May 24, 2018
No! We believe it is
through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved... Acts 15:11
God’s grace is not a
license to sin, but a pardon to live holy again.
Grace is one of the hardest and
yet simplest concepts about God to figure out.
It is also one of the most amazing, and uniquely Christian doctrines.
Grace is God’s unmerited
favor. We seem to need reminded of all
three words of that definition.
1) It’s
an act of God – God decides what He wants do and does it. As much as we try to figure out the “recipe”,
it is always a decision of God alone. We
cannot coerce Him or justify ourselves to get the grace we want. It is wholly
in the hands of God to give as He sees fit.
2) It’s
unmerited – We don’t earn grace… as much as we try. And it is not restricted… as much as we wish
it was for some people. Grace is not a “system”
that provides blessings based on our performance. In fact, our performance has very little to
do with it. Becoming more righteous sets
us up for promised rewards, but doesn’t set us up for grace. God hands out Grace as a part of His plans,
not our performance.
3) It’s
favor – Favor is blessing. Sometimes God’s
favor is a windfall that fulfills our desires, and sometimes His favor is a
restriction to prevent our failures. But
either way, grace is a blessing upon our lives that helps direct us to better
outcomes. We say God is Good, not
because we get everything we want, but because we get everything that’s best
from Him.
You are not saved by acts of ‘goodness’. You are not saved by religious
traditions. You are not saved by the
level of accurate knowledge. You are
only saved by God’s desire to save you.
He offers it as Grace.
That makes Grace a gift, and as
all gifts, we can either choose to accept it, or choose to leave it
unopened. God’s grace can be treated
like an incredible treasure or thrown out with the trash. Either way, He offers it to us, and gives it
freely.
Some turn grace into a license to
sin. Because God forgives, they take
advantage of the grace to pursue their own wishes. Others don’t accept His grace, thinking they
have to clean up their act first before they can open the gift. Still others accept His grace, then try to
spend themselves as martyrs earning back the payment for the gift they have
received. All are corruptions of the Spirit
of Grace.
When God blesses us with kindness,
forgiveness, or love, our response must not be to leverage the grace in order
to keep sinning. By doing so, we damage
the gift, and destroy the blessing His grace could do in our lives. We also should not delay the gift until our ‘wild
oats’ are sown, because ongoing sin has a way of closing the door to God’s
grace. And certainly, God doesn’t give
us grace as a debt to pay back, that turns His Grace into religion, and leaves
us back in the guilty state God tried to removes us from.
When you receive Grace, treat it
as a pardon to be a citizen again in His Kingdom. The case is over, the sin is forgiven, the
opportunity is available – you can live fully free of the past, and start
living the design of life He intends.
Let Grace transform you into the likeness of Jesus that God always
wanted for you. And watch how God uses
you to be a channel of grace into the lives of others.
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