Episode 53 The Grace of God
This is David Sheats on Anchor of Truth. There probably is no word in the Christian vocabulary that is more well-known than the word “grace.” Yet at the same time, there is also a very great divergence of understanding what the grace of God is and what it means to each of us. We are told that grace came to us in Christ Jesus our Lord? What does that mean to you and me? What do we expect in our relationship with Jesus? Our expectations are important, because if we are looking for the wrong thing, we may miss the Lord when He is right before us. Israel had wrong expectations of the Messiah, so when Jesus was before them most did not recognize Him. This is also a danger for us. Let us look again at what has come to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• Grace is in the person of Christ (John 1:14-17)
o Grace includes mercy but is more than that (Heb. 4:16)
o Grace includes ability from God to change us into His likeness (Titus 2:11-14)
o Grace is unmerited favor, but the favor is for strength to serve God (Heb. 12:28)
• Grace is unlimited to meet every need because:
o It is in Christ Jesus (God) who has no limits (2 Tim. 1:9, 2:1)
o Is given as a gift (not earned) (Rom. 5:15)
o Is for the eternal purpose of God (Rom. 8:28)
• Grace is varied because:
o God is sovereign (as he chooses)(Eph. 4:7)
o God is fully creative and original (look at His creation)
• There are conditions to experience the grace of God
o Must come to God in faith (Rom. 5:2, Eph. 2:8)
o Must forsake sin (repentance) (Gal. 5:4)
• Grace expresses God in the flesh to others
o Paul was a gift of grace to us (Eph. 3:1-13)
o God has given grace to each one to express Himself (Eph. 4:7)
• The grace of God is revealed in Christ to take us into eternity with God (I Peter 1:13)
• Additional resources at http://www.ntchurchsource.com/
• Theme song “Will Your Anchor Hold” sung by J. Ashley Milne
• Comments and questions welcome. Email David@AnchorOfTruth.com