UNDERSTANDING THE GRACE OF GOD
The grace for salvation
THE TWO MAIN DEFINITION OF GRACE
In lesson 1 of this series, we defined what grace is and also learnt that Grace is like a two-sided coin. The grace of God involves more than the dimension of it simply being God's unmerited favor and unconditional love towards us. It is also God's divine enabling through His Spirit. Through God's grace we are enabled to cope with whatever adversity, trial, or dilemma we face in a godly manner. We are equipped by His grace to perform the spiritual tasks He gives us to do. This second aspect of God’s grace is also the kind of grace we will need to properly function and operate in whatever He is going to call us to do for Him in this life. This same kind of divine power is also needed in our sanctification in the Lord, along with being needed to help us overcome different types of sins and temptations.(we will cover more of this in lesson 3) In this lesson however, we will focus on the first aspect of Grace, which is the grace for salvation.
ALL HAVE SINNED
Scripture tells us that all people sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that we deserve death (Romans 6:23). As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understand there is none who seeks after God. They have all gone out of the way; they h together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. " (Romans 3:10-12 )
But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)
But in His lovingkindness and mercy, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us and take upon himself the punishment that we deserve. Romans 4:24-25 says that righteousness “will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”
Paul writes in Romans 5:8, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The grace of God did not come at a time when we had everything together, No, grace comes to us when we are broken and can offer nothing in return. “Grace is most needed and best understood in the midst of sin, suffering, and brokenness.” We come to God with nothing in our hands to offer but our brokenness and sin, and He gladly takes it and gives to us new life as His child.
POWER VERSES FOR SALVATION
In these verses are complete and full revelation on exactly what our eternal salvation in the Lord is really all about. If you can grasp what the Lord is trying to tell you in these specific verses, you will then be able to walk away with a much better and clearer understanding as to who you really are in your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and exactly how you were saved in the first place.
These 16 verses all have to do with our own personal salvation in the Lord. Each one of these are major power verses and they all have to do with the first definition of grace – which is that grace is the unmerited favor and mercy of God towards mankind. As you read and meditate upon these scriptures, may you be established in faith in Jesus name.
• “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 boast.” (Ephesians 2:8)
• “… who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” (2 Timothy 1:9)
• “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.” (Romans 11:6)
• “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
• “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men …” (Titus 2:11)
• “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” (Acts 15:11)
• “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7)
• “… that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:7)
• “… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus …” (Romans 3:23-24)
• “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)
• “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace …” (2 Thessalonians 2:16)
• “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence …” (Ephesians 1:7-8)
• “For if by the one man’s offense, many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.” (Romans 5:15)
• “… having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:6)
• “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20)
• “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” (Galatians 2:21)
I want us to point out key words and phrases in these verses so you can see exactly what God is trying to show you.
SALVATION IS NOT BY WORKS
The first thing to pick up from these verses is that our personal salvation in the Lord is not earned by any type of good works that we can do in this life – no matter how many good works we may end up doing, and no matter how good and holy those works may end up being. The quantity and quality of our works for the Lord do not matter to Him.
The very first verse listed above is the absolute number one power verse on exactly how we are to receive eternal salvation from the Lord. This verse specifically tells us, without any other possible spin or interpretation you can possibly put on it, that our individual personal salvation in the Lord can only be received by “grace” through our personal faith in Jesus Christ.
This first verse, and the two that follow right after it, specifically state that our eternal salvation is simply received by grace through faith – not by any type of works. The first verse tells us that our eternal salvation is a direct, free gift from God and “not of works.” The second verse once again says that God has saved us through His grace and not “according to our works.”
The third verse then really hammers this point home when it literally shouts out that we cannot be saved by both grace and works. It says if we are saved by grace, then works has no part in our salvation whatsoever. You cannot have this revelation both ways. If we are saved by grace, which we are, then works has absolute no part in our personal salvation with the Lord. It’s all Him and none of us. The first verse says that being saved by grace through our faith in Jesus all comes direct from God and that it is “not from ourselves.”
As simple as this revelation is to fully grasp and understand, there are still some Christians who are walking around thinking that they still have to try and earn their way into heaven by doing as many good and holy works as they possibly can. As a result, they spend most of their life in misery and torment as they never know for sure if they will make it into heaven after they die and cross over. These first set of verses are absolute top priority for any newborn who has just been saved or any unbeliever you may be witnessing to.
KEY PHRASES TO MEDITATE UPON.
I am going to highlight some of the key phrases in the above verses so you can see how the Lord is really trying to drive home the point that we can only be saved by and through His grace.
• For by grace you have been saved through faith
• Who has saved us … according to His own purpose and grace
• We have access by faith into this grace
• For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men
• Through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved
• By grace you have been saved
• Having been justified by His grace
• Being justified freely by His grace
• Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ
• Given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace
• In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Notice in every single one of these key phrases that our own personal salvation in the Lord. can only be received by God’s grace through our faith in His Son Jesus. No amount of works, no matter how good and holy we think those works may be, will ever be good enough to get us back in the good graces of our Lord and Savior.
IN CONCLOSION
Eternal salvation is received direct from the Lord as a free gift and it can only be received by grace through our personal faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death on the cross. Salvation is simply just a matter of believing – and then accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior once you are ready to admit that you are truly a sinner in need of a personal Savior to save you from your sins.
Dr.T badia
