand because of and on the grace of God. Their salvation is dependent on God’s grace since they are unable to keep law perfectly or do good works in order to atone for their own sin.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You Everlasting and Merciful Lord for Your unmerited favor bestowed upon through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our salvation. Never had their been any show of love and mercy such as this. My utmost heart desire is to serve You acceptably all the days of my life, and I trust that only You can empower to do so by Your grace, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!