WHAT IS GRACE?
Grace is us enjoying God’s riches free because Jesus paid the price with His blood on the cross. Grace is God giving us what we cannot earn and don’t deserve.
When we come to Christ, we are not only forgiven, but because of His grace, our slate is wiped clean. Our record is pure, it’s as if we never sinned. Because of Grace, we have the unmerited favor of God.
 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

“We are washed as white as snow” (Psalms 51:7, Isaiah 1:18).

You are saved, not because of what you do, but because of what Christ did. Christ paid for your sins with His blood on the cross. God’s grace is free to all who will accept it, but it is also priceless. The cost of our sins is far more than we could ever afford to pay, but Christ has taken our sin debt upon Himself and paid it for us.

This may very well be the most difficult spiritual truth for us to embrace. For some reason, people accept Jesus as Lord before they accept Him as Savior. It’s easier to comprehend His power than His mercy. We’ll celebrate the empty tomb long before we’ll kneel at the cross. We, like Thomas, would die for Christ before we’d let Christ die for us. We are justified, not by our worthiness, but because of the worthiness of Christ.

Jesus showed us God’s requirement for those who believe they can earn eternal life by their good works when He said: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 ESV). The standard for the person who wants to be right with God, is absolute perfection. Clearly, those who believe they can earn eternal life by their good works or by simply living a good life, have a distorted understanding of the holiness of God and what it means to be right with God.

As humans, it is impossible for us not to sin. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Unkind thoughts, envy, pride, prejudice, resentment, and jealousy are just a few of the things that we battle. Our minds are a battleground in the spiritual war that takes place between God’s goodness and the evil ways of Satan.
The devil has had thousands of years to perfect his tactics. We are no match for him. It is only because of God’s grace that we will be able to spend eternity in heaven. We cannot be good enough on our own to deserve heaven. Jesus lived a perfect life to pay for our imperfections.

The disciples asked Jesus, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18: 26-27).
Because of God’s grace, we are saved. We can never earn our way to heaven. Every other religion on earth involves works, only Christianity relies on grace for salvation.

The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eightfold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, the Jewish covenant, the Muslim code of law — each of these offer a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional. Only through Jesus Christ are we justified through grace.

It is only by God’s forgiving grace that we can be saved. It doesn’t matter how good we are or how many good things we do. 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

“Our sins are forgiven, never to be remembered again. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34, Hebrews 8:12).

“In him (Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

This was the distinction between the Old Testament and the New. In the former, there was life under the law, but not the abundance of grace of the New Testament. Christ had given life to His disciples, but abundant life under grace was not available to them until after His resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This same abundance of life that was given to the disciples is available to you and me today, because of the shedding of the blood of Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

God’s grace is not a one-time whitewash of our sins. It is never ending. We are going to make mistakes. We are going to fail. However, grace is an on-going cleansing process, as we daily surrender ourselves to Christ.  There is never a point when we are any less saved than when we first gave our life to Christ. 

As Max Lucado puts it, your name doesn’t disappear and reappear in the book of life according to your moods and actions. Such is the message of grace.

It is only by the atoning blood of Christ and the gift of grace that we can come to God. The grace of God is so complete and encompassing that Paul, when speaking to the Roman Christians warned them to not go on sinning, simply to experience more of God’s grace. 

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1-2)

We must not tempt the Lord by continuingly sinning, knowing that we are justified by God’s abundant grace. Such action would give Satan a toehold in our life and distance us from God.

“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

As Christians, our lives should be joy filled with a sense of freedom in Christ. If our lives are not joy filled, if our Christian walk feels burdensome, then we are probably not living as a free person. Rather, we are living as slaves under the law.
We have been made free of the law. The law no longer has jurisdiction over us. We are dead to the law (Romans 7:4) and free from the law (Romans 8:2). The law can not save; it can only condemn. God sent his son to save us and do what the law could not do.

The law demands perfection. Grace provides perfection.

When we try to live by the law, by a list of do and don’t, we are prone to stumble and fall. Each time we fail, we feel alienated from God. Our relationship with Christ becomes a roller coaster of highs and lows, rather than a steady ride in the love of Jesus.

Thanks to Christ we can live a joy filled life free from the burden of sin and free from the condemnation of the law. Our sins have been washed away, never to be remembered again. Our record is clean. We can look forward to entering heaven with anticipation at meeting our Lord. Our part is to simply trust and believe in the love and forgiveness that God extends to us.

Probably the most important truth that we can ever embody is to know that God has called us into a loving relationship with Himself. Our part is to simply believe and trust in Him. 

In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus tells the ‘Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.’ It’s main point seems to be the sovereign grace and generosity of God extended to the latecomers, the poor, the outcasts and anyone humbling themselves and seeking forgiveness into the kingdom of God.
If you are a follower of Jesus, it doesn’t matter who you are, how long you have been a Christian, what your position in the church is, how much work you do in the church and for the kingdom of God, or how religious you are. God loves us all the same and our blessings are the same. We imagine that God has been gracious to us because of what we have done, because of our good deeds, because of our repentance, because of our virtue and piety. But God does not love us because of that. And God is not gracious to us because of that. Paul says that “God commendeth his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 

Christ died for men who were hideous in His sight because of sin. If we are ever to understand the grace of God, we must begin with the knowledge that God has acted graciously toward us in Christ entirely apart from human merit. 

It doesn’t matter if you are a homeless person or a famous evangelist, You have all the blessings of God available to you. You are an heir to the kingdom of God! You are a child of the King! Are you living like a child of a King? Are you letting God bless you like he wants to?
If you are a Christian living in spiritual poverty right now, it’s because you don’t realize what is already yours in Christ. You have never discovered the blessings God has stored up for us in his treasure house, blessings we already possess if we belong to Jesus Christ.

There is a wonderful illustration of the nature of grace in the life of John Newton. John Newton had been raised in a Christian home in England in his very early years. But he was orphaned at the age of six and lived with a non-Christian relative. There Christianity was mocked, and the young boy was persecuted. At last, to escape the conditions at home, Newton ran away to sea and became an apprentice seaman in the British Navy. He served in the Navy for some time. At last, he deserted and ran away to Africa. He tells in his own words that he went there for just one purpose: and that was “to sin his fill.”
In Africa, he joined forces with a Portuguese slave trader, and in his home, he was very cruelly treated. At times the slave trader went away on expeditions, and the young man was left under the control of the slave trader’s African wife, the head of his harem. She hated all white men and took out her hatred on Newton. He said that she exercised such power in her husband’s absence that he was compelled to eat his food off the dusty floor like a dog.
At last the young Newton fled from this treatment and made his way to the coast where he lit a signal fire and was picked up by a slave ship on its way to England. The captain was disappointed that Newton had no ivory to sell, but because the young man knew something about navigation he was made a ship’s mate. He could not keep even this position. During the voyage, he broke into the ship’s supply of rum and distributed it to the crew so that the crew became drunk. In a stupor Newton fell into the sea and was only saved from drowning by one of the officers who speared him with a harpoon, leaving a fist-sized scar on his thigh.
Toward the end of the voyage near Scotland the ship on which Newton was sailing encountered heavy winds. It was blown off course and began to sink. Newton was sent down into the hold with the slaves who were being transported and told to man the pumps. He was frightened to death. He was sure that the ship would sink and that he would drown. He worked the pumps for days, and as he worked he began to cry out to God from the hold of the ship. He began to remember verses he had been taught as a child. And as he remembered them he was miraculously transformed. He was born again. And he went on to become a great preacher and a teacher of the Word of God in England. 

It was John Newton who wrote the hymn, ‘Amazing 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.

Newton was a great preacher of grace, and it is no wonder. For he had learned what Paul knew and what all Christians eventually learn: grace is of God, and it is always unmerited. It is to the undeserving, that the offer of salvation comes. God’s grace is greater than all our sin, shame, discouragement, or fear (Romans 5:20)

The apostle Paul experienced God’s grace on the road to Damascus. His transformation was so great and complete, that he later began each of his epistles with the greeting, “grace and peace.”God’ Grace — The unmerited favor of God toward humanity. What a joy it is to know that God desires to bestow upon us the fullness of His love and all the riches and blessings that go with it. Not because we deserve it, but because of His love for us. This is the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ. 

Taken from my book, “Basic Christianity.”

Books by Jerry, many of which you may read for free on Prime: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jerry-Blount/author/B06XK4GJT1

1. Things You Probably Didn’t Learn in Church
2. Basic Christianity: Living a Joy-Filled Life and Making a Difference
3. The End Times: Signs and Prophecy
4. Noah and the Great Flood: Proof and Effects
5. Following Jesus and Fishing Along the Way: Stories of God’s Great Outdoors
6. The Rapture: Coming Soon
7. Delighting in the Lord: Enjoying a Close Walk with Jesus
8. Evidence of God: Proof beyond Doubt