“But God who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, 5. Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are you saved).” 8. For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
I have to admit that I borrowed my title for this article from a book by the same title that I read years ago. It was written by R. Lofton Hudson, who was a famous Baptist author at that time. The idea of the book was that grace, though it is a beautiful female name, is much more than the name of a woman. In my opinion, it is the most important word in the Bible. It is from the Greek word Karis (or Charis) that means “unmerited favor.” It means that God gives us favor in spite of the fact that we do not deserve it. Without grace none of us would be able to go to heaven, for we “have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.” First, we need to understand that grace does not give us an excuse to live in sin. Some people take grace to mean that because of God’s grace we can do whatever we want to do. Paul wrote about this in Romans 6:1-2: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2. God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” According to this, God’s grace in our lives should make us better people, not worse sinners. I frequently read of people who seem to think that grace canceled all of the moral commands in the Bible. In fact, some people seem to think that we need to ignore the rest of the Bible and look only to the Jesus of their imaginations for how we should live. That is an insult to the life and ministry of Jesus. It is also a gross misunderstanding of the teachings of Jesus and of the meaning of grace. Second, we need to understand that we need grace. I don’t mean that we just need grace; I mean that we really, really, really need grace. As written above, the Bible teaches that we have all sinned, we have all gone astray. When we reach the age of accountability, whatever age that is for each person, we are lost in sin until we trust Jesus as our Savior. We are guilty of sin, even though we might have lived exemplary lives. We are not saved by living exemplary lives, but we should certainly live like that when we are saved. Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that we are saved by grace: “not of (ourselves): it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.” We cannot save ourselves. If we could, we could brag about what we did to be saved. It was grace that caused Christ to shed His blood on the cross in order for us to be enabled to be saved. It is by the grace of God and faith in Jesus Christ that we are saved. At that point we become “a new creation: old things are passed away; behold all things have become new." This means that by grace we have been changed. Third, we need to understand that being saved by grace through faith does not make us perfect. We will sin, but we won’t look at it the same way. Sin will bring guilt into our lives, and by grace, God will forgive us for our sins. 1 John 1:8-10 gives us this good news: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10. If we say that we have not sinned, we are calllng Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” We are certainly not encouraged to sin, but we are encouraged to get rid of it by seeking God’s forgiveness. The promise is that He will always forgive us. If you are living in guilt today, you might need to ask for God’s forgiveness. If you have honestly sought His forgiveness, He has been faithful and just to forgive you, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. You do not need to live with the guilt anymore. Grace is the means by which God forgives us, saves us and cleanses us from sin. Without grace we would all be lost in sin. If you haven’t already claimed it, claim that grace now. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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