GRACE

           

 

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see.  It was Grace that taught my heart to fear. And Grace, my fears relieved. How precious did that Grace appear the hour I first believed!

In the New Testament, “grace” is used 156 times and takes on a special redemptive sense in which God makes available his favor on behalf of sinners, who actually do not deserve it. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."  Ephesians 2:8

There is tremendous emphasis in the New Testament upon the fact that human salvation is the result of God’s Grace. This beautiful truth should never be minimized and at the same time, it must never be perverted.

Grace is derived from the Greek word charis. In secular Greek, charis was related to chairo, “to rejoice.” As far back as the ancient Greek poet Homer rendered it as “sweetness” or “attractiveness.” It came to signify “favor,” “goodwill,” and “loving kindness” especially as granted by a superior to an inferior.

Grace is God's unmerited favor. That is, grace is God doing for us that we do not deserve. Mercy is God withholding judgment or evil that I deserve; grace is God giving me blessing or good that I do not deserve. Because of God's grace, I receive eternal life and a promise of heaven though I do not deserve them. Both mercy and grace came to me though the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul penned 13 epistles out of the 27 books in the New Testament, and with each epistle Paul addressed the saints with:  “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  This idiom: “may grace and peace be yours” has become known as the Siamese twins of the New Testament.  Paul always used grace and peace in that order. Why…. because we first need to experience the Grace of God before we can experience the Peace of God in our lives.

This peace can only come through our Lord Jesus Christ. He and His work is our entire ground for peace. In fact, Jesus is our peace.  “For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us.  By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups.  Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.”  (Eph 2:14-18)

 Many of us do not have the Peace of God because we are always trying to do better…  I will try to pray more, witness more, read my bible more, or follow all the do’s and don’ts etc…   All of these are good and noble intentions, but as I thought about it I realized it’s not what I am doing that establishes my righteous standing with God but by His Grace I am able to stand.  He loves me and accepts my brokenness and my messiness.  By committing my life over to Him and accepting his will in my life and making sure He is in the driver seat and not me, dictating what I want from him, will I truly have the Peace of God.

Grace can also be defined as God's sufficiency or God's fullness in the life of the believer. God told Paul, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). That is, the grace of God in Paul enabled him and empowered him in his weakness. Another verse states, "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work" (2 Corinthians 9:8). God's grace working in us supplies the sufficiency whereby we may abound to every good work; God is enough for us no matter what the situation we face.

Many Christians begin in grace, but then think that they will go on to perfection and maturity by dealing with God on the principle of law on the ideas of earning and deserving. Paul spoke against this very point in Galatians 3:2-3 and Galatians 5:1-4.  Gal 3:9-14

“So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.  All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law. Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."  The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."  He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”  (Gal 3:2-3)

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.  Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.  Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”   (Gal 5:1-6)

“So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.  All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."  Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."  The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."   Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."  He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”   (Gal 3:9-14)

Therefore grace is always received through faith, not earned by works. You can only receive grace as a gift and acknowledge that it comes to you freely; you can’t work for it or earn it. Romans 11:6 states this principle: "If it [election] is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace." Grace would not be grace if you earned it by your works. We receive it through faith. By simply welcoming it as a gift and relying on it.

This is why Romans 4:16 says, "For this reason it (being an heir of the promise) is by faith, in order that it may bein accordance with grace." This is Paul’s way of saying that grace is absolutely free and cannot be deserved or merited. When grace comes to you it is through faith or not at all.

Grace is not just forgiveness of our sin and mercy on our misery; it is also a divine power that comes to us through Jesus absolutely freely for the sake of ministry. Paul says in Romans 1:5, “Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people... to the obedience that comes from faith.” Apostleship is Paul’s – not mine and not yours. You might put, "Through Christ I have received grace and the teaching role." Or: grace and singing. Or: grace and studentship. Or: grace and singleness. Or: grace and widowhood. Or: grace and motherhood. And what you should mean is: God has freely given me forgiveness and the power to do a calling, and fulfill a role which I accept by faith.

There is not a role in life that can be lived the way God wants it lived apart from enabling grace. Being a godly mother or being an apostle is impossible without the power of grace. So when Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 15:10, that all his apostolic labor is by grace, you insert your own calling: "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me." The decisive, enabling power for all ministries and all service is God’s grace.

Paul in Romans 1:5 says, "Though him and for his name's sake, we recieved grace and apostleship to call people... to the obedience that comes from faith." 

Through [the living Son of God risen in power] we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith." So grace is not just received by faith, it aims at faith. God gives gifts of grace so that we will be his instruments in bringing about "the obedience of faith. This is what I call the result of grace.

Now what does the phrase "obedience of faith" mean? The two main choices are: "the obedience that comes from faith", or “the obedience which is faith”, because faith is what the gospel demands." As you might say acts of courage or acts which come from courage. You might also say, Block of wood or the block is wood. Both of these goals (faith and obedience that comes from faith) are really Paul’s goals in ministry.

If Paul only means "faith," why use two words to say it? In other words, if Paul only means, "We received grace and apostleship to bring about faith among all the gentiles," then why complicate matters and say, "the obedience of faith?" I think the answer is that he really does want us to think not only of the obedience which faith is, but also the obedience of love which faith produces (1 Timothy 1:5). We will see in Romans 9:32 that obedience is by faith and not as though it were by works. “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." (Ro 9:30-33)

And we will see in Romans 14:23 that "whatever is not from faith is sin." In other words, in Paul’s mind, all true obedience is the fruit of faith.  “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.  Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.  It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.  But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”  (Rom 14:19-23)

Why does God set everything dependent on his grace through our faith? The last phrase in Romans 1:5 gives the answer: "Through [Christ] we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles (peoples) for His name's sake." The ultimate goal of all God’s dealings is that his name (or the name of Christ, who is his image) would be known and admired and cherished and praised above all other realities.

Romans 9:17 puts it like this: "For the scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.’" God’s aim in history and in all that happens is that his name be known and worshiped. Verse 5 says that the aim of Paul’s apostleship is "for the sake of the name" – that the name of Jesus might be known and loved and treasured and exalted and glorified.

Now this is why God makes all our salvation and our entire ministry and all our obedience dependent on his grace and makes all our salvation and ministry and obedience the fruit of faith in grace – because the giver gets the glory. If our ministry and all our obedience are by grace through faith, then God gets the glory and we get the help. If Paul relied on himself to serve as an apostle, and if the effect of his ministry was to bring about the obedience of works, not the obedience of faith among the gentiles, then the name of Christ would not be praised… Paul’s would be!

In closing  Paul states: “ It is through  him, at cost of his own blood, that we are redeemed, freely forgiven through that free and generous grace which has overflowed into our lives and given us wisdom and insight. For God has allowed us to know the secret of his plan, and it is this: he purposed long ago in his sovereign will that all human history should be consummated in Christ, that everything that exists in Heaven or earth should find its perfection and fulfillment in him. In Christ we have been given an inheritance, since we were destined for this, by the one who works out all his purposes according to the design of his own will.” (Eph 1:7-11) 

Peace,