Grace glorifies God.
We cannot even begin to know our Great God and Savior until we understand Grace. The word Grace in the Greek is “charis.” Charis means limitless and/or measureless. Grace is God’s Plan for believers before, during and after salvation, as outlined below:
Basically, there are three phases to God’s Plan for mankind.
Phase One: Salvation — “positional” sanctification, performed by Jesus Christ.
Phase Two: After salvation — “experiential” sanctification, performed by the Holy Spirit.
Phase Three: Eternity — “ultimate” sanctification, performed by God the Father.
Grace is infinite. God’s Grace will be defined in many ways throughout this study. We suggest that you make a list – write down the various descriptions of grace as you read.
The primary reasons for denominationalism in Christianity are: bias, incorrect interpretation of the Biblical text, failure to understand God’s Grace, recognition even rejection of the Divine administrations of history (dispensations).
Grace under the scrutiny of Scripture.
Romans 11:6 tells us, “But if it is by grace, (salvation) it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” Grace and works are mutually exclusive. Grace is God’s free gift of love without man’s qualification. Man is unqualified, except for Christ and that is why He died in our place – He had to die if we were to be saved (2 Timothy 1:9).
When you try to pay back God for your salvation, or His Plan of eternal blessing, you take away from God the glory that belongs to Him. We serve Him because we cannot repay Him and especially because we so sincerely appreciate that Christ died for us “the ungodly.” There are no strings attached to salvation or God’s Plan of Grace; Grace flows from God toward man. Man has no grace of his own and no debt to pay God — Christ paid it once and for all time, in FULL (Romans 4:4-8; Colossians 2:13-14). When we serve God it is an expression of appreciation of what He has done for us through Christ for salvation, and to the Holy Spirit who executes the Christian way of life IN Christ.
Salvation is by Grace. Spirituality is by Grace.
Salvation is a gift not a reward. Spirituality (filling of the Spirit) is a gift not a reward. The Christian Life is a gift not a reward. (Please read Acts 11:17, Romans 5:5 and II Corinthians 5:5.)
Grace means kindness, mercy, forgiveness and blessing. Grace is free, unmerited and undeserved favor. Grace is how great God is. Grace depends on the character of God not on the character of man.
The Grace of God is not withdrawn because of our sin-failure. Grace comes to mankind from God because of the Cross work of Christ. Human merit has no part in Salvation and it has no part in living the Christian life after salvation. Grace cannot be changed, improved upon or weakened in any way because Grace depends on who and what God is, not on who and what man is or what man does or doesn’t do. Grace is provided by God because of sin, regardless of sin. The sin problem was paid at the Cross. Sin is no longer the issue, forgiveness is the issue for mankind. Grace does not mean that God overlooks our sin, it means He accepts the Cross as payment in full for all sin, past present and future – once and for all, for all time. Grace is the action of Christ on the Cross, accepted by God, removing the ordinances against us (Colossians 2:14).
Religion is the antithesis of Grace. Religion is ritual without reality, without God. Religion is all about man. Religion is Satan’s counterfeit of God’s Grace. Grace is: God does all the work – He delivers the believer from the kingdom of darkness. He delivers us and literally deposits us in His Eternal light – He (Christ) is eternal light – He is the light of the world (Acts 26:18; John 3:19). He brings to light the hidden things by the light of His Gospel and His Word (I Corinthians 4:5; II Corinthians 4:4, 6). Grace is the Plan of God.
God is perfect righteousness. God is Just. God’s justice and righteousness judged our sins on the Cross. Our forgiveness is not because of God’s Love, it is because of the Cross. Christ satisfied the perfect righteousness and justice of God by living and dying a perfect life. He knew no sin. But He was made sin for us (Colossians 2:13-14; II Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 7:24-26).
The Cross is the judicial action of God exercised on the person of Christ to reconcile man to God. Our forgiveness is made possible through the Cross which propitiated (satisfied) the righteousness and justice of God (Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). Therefore, forgiveness of sin is based on the Cross-work of Christ.
The Holy Spirit sustains the believer throughout his life – this is God’s Grace. To appreciate God’s Grace we must experience it. This is one of two reasons we are left here on earth after salvation, so that we can personally learn and experience God’s wonderful Grace. The second reason is to be ambassadors to a condemned world that is lost and dying without Christ. We are to watch the deliverance of the Lord.
Grace is our freedom to approach the very Throne Room of Grace in Prayer. Hebrew 4:16, “Let us therefore draw near (to God) with (humble) confidence to the Throne of Grace, (here is the reason) that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.” We are to watch the deliverance of the Lord.
Grace is experienced in suffering (deserved or undeserved). II Corinthians 12:9, “And He said to me ‘my Grace is sufficient for you, for power (God’s) is perfected (manifested or experienced) in weakness (our weakness)”. We are to watch the deliverance of the Lord. We are weak, but he is strong. We are perfected in suffering. We suffer because he first suffered. Grace sustained Christ on the Cross and grace will sustain the believer in suffering. “Take up you cross daily and follow Christ” (Matthew 10:38; 16:24).
Grace is our stabilizer. I Peter 5:12, “We are to stand firm in Grace. We are to watch the deliverance of the Lord.”
We are to “grow in Grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (through Bible Doctrine) (2 Peter 3:18).
God’s Eternal Plan since the foundation of the world is designed to save us and keep us saved. He saves us by the Cross Work of Christ. He keeps us saved by the Sealing and Indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. In II Corinthians 1:22. God tells us that He has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our heart as a pledge (covenant). We are “sealed for the day of redemption” – (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30).
“Grace to you.” “Grace and Peace be with you all.” These two statements were delivered by the Apostle Paul in most of the openings and closings of his letters. Please read every opening and closing in each of Paul’s letters. God’s Grace was everything to Paul. Amen.
Happy Studying!