GOD’S GRACE
What is GRACE?
charis (khar\’-ece); graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude):
KJV – acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy, liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).
Grace has as its primary objective our salvation. It is the love of God to cleanse us of all
unrighteousness which is sin.
Grace is the favor of God for all human beings, good or bad. It is the free gifts of God that
can not be earned.
There is a difference between the degree of grace of believers and the grace of nonbelievers.
All mankind is favored by God with daily graces to live a normal life.
However, God\’s chosen get the grace of salvation not offered to the world.
For believers, Grace has as its primary objective of salvation. It is the love of God to cleanse us of all unrighteousness which is sin.
For the believer, Grace is more than pleasure or joy it is the divine gift of salvation.
Grace is the aspect of God’s love that allows Him to forgive our sins.
Grace is intertwined into every fiber of your body. Grace was working with you and for
you before the foundation of the earth.
Grace has no end and no beginning. It cannot be quantified, justified, or contained.
According to Ephesians 1:4, believers were chosen before the foundation of the world
for divine love that includes divine protection, divine provisions, divine corrections,
divine restoration, divine improvement, divine keeping, divine rest, and divine
eternal salvation. These, the world cannot receive.
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SALVATION
Even though you were chosen by God for salvation, you have the responsibility
to accept Jesus as your personal savior.
Romans 10:9-10
That if you confess with your mouth, \”Jesus is Lord,\” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
However the confession is not yours, it was graced to you. It was not your idea or desire to
love Christ.
John 6:44
44 \”No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
This verse eliminates the world and is directed all who are chosen by God.
According to Psalms 23, surely goodness and mercy follows us all days of our lives.
This is not the case for unbelievers.
God hates sin, so he will not follow non believers.
Psalms 106:1
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
( endures is not in the original Hebrew language). The text was originally given by
God is; Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, His love forever.
GOD\’S NEVER-ENDING LOVE
God never quit loving. He never quit working in, on, and for believers.
He has a vested interest in us, for we are the light of the world and the salt of
the earth. We are the church that world sees.
Zechariah 12:10
10 \”And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. (He is talking about His Church)
John 1:16-18
16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
That spirit is the holy spirit, It is the power that can move mountains. It is the power that gives us
the resolve to follow God’s commands.
It is a truth that God’s grace provides one blessing after another.
If you consider what happened to you today is the proof. You were awakened out of
sleep, you got up, you walked, you talked, and were involved in other activities throughout
the day. Did you consider that these were blessings from God? Did you consider that you
could not do anything without God’s GRACE?
CHOSEN FOR GOOD WORKS
God loves you so much, that you were chosen for good works.
Jesus came to save a dying world. The world rejected Him but the Church HE established
accepted Him. According to Ezekiel 28:14-17 and Isaiah 14:12-15, Lucifer, the Arch Angel
better known as Satan, was kicked out of Heaven because of his pride. Landed on
earth in the Garden of Eden where he tempted Adam and Eve to sin so God\’s GRACE
could be magnified (Ephesians 1:5)
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God\’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Not only were you chosen to do good works, but you were equipped to do good works.
Acts 14:3-4
3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.
You and I, the believers still have that power through prayer. God said it, you ought to believe it
Philippians 4:10
I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
Each of us was chosen for different and unique jobs.
Ephesians 4:7
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
SALVATION IS FOR THE LIVING
Salvation is not death, but living and working in our lives daily.
Acts 20:32
\”Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
The word sanctified means set apart made holy. You have been set apart from the world,
You ought not to look like or act like the world. You don\’t fit into the crowd, because you
were not made to fit in by God Himself. You were made to stand out from the world.
The grace of salvation is made available to all mankind. A few will accept salvation
but most will not.
Isaiah 26:10
Though grace is shown to the wicked,
they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness, they go on doing evil
and regard not the majesty of the Lord.
The reason the world rejects salvation is because they cling to popular
ideas and opinions. They love the things of the flesh and reject the things
of the spirit.
Even though we the believers in Christ are saved, sanctified, and justified, we can
lose some grace available to us when we slip into the activities of the world.
Jonah 2:8-9
\”Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
What is a worthless idol? Anything you put before God is worthless
While we are enjoying that which we put before God, blessing could be
passing by.
Guard your mind so you don’t S L I P, sin like ignorant people
We lose nothing by putting our commitment to God before everything
and everyone else. That is not popular, but it is profitable.
2 Corinthians 9:8-9
And God can make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO EARN SALVATION
You are not good enough, smart enough, educated enough to earn salvation
Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
You and I are never without sin. Even what we call good has some sin involved
Isaiah 64:6
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
The Good News is we didn\’t have to be perfect. We didn\’t have to be good enough, We didn\’t
have to be without sin for God to save us. He saved us because of His grace.
Romans 3:23-25
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.
It is what God did out of His Love that graced you with salvation.
EXAMPLES OF GOD’S GRACE
Mercy is the aspect of God\’s love that forgives the guilty.
We are guilty as hell. We deserve a judgment but God’s grace covers all our sins.
We are driving down the highway, the speed limit is 65, but we are clocked at 80. We get
pulled over, got a warning but not a ticket, God\’s grace showed up.
You have been sick for a long time. And your current doctor can\’t figure it out. You are
referred to another doctor who has your cure, God’s grace showed up.
You are driving down the highway and there is an accident in front of you. You were late
because you forgot something. God’s grace showed up.
You were out of money and the bills were due. You get an unexpected check in the
mail that covers everything. God\’s grace showed up
SUMMARY
WHAT JESUS DEATH, GOD’S GRACE DOES FOR MY PEACE AND JOY
JESUS SECURED A RIVER OF GRACE FOR MY LIFE
A WORRY-FREE LIFE TO LIVE MOMENT BY MOMENT
DIVINE POWER TO OVERCOME THE TEMPTATION TO SIN
COUNT ALL TRIALS AND TRIBULATION WORKING FOR MY GOOD WITH THANKSGIVING
THE ASSURANCE OF AN ETERNAL HOME IN HEAVEN
CLASS QUESTIONS
WHAT GRACES ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?
WHAT GRACE CAN YOU GIVE TO OTHERS?
