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Grace Re-Defined
Contributed by David Leach on Jun 1, 2014 (message contributor)
Summary: Jesus Christ is God’s Grace, the ongoing free gift of the nature of God, to anyone whose heart believes more of His Holy Spirit breathed words.
1 Tim 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
We are saved by grace:
Eph 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith… (since it is through faith that we are saved by grace, then grace must be something we can believe – yes, it is the word of God – hence:) KJV
1 Pe 1:23 Being born again…by the word of God… (by grace) KJV
We are to grow in grace:
2 Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (how do we grow in grace?) KJV
1 Per 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, (we grow in grace by believing more of the word of God)
Grace is multiplied to us, how, through the knowledge of God:
2 Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of
KJV God… (What exactly is the knowledge - the increased knowing - of God?)
Prov 2:1-5 My son if you receive my words…then you will...find the knowledge of God (we increase in knowing God as our hearts believe more of His words – that is by receiving more grace, therefore grace is multiplied to us as our hearts receive more of God’s words).
Grace literally means “The gift of God” as in “God giving the gift of Himself”:
Eph 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (but isn’t Jesus the gift of God?) KJV
John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you…”
Rom 5:15 But the free gift…the grace of God…Jesus Christ…
Can we now, therefore, re-define Grace? Yes we can:
Grace is God’s progressive free gift of Himself to us through His living words as our hearts believe them
Since Jesus Christ is the living word of God
Jesus Christ is God’s Grace, the ongoing free gift of the nature of God, to anyone whose heart believes more of His Holy Spirit breathed words.