Dr. William J. Peters, DRS, PhD (C)
Grace is a beautiful word, truly a great Bible truth is resident in this word. In fact, it is a word and concept without which man’s salvation would be impossible. The gospel (good news) is a result of God’s grace (Gal. 1: 6-9). Grace is presented as sufficient and Christians are called by grace (2 Cor. 12.7-10, Gal. 1.15).
Man is saved by grace, the heart is established by grace, and we are justified by grace (Eph. 2.5, 8, Heb. 13.9, Tit. 3. 7). Moreover, we render acceptable service by grace and grace imparts everlasting consolation (Heb. 12.28, 29, 2 Thes. 2.16). God’s grace also makes us better people and helps us in time of need (I Cor. 15.9, 10, Heb. 4.16).Grace is not given to whoever is deserving. “Now to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt” ( Rom. 4.4). To save the undeserved is grace. “Being justified freely by his [God's] grace” ( Rom. 3.24). What is meant by “freely”? In the original Greek, “freely” is the same word as is translated “without a cause” in John 15.25 where the Lord is recorded as saying, “They hated me without a cause”, quoting from the Old Testament.
Remember that the Lord imprisoned the entire world under the penalty and power of sin in order to induce all of us to receive his mercy (Romans 11.32). Therefore the only way you will ever get free from sin is to get under grace and stay there.
Remember that legalism has the power to actually arouse sinful passions. In 1 Corinthians 1.30 Paul said that Jesus “became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
God Father is totally satisfied with Jesus. Grace means that, together with the Father, you must be satisfied with Jesus, and thus you can rest in him and abide in him, in all that he is for you. Romans 1.16-17 says:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
Put all your faith in Jesus Christ himself to be all that you need for right standing before God, and begin to move from faith to faith. In our quest to understand God’s grace it is important to realize that God’s grace is available to every man. Titus 2.11 , “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.”
It is interesting to note that God’s grace has been extended to all men, yet all men are not saved! That is not God’s fault though. For he came “to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19.10 . This was the whole purpose of Jesus coming to earth. God purchased our salvation with his own blood, Acts 20.28 .
“If righteousness could be gained through the law,” Paul wrote, “Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2.21). The only alternative, as he says in this same verse, is “the grace of God.” We are saved by grace, not by keeping the law. These are alternatives that cannot be combined. We are not saved by grace plus works, but by grace alone. Paul makes it clear that we must choose either one or another.
Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace says you don’t have to be concerned about purity, holiness, and obedience—Jesus already did all that so that you don’t have to. Absolutely not! He did all that, empowered by the Holy Spirit, so that His life could live again through us.
Romans 8.16, 17, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if it so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”
There is nothing cheap about it. Free, yes, but not cheap—God has His part and that is what makes us free, BUT we also have our part in response.
If you can fully grasp and understand exactly what the grace of God is and how it personally applies to your own individual walk with the Lord – you will then be able to walk away with a clear and complete understanding as to exactly how you were able to be saved in the first place with the Lord – along with how to receive the grace of God in your life as His divine power working through you so that you can fully accomplish everything that He wants you to accomplish for Him in this life.
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