God’s Amazing Grace

God’s Amazing Grace

There are a lot of words that are misunderstood in today’s culture. Take for instance the word “love.” A lot of people say, “I’m in love,” but in truth it’s more like, “I’m in lust.”

But there is one word that we cannot afford to misunderstand, and that’s because it has everything to do with our relationship with God, and that is the word, “grace.” We wrongly define it. For example we say, “We’re under grace, so we can continue living like we want.”

And while it’s true that God forgives, we’ve totally misunderstood, misapplied, and misused God’s grace. When we see God’s grace for what it is, then our lives will change. When we understand God’s grace and rightly apply it, then our lives will undergo a dramatic upgrade.

Look at how the Bible describes this upgrade.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)

God’s grace immediately upgrades our lives from being lost to being saved. If it weren’t for God’s grace we’d all be on a downward spiral to hell, but God’s grace saves us.

Concerning God and His grace towards us the Bible says,

“He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.” (Psalm 103:10 NKJV)

That’s grace. If God gave us what we deserved, we’d be dead. The Bibles says that the wages of sin is death, which means we are forever separated from God because of our sins, Romans 6:23.

But God gave us His grace through our faith in Jesus Christ. So we can’t say, “We’re under grace so we can do whatever we want.” That’s a misuse and an abuse of God’s grace.

Let me illustrate with a workplace example.

Let’s say you’ve been working for a company a long time, and so you begin to act as if you owned the place. You say bad things about the owner. You burn a lot of relational bridges with coworkers, and you feel like you’re owed, so you take things. Finally you decide to come in and leave whenever you want.

One day the owner calls you in and tells you he knows about everything you’ve been doing, and says that according to the policy manual you signed when you were hired, it says you are now fired. So he says, “You’re fired.”

You respond, “But I have a family to support and bills to pay. I need this job.”

But the owner says, “I’m sorry, but according to our policy you’re fired. You’ve been taking advantage of your position and have taken the company and myself for granted. Please clean out your desk.”

Your face turns pale as you think about your family. You also know you’re getting what you deserve. You’ve stolen, came in late and left early without permission, spoken inappropriately, and have hurt others. So you’re getting what you deserve.

As you’re cleaning out your desk, the owner comes over and says; “I know your family will be devastated, because it’s their life you’ve destroyed as well as your own. So, even though you’re fired, I’m going to extend to you grace. I’m going to override the policy, because I can, so you still have your job, not because you deserve it, because you don’t, but rather because of my grace. From this time forward you’re under my grace.”

I pretty sure you’re going to change your ways. You won’t go down the same path that got you fired in the first place. You wouldn’t say, “Hey, since I’m under grace I’m going to continue like nothing ever happened.”

That would be the furthest thing on your mind. You’d be grateful and do your job differently. And that is because of grace.

This is God’s amazing grace for us. There are several traits, attitudes if you would, that I’d like to talk about from those who possess God’s amazing grace.

1. An Attitude of Gratitude

By God’s grace we’re here right now. God didn’t have to wake us up this morning or give to us another breath of life. But He did; therefore, we’re under His grace. When we realize it’s by God’s grace and God’s grace alone that we have been saved, then we’ll begin to live with this attitude of gratitude.

I don’t think there’s anyone in whom the Lord hasn’t graciously given a second change to. In fact, that’s the story of John Newton, the author of the hymn, “Amazing Grace.”

He wrote the song after taking advantage of God’s second chance. He was not a very good person. He captained a salve ship, but in a storm God change the course of his life, from that of being a slave trader, to that of being a minister.