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Grace 2 Tim. 1:9 (KJV) “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” Eph. 2:8 (KJV) “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Grace is undeserved acceptance and love received from another, especially the characteristic attitude of God in providing salvation for sinners. For Christians, the word “grace” is virtually synonymous with the gospel of God’s gift of unmerited salvation in Jesus Christ. Grace is receiving something you do not deserve. We owe our distinctly Christian understanding of grace to the apostle Paul. Paul’s sense of God’s grace owed much to his experience of being turned from the persecutor of the church to Christ’s missionary to the Gentiles. He was convinced that this was all God’s doing and not of his own merit. He was an apostle solely because of God’s grace, and his entire ministry and teaching were due to that divine grace. Paul had too profound a sense of human sin to believe that a person could ever earn God’s acceptance. As a Pharisee, he had sought to do that by fulfilling the divine law. At his conversion he came to see that it was not a matter of earning God’s acceptance but rather of coming to accept God’s acceptance of him through Jesus Christ. He realized the sharp difference between law and grace. Law is the way of self-help, of earning one’s own salvation. Grace is God’s way of salvation, totally unearned. Grace comes by faith in what God has done in Christ. God’s grace comes to sinners, not to those who look for God’s acceptance. It is through Christ’s atoning work on the cross that God’s grace comes to us, setting us free from the bondage of sin. Christ is the Representative who breaks the reign of sin and brings life and acceptance with God through divine grace. It was in the beloved Son that God’s grace came supremely to mankind. For Paul, grace is practically synonymous with the gospel. Grace brings salvation. Grace brings eternal life. To share in the gospel is to be a partaker of grace. In Christ Jesus, God’s grace is open to all people; but the experience of God’s grace is conditional upon human response. It can be rejected or accepted. Acts 15:11 (KJV) “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” -S. Chad Ross March Newsletter 2004 | Effect of Righteousness | Grace | Pastor's Journal March 2003 Respect for the Recompense of the Reward | Be Not Fruitless or Barren part 3 of 3 |
Biblical Counseling for Leaders
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