Grace - What Is It?

Grace – What is it?

 

All through the Bible we read about grace – God’s grace!  It sounds good, but what is grace?  In this world we are used to being rewarded for good work and being penalized for failures.  So, grace is a difficult concept for us to begin to understand.  When it comes to salvation, we sometimes wonder, what proof is there that we have it?  Can we ever do enough?  Are we good enough?  Scripture says that none of us can ever do enough!  Earn Salvation on our own!  So, God in His love for us gives us grace.  When God sent His Son to earth to be crucified, He paid all the debts we will ever owe by making the only sacrifice we will ever need!

 

Scripture says that grace Is a gift. A free gift of eternal life from God to us. We can’t earn it!  We don’t have to pay it back. We can’t reconcile it.  But we can accept it.  Believe that it is true. Grace is a gift God gives to us through Christ.  A gift that changes us as well as gives us eternal life.  And when we receive this grace, we can pass it along to others. We can grace others with forgiveness and kindness and mercy.  And we can share God’s amazing gift of grace with them.  We can pass this grace along because grace is the Voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to change.

 

Scripture says: “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift from God, not of works lest any person should boast.”  (Ephesians 2:8-9) This passage tells us that we are saved by God’s gift of grace, but our small part is to accept that grace. Our part is faith. Belief. Scripture says: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”  (Hebrews 11:6)

 

We are changed when we believe in Christ!  When we believe we receive His Spirit coming into us and being a part of us and guiding us. We can open ourselves all the way to the Holy Spirit’s calling in our lives, or we can keep something back for ourselves. It’s our call.  Scripture says: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) We do not receive eternal life because of our good works.  But after we believe in Christ as Savior, the grace we receive changes us (if we allow it) and causes us to start walking in good works.   

 

The life of the apostle Paul illustrates how the power of grace can change a person so completely.  Paul was a different person before he met Christ.  Paul’s name when he was born was “Saul”. But after Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to “Paul” to show that he was a new person in Christ.  Back when he was “Saul” he was a highly educated Jewish person who hated Jesus and hated Christians.

 

Saul was a wealthy well-educated Pharisee. (Acts 23:6) He studied in the best schools under the cream of the cream. – the most prestigious religious educators and Pharisees. He had developed his own interpretations of the Scriptures, and he thought he knew it all.  He was stubborn and allowed his legalistic and incorrect doctrine to separate him from God’s grace.  Knowledge of God kept him from knowing God.  Are we ever a bit like Saul?  Do we ever think we are too modern and intelligent to believe God’s Word or accept His unconditional grace? 

 

 Saul was with the religious group that stoned the first Christian martyr, Steven, to death! (Acts 8:1) Then later Saul, who was always eager to stamp out Christianity, was traveling to the town of Damascus to find and arrest all the Christians living there. The Jewish high priest in Jerusalem had written arrest warrants for followers of Jesus who were living in Damascus.  Saul took those arrest warrants and was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians. He was anxious to drag those Christians off to prison and then execution.

 

But God had other plans for Saul.  Scripture says that while Saul and his men were on the road to Damascus, suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.  Saul fell to the ground and he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”  Saul, shaking and stunned answered, “Who are You, Lord?”  And the Lord answered, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.  It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” (Acts 9:3-9)

 

Blinded by the light and laying on the ground shaking, Saul asked: “Lord, what do You want me to do?”  And the Lord answered him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  The men with Saul were speechless as they too heard the Voice and saw the light. When Saul, still trembling, got up from the ground, he couldn’t see.  His eyes were blinded.  The men led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus.  And he was three days without sight, and Saul neither ate or drank.  (Acts 9:3-9)   

 

This experience may not have seemed like grace, but Saul desperately wanted to follow Jesus now that he realized that Jesus was more than a man.  The Holy Spirit spoke to Ananias, a follower of Christ, and told Ananias to go to Damascus and pray with Saul and show him God’s grace.  So, Ananias obeyed God and hurried to Saul’s bedside.  Ananias then lay hands on Saul and prayed for him that he might receive Christ.  Saul was hungry for grace and anxious to receive the Holy Spirit in his life.  When Ananias prayed for Saul, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and his eyesight was restored and the Scripture says: “Immediately he (Paul) preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.” (Acts 9:20)

 

After accepting God’s grace and letting it change him, Saul changed his name to Paul and started preaching and writing about God’s grace.  Paul was a new person in Christ!  He spent the rest of his life as a missionary to the Gentiles and spreading the good news of Christ in Greece and Turkey and Rome. His passion was to share the good news of God’s grace that Christ saves and changes our lives   He was the one who said: ” For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) Yes, Paul was martyred for his faith. He paid the price as he picked up his cross and followed Christ.  During his missionary journeys he was shipwrecked, whipped and left for dead, persecuted by his fellow Jewish Pharisees and imprisoned in Rome.  He suffered for the faith.

 

We are blessed to be able to read some of Paul’s sermons and writings in the New Testament. Like a flame catching fire, Christianity spread across Europe and all around the world!  But it all started when Paul, bubbling over with God’s Holy Spirit grace, spread the gospel to the Ephesians and the Colossians, the Philippians and the Romans.  The Corinthians and the Galatians and the Thessalonians and also to his fellow Jewish brothers. 

 

The changing power of grace is illustrated in the life of the apostle Paul, who was once the Christian hater – turned-Christ lover.  He could have resisted God’s grace.  Or only carved out a small space for God in his life and kept the rest for himself.  But Paul went all the way!  Are you listening for God’s still small Voice in your life?  Are you sharing God’s grace to those around you?   Has God’s grace changed you?  Are you going all the way?

 

Many of the truths from this blog were taken from Max Lucado’s book, “Grace, More than we Deserve, Greater than we Imagine” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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